How to Gas Weld with Oxy-Acetylene - Tutorial, Tips & Set Up (Fusion + Filler Welding) 

I'm a welder, certified in all the processes and everything you said in this video is spot on! You definitely know what your doing. Your channel is 1 or my favorite on RU-vid

Brings back memories I started gas welding when I was 7 years old welded up a lot of car bodys with coat hangers and a oxy acylene. I got my first mig welder in 1990 but I still liked to gas weld.back in 1966 my Dad built a work bench out of angle iron he gas welded it and I still have and use the work bench today . Thanks for the video

Who works with his hands is a worker. Who works with his head is a craftsman. Who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist. ..and you are a great artist man!!! Greatings From Italy🙏

I'm 84 years old. All of my welding was done with O/A. Didn't have internet so learned by reading, until I got to take a junior college welding class. Your presentation was excellent. People shouldn't be affraid of using O/A for welding, although it has gotten expensive for Acetylene.

Hey man, you're really good at making things but you missed your calling. You are truly fantastic at teaching on camera. Your presence and language is really great. That you are really comfortable in teaching this stuff really shines through.

Carl, you are a really good instructor! I’m just a hobbyist with no formal training and I learned a lot from this video. I can imagine the kind of kid you were, probably like most of my friends. I’m so glad you were able to turn your passion for metal and fab work into a way of making a living for yourself! Hopefully RU-vid is another way to make more income doing what you enjoy as well! I’m thrilled to have stumbled onto your channel!

Wow it’s been like 50 years since I’ve done gas welding. I just bought one from a friend, so I’m going to try doing some gas welding. Thanks for all you guys do.

I have watched a dozen other people weld today, and I have got to let you know, You are the best darn welder I have seen today! You should be proud of yourself!

Man, please keep'em coming on the "How To" stuff like this! Much appreciated and useful information that can actually be applied in the shop! Love it!

I work mostly with sterling silver and copper, but I often wander over here to watch you work because I’d like to scale up some day. I love that you’re talking about torch work. Personally whenever I pick up my torch I feel it’s an honor (and my privilege!) to carry this skill forward. I hope you’ll consider doing a future piece about torch cutting? It’s something I know nothing about and would love hear about more. Thanks!🙂

I haven't gas welded for 35 years and i miss it so much in the body shop

I would love to see oxy acetylene aluminum welding. Because you explain and show everything so good 😁👍

I learned to gas weld when i was 17, about 40 years ago. Definitely a good way to learn to weld. I still have my AirCo branded torch and regulators that I bought back then. I think it took me about 2 years before I bought real welding rod, coat hangers were plentiful back then. Your patience as a teacher is amazing, for those learning these methods for the first time your videos are a must watch. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

Also, brazing is a great skill to learn. In 2015 I had developed a cargo bicycle that I was producing. I switched to brazing all the rear set pieces. It’s really great for keeping heat out of small machined parts. Plus it looks nice! It’s a very satisfying skill. Once you get good at it. On thin tubing and tiny little parts. It’s really the best way to go!

Another great lesson Karl. Your skill set amazes me every show I watch. I had a good laugh when you mentioned bailing wire. LOL I grew up with bailing wire and torches. Commercial rod was quite expensive in the day. Bailing wire, used, was free. Many hay balers of the day used large rolls of wire to tie and hold the bale together. When that bale was used to feed cattle, the wire was cut/pulled off and hung on the closest fence post to get it off the feed ground. That fence post became a supply point for many welders. two wires per bale, each 5 to 6 foot long. It was also good for some emergency repairs like broken tail pipe hangers, or anything that could be tied up to get on home. I still keep that black wire around, but now I have to buy it. thanks for all you do. thom

So nice to see welding done using the old school methods!

Great video! If it wasn’t -26 out today I’d be out in the garage playing with my oxy torch. I’d love to see you actually weld in a patch panel on a car with this method. Always great content bud 👍

Best weld-heat shrinking explanation I’ve ever heard. Thank you 🙏

Everything you did in the video I've done in highschool it was fun I liked welding especially gas and tig

My suggestion is try a #3 tip, both tanks outlet pressure at 5psi, 1/8" R45 filler rod, and a silent neutral flame (cone is just shy of 1/4" long). Plenty of heat output, but flame pressure isn't pushing the puddle on you. Might've helped to tilt the workpiece angle a bit more too

That brings back memories. When I took welding in college in '99-2000 we spent far more time on gas welding than we did on TIG. Great video.

Thanks for the flashbacks, Karl. My first rig was a very tired 31Chevy pickup that I started on in 61. I plainly remember being so proud of my baling wire welds that I wire brushed them and painted them just as they were. Great times!

