Henrob Gas torch

[edwardbarras]

I would like some pros & cons on the Henrob for welding sheet metal.

[hotrodA]

You need low pressure, dual stage gauges, that will consistently hold 4-5 psi.
It takes some getting used to the pistol grip handle.
Very small heat affected zone.
The small tips with low pressure make for a very small bead, and if the fit-up is good, a no filler, fusion weld is doable.
The guys that demo them are VERY experienced. There IS a learning curve.
Light gauge Stainless and aluminum can be welded with one.
Less expensive than a TIG machine.

[40cpe]

I have one I bought years ago to put patch panels in a '27 roadster body. It is a learning curve to it. I got the panels in, but not without more warpage than I expected. I learned that too little heat causes more warpage than a little too much, the heat spreads before you get a puddle.

[fordcragar]

First, if you are welding sheet metal with a gas torch, you will get warpage; which you will need to deal with. The warpage is from the weld shrinking, so don't try to shrink the warps out of the panel as you are going in the wrong direction.

The Henrob/Dillon/Cobra torch originally came out in the 1970's and sounded like a deal. Most of the guys that I know that bought them, didn't like them and they sat on the shelf. I saw a demo about 15 years ago and thought I would buy one. There are some good and bad about them. Personally, I don't care much about the pistol grip. As far as hard to weld with, I didn't have any problems welding with it.

I have three torches that I swap back and forth with, a Victor J100, the Henrob/Dillon/Cobra and a MECO Aviator Jet. The MECO was my first torch and my favorite. I have quick change fittings on the three of them to make it easy to switch between them.

[rockfla]

I gotta ask WHY? With mig & tig....Why??? I use a mig with .025 easy grind wire...smaller wire....lower amps to melt it....less heat to warp and start with little tack points all along the seam and work back and forth to keep the heat to a minimum.

[19Fordy]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I have a Henrob torch and never use it on sheet metal as it imparts too much heat to the thin metal causing warpage. Plus you can't use it in close quarters. A MIG fuses the metal instantly without so much distortion. USE a MIG, if possible with easy grind .025 wire.

[rotorwrench]

I weld exclusively with an old victor aviation torch set. A person can reduce warpage to minimum but just welding a 1/2 inch or so at a time and skipping around from one side to the other to let the welds cool. Any warpage can be dealt with by shrinking, hammer & dolly work, and filing just like they did in the early years of sheet metal fabrication.

They key to welding with oxy acetylene is having the correct tips for the different thicknesses and welding fast as possible. Not too hot but not too cold either. If properly fit, filler rod is generally not necessary and I can't stress how important fit is to a good weld up.

[edwardbarras]

I have a pacemaker & not permitted to use electric.

[larry butcher]

years ago, I watched on one of the "car related " shows on cable of Jesse James fabricating
a gas tank for a motor cycle using a Dillon MKIII torch. Wow ! I thought , that thing is
greater than "Night Baseball". Shortly after that , a "flea market" vendor friend of mine
sold me a bran new MkIII , in the box, with instruction video tape and all tips; and wrenches.
I messed with that thing for hours, could not get it right--different concept of
welding. I took it with me to Carlisle PA and showed it to a welding vendor. He hooked
it up to a pr. of tanks and said "Yep" , you got one that that was sabotaged by someone
at the plant where it was manufactured. I shipped it to an address he gave me with a
full explanation that I bought it at a "flea market". Several weeks passed, they shipped back---NO CHARGE, a new unit-- no questions. I sold it later to blacksmith,farrier for
$90 bucks. I - weld a lot with a small mig . and my Victor Junior torch. I weld, but I'am not a welder! Whatever torch ,mig or tig---just like riding a bike or swimming - practice. I know this is long and drawn out ,but the Orioles are losing again!!

[fordcragar]

Originally Posted by larry butcher

years ago........................ I know this is long and drawn out ,but the Orioles are losing again!!

I know how you feel, I'm watching the Seattle Mariners lose too!

[Fortunateson]

I have one and have yet to get into it. I use a Century 140 mig and I'm very happy with it it thought I should try to get into gas welding. Got a good deal on it so what and my nephew, a very capable body man, uses one for particular jobs. I have also looked at jewellers torches. Any experience with those guys?

[willowbilly3]

Originally Posted by 19Fordy

I have a Henrob torch and never use it on sheet metal as it imparts too much heat to the thin metal causing warpage. Plus you can't use it in close quarters. A MIG fuses the metal instantly without so much distortion. USE a MIG, if possible with easy grind .025 wire.

Where do you find that wire? I tried the local welding supply houses for some, Softweld was the name I had. I'd found a roll on ebay once but it was $$$. I don't have an English wheel but from board discussions, I understand regular mig wire is too hard to roll through one well.
When I grew up we didn't have mig/tig welders. I learned to hammer weld with a torch and soft wire. When done right, no filler is needed. Torch welding isn't a bad skill to hone.

[fordcragar]

The problem with most MIG wire (ER70S6), is that it is to hard. So after welding, if you hammer the weld it will crack. What you need is a softer wire like ER70S2. If you search for ER70S2 on EBay, it is available. Hopefully you can find in the diameter that you are looking for.

[PeteVS]

I wish someone would come up with a MIG "spool gun" like they have for aluminum but for extra small MIG wire, say in the range of .015 or .020. The smaller wire spool would be in the gun and wouldn't have to feed all the way through the cable. Smaller wire would require less current, less heat, less burn through, etc, etc.

