Best way to cut a RR track

[Stash]

Just make sure the hoses are propane compatible. Please.

Steve

[Frosty]

Only if you have multi fuel torch regs, hoses, etc. Propane is chemically VERY active and tends to degrade rubber components not formulated for it. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Bud in PA]

Thanks for all the replies. A neighbor just gave me oxyacetylene set up. it's quite old but it was free. I am going to bring the set up to my local welding supply and have them see if it is propane compatible. I know that I need the proper tip, I just want to make sure that the gauges and hose are ok to use. I have a RR track anvil. and when I tried my 4 1/2 " grinder on it to smooth the track part out, I got tired before I made much progress. I have a few fiber blades for my skill saw and may try that.

[Frosty]

It won't be if it's very old, say 20 years or so. You can cut your rail cleanly with a SHARP cold chisel and a sledge hammer. Mark and score the rail with the chisel one ONE SIDE of the web and flange where you want the cut. Bridge the rail, support the short side of the score line off the ground and give it a sharp smack on the long side back from the score line. Lay it on it's side and smack the web.

It's amazing how straight, square and smooth it'll break for you. Save your cutting and grinding disks for polishing the cut rail.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Gazz]

Just a short comment on using propane.  In the 80's I added a separate rosebud torch and 20lb propane bottle to my oxy/acetylene rig.  I purchased it and hoses at Jackson welding in Rochester, NY and had a spare acetylene regulator that they said would be fine with the propane although pressure readings on the gauge may not be accurate.  Now 40 some years later, the torch and regulator still function fine after quite a bit of use.

[Frosty]

What did they tell you about putting it on an acetylene bottle again? Have you ever used a proper oxy propane rig? You'd never go back.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Gazz]

They didn't say anything about it being used for acetylene once exposed to propane,  I'm not going to worry about it either.  I can't imagine seeing any difference with the rosebud torch since the flame is the proof.  Would it be any hotter?  I don't think so.

[Frosty]

It probably wouldn't come up unless you asked. I have two oxy acet torches and have never hooked one up, I should probably sell them but they were really old when I got them. I didn't want them I've been running an All States oxy propane rig since the late 70s, maybe early 80s. 

Anyway, oxy acet is a little hotter but oxy prop puts out more BTUs per second and heats faster. Oxy prop doesn't weld worth spit but it brazes, heats and cuts WAY better. A huge plus is operating cost, it's about 2% of oxy acet for the same work. It'd paid for itself by time I emptied the first 20lb. propane bottle. 

Putting a propane tip on a torch is an entirely different thing. The All States rig is designed from the regs to the tips to burn propane and is WAY more efficient. A propane tip on a cutting torch eats oxy like mad. Even running a higher pressure my rig uses way less.  

It's hard to compare the differences, people think I'm exaggerating a lot but I don't make anything from the company. At one time the old owner Lyle offered to pay me for an endorsement but I couldn't say yes. I couldn't be paid for my endorsement and hold the same place on the lists I participated on. It'd make me feel like a shill.

Frosty The Lucky.