I remember when TIG really hit the industry and it was overwhelming used for stainless and aluminum. You know “making things look really pretty” and functional. If you were not in that kind of racket then a lot of guys couldn’t justify the cost. I was a mechanic in the Army and we gas welded everything. Our body shop was all gas welding. No mig or tig and that was 1990.

I am currently 58 and remember back in 9th grade shop class we had to learn gas welding in our metalworking section. We didn't use filler, it was all fusion and we learned on 1/8 mild steel plate. I always loved watching the puddle move. This is actually inspirational for me to think about as something to get back in to, looking forward toward retirement. Thanks

Thank you Carl, I just got my bottles yesterday. I scored a welding cart from 1917 with a complete victor set up hiding inside for 200 bucks at Turloc swap meet. I’m so stoked to get going tonight. Thank you!!

Thank you! I’m 75 and still learning. My first gas welding project was widening the wheel wells in a utility trailer made from a Datsun pickup bed. Gas welding, like you said, is like TIG. My TIG is a simple, cheap unit with no pedal (LOL, so I don’t look for the pedal) but it works fine for what I need. It is my ‘electric torch’. Hopefully this will open eyes of some who haven’t used this welding process.

Cool beans man. This brings back memories. When I was young back in the covered wagon days all we had was a torch and a Lincoln buzz box. We built entire race cars that way. My mom was always yelling at me for using all her coat hangers. If I remember correctly we set the pressure for welding thin stuff at 3/12 lbs. and cutting at 10/30 lbs. Thank you for your time.

I started working in an exhaust shop, learning gas welding underneath cars. Upside down, weird angles. It was the best experience gained ever. I TIG Weld now exclusively but you are so right, if you learn Gas welding it first it sets the fundamentals for TIG.

Back in high school, great memories. Did a demo/instruction with a school teacher a few years ago. 26 kids learning. Needed this video. Thanks

Carl great video So many people don’t appreciate or understand the art form of gas welding You did a great job People forget that a majority of WW2 aircraft was gas welded Well done

Great video I’ve also had welding in high school That’s all I learned was gas welding and arc welding my first job they asked if I could weld Meg and TIG took the test I started working the next day

Carl, your correct about bringing back memories for sure. back in the 1970's and 80's we torch welded everything in the body-shop with coat hangers. from chop tops, 1/4 panels to (patch panels that we made our selves) we also did lead work on your seams. i still occasionally torch weld, with my ol' DHC200 with 4lbs of pressure. we also did exhaust systems with a torch, and coat hangers.

Everything is nicely explained,but i`m sorry that you didnt show how to weld aluminum,i think there are a lot of tricks.Maybe in some other video?😀 All the best,greetings from Serbia✌️

When I was in the 11th grade, I took auto body courses at the local community college. It was such a great experience and my friend and I were the only high school students in class. We would practice gas welding outside and we practiced butte welding. I remember distortion and burning holes through the joint like crazy. If I had an instructor like you I might have stuck with it. It's been over 40 years ago and after watching your videos I feel like I'm ready to finally master this technique. Thank you Karl.

NUMBER ONE! Gas welding Rocks. You could do a whole bunch of episodes on this subject...

WOW! Very impressive video - Karl, you were born to teach! Brought back many memories. Good timing too - a week ago I was digging around for my welding tips. I had some rusty exhaust manifold bolts giving me a hard time and couldn't fit the torch with cutting tip in there to heat them. That was my first walk down Memory Lane; this video was the second. I haven't used those tips since the early 80s! Now you have me fired up to try gas welding again!! THAT will be interesting - my welds never looked as good as these. Practice, practice! I need to make some jack stand holders too - great idea!

Karl, you always do a great job of demonstrating and explaining. The dynamic between you and your "camera person" is nice. I was told by an old-school British craftsman to use 3 - 5 psi on the gauges for light gauge sheet (18-20-ish) and a double to triple aught tip. Look up "aught" in one of those dictionary thingies/apps... it's been around a long time. ;) The lower pressure causes less blow out. It's quite amazing being able to do a 2 foot weld on 18 gauge with a torch after making such a mess when I was first trying this almost 50 years ago. I'm not old.. I just started young. If you have a precise cutting tool you could cut slivers of filler from the same material that you are working with. The metals all flow nicely then. Just remember that just like tig, you want super clean metals. Those of you trying it out on a car... don't forget to have a fire extingusiher handy. It is more fire than mig or tig, after all. Get that Caddy done before your Zephry. You know what they say: Happy camera person, happy life. Or something like that. ;)

Brings back memories of restoration classic cars with the family. I learned it from seeing my uncle doing it. I love to had some set, i definitely going to buy a set soon. Love to see you doing this video

Thanks man for taking the time to share with us your thoughts and skills on oxy-acetaline welding. We know that you are totally busy with a lot of different projects. Again THANK YOU.