[Yoyodyne]

Originally Posted by PeteVS

I wish someone would come up with a MIG "spool gun" like they have for aluminum but for extra small MIG wire, say in the range of .015 or .020. The smaller wire spool would be in the gun and wouldn't have to feed all the way through the cable. Smaller wire would require less current, less heat, less burn through, etc, etc.

Spool guns work fine with steel, you just need the right tip for the size wire you are using. My first MIG was spool gun only, steel comes in 2 lb spools.

[19Fordy]

Where do you find that wire?

Might be cheaper on-line. Just Google Easy Grind welding wire.

[rotorwrench]

My problem with mig is the fact that you have to use filler. After it lumps on there it's hard no matter what wire you use. With a gas torch you don't need much filler rod if any and the weld is soft. You can pound on it while it's hot or after it cools and it won't crack.

They only way I could ever get good results with MIG is using it a a spot welder and just spot weld the panel together with a long series of spots but gas welding is much quicker plus you can use the torch to shrink areas where they need it. I know I'll never go back to wire feed. I'd rather use TIG. Even with TIG, I'd be using the least amount of filler possible and following the same technique as I use with an aircraft torch and gas. The key to control warpage is to heat both sides of a joint equally during the weld process.

I purchased a body work restoration tutorial DVD by David Gardiner a number of years ago and it will really open a person up to working with metal. It's the best tutorial out there. He's been doing this type of stuff a long time and he primarily uses gas welding. Here is a link. https://www.classicmetalshaping.co.uk/.

A lot of jewelers torches are set up to use MAP gas so they don't get hot enough. If they can be used with oxy-acetylene then they can work if they have the right tips. I've done a lot of silver soldering and MAP works good for that. I prefer a conventional torch handle over the pistol grip types. It's just easier to control for me. It might be different for others.

[tubman]

I have a set of "Jewelers" torches that I don't use very often. The main problem with mine is that they take the small oxygen cylinder (the same size as a propane torch cylinder) and they don't hold hardly any oxygen at all (I think 1.4 ounces). It seems that once you use it (no matter how little), any remaining oxygen is gone when you go to use it again. It gets rather expensive and inconvenient after a while. Plus, the term "Jewelers" is proper for them; there is hardly any automotive job they are big enough for.

[Marv]

Originally Posted by edwardbarras

I have a pacemaker & not permitted to use electric.

I have a Pacemaker and kick starter and use mig ok but you can not use a stick welder.

[Fortunateson]

I'll check on the jewellers torches regarding gas type. It's just that they have a very tiny torch tip which I would think would limit the HAZ and would thereby limit the warpage.

[rotorwrench]

My Victor Micro-Torch is one of the last aircraft type torches made with exception to the pistol grip type Cobra/Henrob types. It's a lot like the Smiths Little Torch except it is larger and has the larger tips necessary for steel. Most of the jewelers types are just too small to make enough heat to get a quick melt. 22 gauge steel needs just the right amount of heat to get the weld started. A lot of the little ones just take too long to get started. Sheet steel can take a good bit of heat without much warpage but you can only concentrate it on there for about an inch before it starts getting too hot no matter how fast you go. You can use compressed air to cool things sometimes but you have to have patience. Some folks use wet rags to cool or quench but to me that's too much and I don't think it's necessary.

I still see an occasional used Victor torch but the Airco, Prestoweld, Purox, and Marquette Aero-Jet torches of the prewar an post war eras are still around in someones tool set and they were are decent torches. Some better than others. Linde (Union Carbide) made some of these types after they bought out some of the old companies that made them. The good ones are harder to find these days but they are still out there just like the old cars.

[BillM]

The best thing I ever did was to buy this Victor J-27 torch and tips. Always struggled with welding sheet metal with the larger set inherited from my father.

[Ggmac]

Doesn't anyone use a resistance spot welder ?

[rotorwrench]

I use a resistance welder to spot patches on stainless steel. The helicopters have a lot of fire shields and they like to crack. Spot welding reinforcements on works well to stop that and they can be replaced if they crack in turn.

For body steel panels, I just butt weld them with as close to a zero gap fit as possible. If you overlap the panels, they have to be joggled for a flush fit and most of the time a resistance welder won't fit unless a person has some really long extended contacts plus the gap either has to be welded or filled. It's a lot harder to straighten a double wall panel if it ever gets bent again. They also tend to corrode between the two overlapping panels. The resistance welder I use has about a 12 inch reach.

I looked at the Harris 15-3 torch and it looks like it might be a good one. It's the only brass body torch I could find that is still available and has regular copper tips in all the right sizes. A person could have near 300 bucks invested to get a handle with the mixer and a set of five tips but at least there is still something available in the aircraft torch line. Two stage regulators are another story. They are very expensive now.

Those old Victor J-27 models were a decent torch. I used those way back in A&P school to learn the sheet metal and tubular structural welding trade. The Victor Micro Torch that I have was less expensive but it wasn't made as beefy as those models were. It's been working for me for the last 34 years though.

[quickchange34]

The Victor J- 27 torch is the way to go if you plan to metal finish the panel and not leave it low for the bondo and grind on the weld . It make a nice job to hammer weld the panel in.