I’m a beginner and have been using butane torches for my work. I’ve
decided to upgrade to a natural gas and oxygen. The gas line is in
(today!) complete with safety shut off valve, but I’m having a hard
time finding a place in San Rafael (or in Marin County, CA) to have
my oxygen tank filled.
I don’t have a pickup truck, so I’d also like to have the filled
tank delivered. I’m planning to use a 40 cu ft tank, which is about
6.5" in diameter and 22 inches tall. Any local jewelers who can let
me know who they use?
While I could easily find O2 bottles and transport them, I didn’t
like having large propane or O2 bottles in the house. I went to 1 lb
propane camp stove bottles and an O2 generator. This works well with
a Meco or Little Torch. I am concerned about what kind of torch will
work on NG at street pressure. It is very low. Make sure to research
your torch purchase.
I lived in San Rafael 20 years ago. I picked up my tank in my hands,
took it to the local kitchen and hardware supply to refill and drove
it home in my car. Sorry, the name of the local dealer has changed.
Look online in local kitchen and hardware supply. Good luck. MA
Hopefully Elizabeth, now has good options on refilling her oxy tank
in San Rafael.
My comments are directed to Rob’s Natural Gas -Torch- concern.Common
residential (street pressure) delivery of NG around the US is about
1/4 lb. psi. Using Paige Tools, multi-port Tips on the Meco Midget
our Tips produce full size flames at 1/4 lb. psi of NG. Our big,
Rosebuds too! No pressure booster needed. Because of internal design
on the Little Torch a little higher NG pressure is needed for full
size flames. With propane Paige Tips produce ideal flames on all the
Torches we support over a range of fuel gas & oxy pressures from a
few psi up to about 8 psi. A point Rob correctly raises: Torch design
is what controls gas flow-through. Tip design is what determines how
well a flame preforms with each fuel gas.
Rob - For at least 10 years, I used residential pressure natural gas
and compressed oxygen. It was possible because I used a Meco Midget
torch with ventilated tips. Those tips are now available from Paige
Tools and make a huge difference for heat.
When the old ventilated tips I had were used up, and Paige hadn’t
started to make the new ones (which are much better) I bought a
natural gas concentrator - G-Tec to boost the pressure. It is
actually a better answer and the only legal fuel source approved by
the NY Fire Department for use in town. It just makes it all faster.
NYC approves it because that is the only way that you can control
flash-back - the street pressure, unaided won’t engage a flash back
thing.
At school, we used residential pressure natural gas and compressed
air with a BIG torch. It worked well for big stuff - but really
taught you torch control for little things.