As always, great video, great info. I've done lots of silver soldering with a torch, and getting the right gas flow was always hit or miss until I read the tip that you increase the acetylene until the black smoke just stops. You can back it off a little from there, but not much. Then add oxygen until the flame is neutral. This helps prevent the flame from going out from time to time if there is a breeze, but also, if the flame is too small, you'll heat up the tip, as the flame will actually touch the tip. If nothing else, the handle will heat up too, which isn't fun if you are going for hours.

Great presentation, Karl, clear and to the point. Many moons ago when we were young, a mate and I put a Chrysler straight 8 into a Nash. We gas welded the mounts onto the chassis, never had a problem in spite of dire predictions of bystanders.

I keep watching your stuff,its amazing how much knowledge and skill you have in fabricating and welding.. most times you have a jack of all trades master of none.. i have a feeling its the other way around.

Oxy welding , something I havent done for about 40 years. Would love to have oxy again cant afford the gas bill. What I liked about it was neatness , minimal grinding , what I didnt like was heat distortion and instant rust if you didnt prime it the same day

Well done Karl, I find your instruction videos very entertaining. This video reminds me of the torch welding I did in class 40 yrs ago . I must add you are a much better instructor.

I am 63 years old and learned gas welding in the early-mid '70s in a high school fabrication class. Like you said it was where you started and was the foundation that all welding was built on. We also had stick welders, just got our first TIG machine but there wasn't any MIG at that time. I have now returned to welding as a college student working on a Welding Technologies AAS and again we started with gas welding and are working our way through the different weld processes. Thank you for taking the time to bring this to us. I am so glad I found your channel I learn something every time I watch.

As a Boilermaker, we were repairing a very old powerhouse boiler. One job I had was to clean out small diameter lower headers (about 6" in diameter). We had to dig out years of scale, filling half the headers. The boss brought us small garden, hand shovels, that were good for nothing. I took some scrap 3/4 inch wide metal banding. I bent it into a stirrup shape and gas welded it together. It ended up being flexible enough to bend and fit through the 4" diameter "hand holes", and strong enough to work. I could twist it to scrape the sides. Ended up welding a few of them for the rest of the crew. Give the hardest job, to the laziest man. He'll figure out the easiest way.

Oh here it is. I just have not viewed in a while and missed this one. This is the key, these beginners get this function down and it just gives the basic knowledge that one can always fall back on when applying the different techniques of welding. i took a welding course way back in the early eighties and I spent more time on this procedure than any other procedure and like you said when I got to the Tig process it fell right into place.

I first learnt with gas welding as a teen at school. My favorite. I think it's cleaner if done right. It's proper old school. Nice work mate.

You’re an awesome teacher 👍 oh how this brings back memories of my days in high school learning to weld ! I still use this process and believe the welds on rustorations are far stronger 🤷‍♂️

Very well done Karl, really good presentation with both explanation & demo. I learnt pretty young with a torch - 1st lesson "it's all about the puddle". They'd give me 6 same sized squares to weld into a cube - started with plate & as I got better I'd progress to thinner material. Had to keep square corners, no filler. After that, TIG was a sinch. Last I learned was MIG. Stay safe and well :)

You explained expansion and contraction better than anyone I've watched. I am definitely going to try gas welding sheet metal!

Thanks for the tutorial Karl. It was really clear to see you were struggling to get enough heat into that 10 gauge with the 0 tip. Seems like the next size up would have made for an easier bead.

I built my first few cars in the early 60s with nothing but gas welding, sheet metal, chassis, everything. Eventually got a buzz box for the heavier stuff. I gas welded drag car tube chassis up through the 70s. I've TIG and MIG welded since the mid 70s but I'm still most comfortable gas welding, you can see exactly what you're melting together.

Thanks for the nice video, I also learned a few things, my experience is that you can weld best with Acetylene. Propane doesn't get hot enough, fine to make something red hot, but I think it's 300 Celsius too cold. Propane is hot at 3000 degrees Celsius while Acetylene has 3300 degrees Celsius. Maybe there are people who can do it, but I couldn't get it welded. Friendly greetings from The Netherlands.

My Uncle ran his own body shop and I would see him cut a top off and would weld the new/used top from another to the one he cut off. And when it came time to weld he would use Oxy/ace and brazing rods. But like brand new that top would be on, done between my Father and Uncle. This is where I learned about body work. Watching and talking and helping my Farther sand and tape cars to be painted. I like the channel and the topics you do. Thanks. Ronnie.

