1 hour ago, Pat Masterson said:

next big purchase is oxy propane or oxy acetylene set up

I just got mine set up recently (thanks John for your detailed thread). It's a real game changer. Oxygen/propane are pretty cheap, but now I kind of want a gas saver too to minimize the fiddle factor... it never ends

36 minutes ago, JHCC said:

ThomasPowers with his story of finding a ship mooring cleat many hours' drive from the ocean in 3...2...1....

Hey come on John! I like seeing his picture of the battleship cannon in the desert scrap yard! Lol

Hopefully I got that edited out, sorry John if that pinged you a hundred times, not sure what went wrong 

Edited May 12, 20224 yr by TWISTEDWILLOW

On the blade if it has mounting holes on the end we can't see it may be a brush hog blade. SWAG Although seems a little bit too long for that.

I've been running oxy propane torch for about 40 years and can't think of a reason to own oxy acet torch. I don't gas weld and that's the only thing oxy prop doesn't do worth spit. Consumables are something like 1/20 what oxy acet costs. You can buy propane virtually anywhere in the US or Canada and bottled oxy isn't considered a hazmat so you can air freight it if necessary. That last is a real factor in Alaska, not so much if you have roads and highways to get around. Up here you may have to strap it to the float of a float plane and land on a lake.

I don't know about the blade but the finish looks deliberate rather than an artefact of casting, it may be to help prevent things from sticking to it. No telling what alloy it is but it's well worth bringing home and testing.

Frosty The Lucky.

Looks pretty big for a brush hog blade.

58 minutes ago, Frazer said:

thanks John for your detailed thread

Some threads are detailed; some, derailed. Either way, you're welcome.

3 hours ago, Frosty said:

I've been running oxy propane torch for about 40 years and can't think of a reason to own oxy acet torch. I don't gas weld and that's the only thing oxy prop doesn't do worth spit. Consumables are something like 1/20 what oxy acet costs. You can buy propane virtually anywhere in the US or Canada and bottled oxy isn't considered a hazmat so you can air freight it if necessary. That last is a real factor in Alaska, not so much if you have roads and highways to get around. Up here you may have to strap it to the float of a float plane and land on a lake.

I don't know about the blade but the finish looks deliberate rather than an artefact of casting, it may be to help prevent things from sticking to it. No telling what alloy it is but it's well worth bringing home and testing.

Frosty The Lucky.

I've been in a plane with 20lb tanks in the floats and cans of gasoline wouldn't want a crash if they had been full( these where empties on the way out

I’ve used torches with fuel using natural gas, propane and acetylene, all have their use as far as cost/ production and task, I use oxy/propane and oxy/Acetylene in my shop depending on the task, but if you need to gas weld you need oxy/acetylene as Frosty stated. 

8 hours ago, Pat Masterson said:

I’ve got this huge piece that looks like a blade of some sort that might follow me home from work.

That is 1055 steel for a tractor loader blade.

Best in... abrasive situations 

Yeah, flying out with gas cans in the floats made me jumpy but not so much propane tanks, they're really pretty tough, most survive plane crashes without leaking. Unlike TV and movies a pistol won't make a hole in one and you need hard ball ammunition from a hunting rifle, my 338 Win mag firing core locks or Nozzler partitions won't penetrate a 20lb propane tank. Empty, it was a target in a popular shooting location it was seriously shot up but hardly any holes in it.

Regardless what you're carrying in your light plane crashing sucks . . . LOTS.

Frosty The Lucky.

I was given a similar piece of steel with a bevel the entire length on one edge that was a edge piece for a snow plow.  Mine had square holes in it for plow bolts.  I cut it for use as a replacement edge for my tractor bucket but haven't stuck it on there yet.  I have cut some of the remainder to use as steel targets but haven't shot any yet.  A friend also had a similar piece which he attempted to weld to his tractor bucket but there was an issue with the HAZ area and all the welds popped.  Maybe needs a preheat?

9 hours ago, Frosty said:

Unlike TV and movies

The TV show "Mythbusters" did a whole segment on this, determining in the end that while it was possible to shoot a hole in a propane tank, the only way to make it explode was to use either high explosives or a high-powered minigun with incendiary rounds.

  The scariest moment in all of my welding careers was when an Acetylene bottle with a leaky fitting on the bottle side of the regulator caught fire.  I saw a reflection of it in my welding hood.  We were about 10 feet away and I smothered it with my welding glove.  I suppose it would need to be a massive leak to blow but it taught me a lesson, and I didn't even change the bottle out.  I tend to sniff connections nowadays.

1 minute ago, Nodebt said:

I tend to sniff connections nowadays.

I'm able to have this at hand in my tiny shop and it's indispensable.... Sunlight and water

  Mix some dishwashing soap in that water helps. We didn't have that luxury in many of the rot holes I found myself working in.    In retrospect, I could have brought my own spritz bottle in but got used to smelling.  Old habits.  I do use bubbly soap water and auditory clues for air leaks tho...  

We don’t know where it came from so I really have no idea what it’s intended purpose is lol. Plan on taking it regardless. 

Oh it's "sunlight" dish soap with enough water that it'll spray. 

Like I say I've got a small shop so it's easy to have it sitting there and since I'm always swapping around burners and forges I just spritz them before I spark up. 

 

This must be a real stupid question but can you smell the oxy? Can an oxy leak ignite like propane or acetylene or does it disperse fast enough?  I don't use those kinds of torches so I really am curious. 

Oxygen is odorless and it in itself is not flammable and will not ignite, however it will make any spark or flame burn hotter. The result is that a fire involving oxygen can appear explosive-like.

Ok that makes sense thank you.... 

  What Irondragon said.  I guess I didn't know what you mean't by "sunlight" 

5 hours ago, Gazz said:

attempted to weld to his tractor bucket but there was an issue with the HAZ area and all the welds popped.  Maybe needs a preheat?

It's hardened steel - 56RC or so - At least that's what was claimed on the one that I bought. I welded 5 tooths to it without any issue, but I gave each one 3 passes on a mig, so maybe I accidentally annealed the area?

As for attaching to the bucket, I used some bolts.

Sorry I was out of town yesterday.

Nodept; that will be a 'positively 'tronic brain!'  (As  a color, shade of purple gray.)

I've seen some anchor chain out here too; but that's understandable---you run it between a couple of bull dozers and use it to clear land of scrub brush.

 

The cleat is 30" across the top---New Mexico doesn't have *any* water large enough for a vessel that would need something that large to moor to!

Thomas, when yer passing through this fall, make sure to throw that cannon barrel in the pickup! 

it would look much better in my front yard than it does at a salvage! Lol

Which half do you want?

The barrel half not the breach half…

of coarse I guess it’d be cool to have both an tack it back together for display!

You could make a great bending jig from it!  You should be able to get the barrel yourself as you can roll it!  Only a few hills between here and your place!   (Probably 1000' up to get over the pass east of Albuquerque from here.----It's mostly downhill to OK.)