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Using ox propane with a ox acetylene rosebud

lalatheman

Hot Rolled
Joined
Nov 17, 2002
Location
Western ,Oh ,usa
I converted over to ox propane for cutting on my Harris 85 torch handle, local Harris distributor said changing the cutting tip was all I needed to do , and it works well for me.

Now I really need to use the rosebud (ox acetylene rosebud rosebud) , for just one job and I don't have acetylene tanks any more. Would it be OK to just

light up that rosebud with ox /propane ? What would be the probable outcome ?


Thanks
David Lawrence
 
The flame speed of Propane is much slower than acetylene. Yes you can safely use propane in an acetylene rosebud but you will have trouble lighting and the flame will be prone to blowing out.
NEVER use acetylene on a tip or rosebud that is designed for propane. The acetylene will move up inside the torch and melt the torch or cause other bad things. I have seen a propane cutting tip light up like a halloween sparkler and start to melt before we got things shut down.
 
I use propane with acetylene rosebud all the time. It works great, I even like it better than acetylene, it does not heat and burn the surface as fast. It is a little different to light but a tiny bit of oxy turned on to start makes it easier. It is a little diferent than acetylene as far as adjusting the flame.
Propane is not as hot, so if you use the rosebud for a longer amount of time it wont overheat the tip and start popping like acetylene will.
 
Lit up stock 6 holes @ 38 thou burned ok. Drilled out to 1/16 and flame looked better more robust and even.

Thanks for all the insights.

David Lawrence
 
Lighting up a torch is very easy if you have some oxygen in the flame too.....I can light up a oxy /fuel cutting nozzle instantly ,where some take ages to get the gas lit....I used to have my big rosebud explode regularly ,cops came a couple of times ,then I could get away with shooting my 22 pistol ,shorts only,at pests.
 
Yes indeed and the inner part is a bit shorter as the copper shell
So with drilling the holes of your rosebud a bit bigger you get the same idea

Peter
I recall that feature (now that you mentioned it) I wonder if the rosebud should be chucked in the lathe as well to counterbore that area.
 
The idea is to slow and de-streamline the gas flow ,because the gas has a slower reaction speed than acetylene.......Ive see some nozzles with hundreds of holes ,precision drilled ,to get gas velocity down to near zero for glass blowing.
 
I use propane with acetylene rosebud all the time. It works great, I even like it better than acetylene, it does not heat and burn the surface as fast. It is a little different to light but a tiny bit of oxy turned on to start makes it easier. It is a little diferent than acetylene as far as adjusting the flame.
Propane is not as hot, so if you use the rosebud for a longer amount of time it wont overheat the tip and start popping like acetylene will.


If your acetylene rosebud is popping it is not overheating it is running out of acetylene, up the pressure to 10 or 11 and it will be fine.
The pops are pretty loud, scared the crap out of me the first time it happened. If your rosebud is large it may require a larger tank to provide enough gas flow, a B tank is not going to run a rosebud very well.
 








 
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