Instructions for Using a Cutting Torch

An oxy-acetalyne torch, usually referred to as an "acetalyne torch" or "cutting torch," uses an accelerated blend of fuel and oxygen to cut through various types of metals such as steel or lead. Until the advent of the plasma cutter, oxy-acetalyne torches were the preferred method of cutting through these types of materials, and still see extended use as plasma cutters are next to useless in cutting through nonconductive materials. Keep in mind that cutting torches are dangerous to use if you are unprepared or not knowledgeable about how to properly handle the equipment.

Instructions

1

Put on all the required protective gear. This includes thick leather gloves and a leather welder's jacket to protect yourself from errant sparks, and a pair of welder's goggles to protect your eyes from the bright light generated by the cutting torch.

2

Check your hoses and fuel tanks to ensure that there are no leaks and that everything is in good condition. Once this is done, attach the correct nozzle to the tip of your torch and adjust the fuel and oxygen pressures to the levels specified in the documentation that came with your torch. This pressure level will vary from torch to torch, and also depending on the cutting nozzle you decide to use.

3

Open the valve on the acetalyne tank just enough so that you can barely hear the gas start to flow out of the torch, then place the striker (the tool used to light a cutting torch) at the tip of the flow nozzle. Squeeze the striker's handle; this will cause a small yellow flame to appear at the tip of the torch.

4

Open the acetalyne valve slowly so that the gas flow increases until you have a 10-inch flame coming from the torch. At this point, open your oxygen valve slowly. The flame will turn blue and then white as oxygen flows into the gas mixture. Continue opening the valve until the flame starts to shrink in size. A small blue flame will appear "inside" the white outer flame, this is your torch's cutting flame.

5

Open the acetalyne valve further until the inner flame is the same approximate length as the thickness of the material you want to cut.

6

Hold the torch steady above the material you wish to cut so that the cutting flame is at a perpendicular angle to the metal. Lower the torch slowly, keeping the blue cutting flame from touching the metal until the metal has become red hot. Once the metal is red-hot, lower the cutting flame. There will be a lot of sparks, but the blue cutting flame should cut straight through the metal with little trouble.

7

Press and hold the lever on the torch to keep the torch valve wide open; this will enable you to start cutting the material. Move the cutting torch slowly along the area you wish to cut, allowing the flame to cut all the way through as you go. Be sure not to move too slowly, however, or the cutting flame will melt the top edges of the metal.

8

Finish cutting and then release the lever on the torch to allow the flames to return to their pre-cutting stage. Turn off the oxygen valve, then the acetalyne valve to shut down the torch. Allow your metal to cool, as it will have been superheated from contact with the cutting torch.