I to learnt gas welding at college and was good at it, but tig has taken over and acytalen is quite hard to aquire in the UK. It is so cool to see old skills being taught. Massive respect to you Mr Fisher. Keep it coming. 👍👍

Great instruction! Haven't touched an O/A torch since high school (21 years ago) and needed to get back into it for a job requiring welding thinner steel than my mig can handle. This is exactly what i needed. Thank you!

I have never welded but thank you so much for this video and all your others I am now going to start! Will be looking for a oxy setup. Thank you for your amazing videos. Never to old to learn.

You my friend are a wizard! I've learned how to appreciate metal working while watching my buddy Daniel Bauman make spears, swords, samurai helmets, knights body armors and so much more really amazing! You brought back those memories, he had your attitude, and always looking for the pedal,,,hammer etc. Thank's for all you do. 🖖

Really enjoyed watching this,I had spent a few days getting caught up on my gas welding last week. Had a cast iron oil pan that had a little more than 3/4 of the sump cracked on it where someone had gotten a little bit stupid with the backhoe it was on. I’m positive that you run into projects all the time that others have been into that make you scratch your head wondering just what the heck that other guy could have been thinkin. Great video BTW,excellent job with the explanations too,this is the kinda stuff that makes me think that you and your wife have the best channel I’ve run across yet, not to mention the most diverse skill set which covers so many aspects that can be used in all sorts of fields or professions. 👍

I really appreciate your sympathy and yet professionality in (for me) learning how to weld with both acetylene/oxy and MIG welding and sorting out through hundreds of youtube video, thank you

I learned gas welding at college 40 years ago and havent used it since. Now I want to use it and watched your video as a refresher. Thanks for sharing, grear teaching, great demo. As you say, a lot to be learned from the comments too!

Excellent job on this video Karl. I am a career welder who skipped gas welding and went straight to tig. Gonna buy a 000 tip and give this a go.... take it back to basics. You have a huge gift of being an excellent teacher.

I learned to gas weld in 1965. Guess that's why I likeTIG so much. I have done a lot of welding with old style metal cloths hangers after I cleaned them up

Your torch welding looks better than some of my stick welds

Torch welding definitely brings back some memories, my dad was a stud welding with a torch, but he never got the hang of mig welding. one thing we did learning this was to just run beads, start puddling in lines then move on to adding filler, then start fusing plates, and at last give the welding rod a go. Great video and you are right on with the style/editing. A no. 1 tip would be my choice for heavier metal it may require a 1/8" rod as filler though.

I need to head out to work. I'll finish watching later. I too started with the oxy/acc course in school and will pick up the torch every now and then and weld something. I will tell you, at least for me, I didn't grasp a firm understanding for keeping a neutral flame until years later and learning how to forge weld. Keep posting I gain allot of knowledge from your videos that I wish I had 30 years ago.

I took metal shop all four years of high school and loved it this is what the teacher started us with and everybody preferred Rod welding I like the gas welding much cleaner and more precise you did a great job of explaining the expanding and Contracting of metal with heat first time watching you definitely will watch you again

Got sent to Vietnam in’70. Was headed to the bush and was asked what were my hobby’s? I said welding. Other welder was going home. Worked out and was the base gas welder for 14mo. I’ve enjoyed it ever since. Just went to college to learn Mig welding. I love it and watching you do it.

This is the best video, on any subject, that I have viewed on You Tube. After my last brazing job, 38 years ago, I just picked up a torch set. You do beautiful work!

Like you, I learned to weld in high school, starting with Oxy/Acetylene. I've always had a fondness for it. It's somehow such a pure and primal form of welding, and for the all reasons you cited, I always tell people it's the best way to learn (MIG and FCAW, I think are about the worst). Can't wait to see your brazing tutorial!

Don't forget that gas welding basically aneals the metal better than TIG. A gas eeld is "softer" and planishes easier/better than TIG. Great video

First let me say thanks for this video. i leaned more than i ever thought i would. i didn't even know they had different size tips. my small set came with a #2 tip. it's like the ones H Vac guys use. easy to carry. i tried brazing but kept burning through. i now know what i was doing wrong. when you cut the Zephier i wanted to cry at first till you put the roof back on and then looking at it from the front i thought Prefect amount of chop for it. i'm a bit of a purest at heart. chopping isn't in my blood. really enjoyed the video. Thanks.

man that's a great overview for those of us that are in our "more senior" years and haven't gas welded since high school (that would be 44 years for me) and want to get back into it now that I have some extra time. Cheers

Great video as always. Never used gas, started with stick and moved onto mig. I’ll certainly be looking to give this process a try.

Played with torches back in the 50's hanging around local auto repair shop. Got some training from old welder when I worked as an industrial mechanic. Taught me to do fusion welding making water tanks. Would start off with about a 1/4 to 3/8s of fillet rod then run puddle to end of panel. Got pretty gd made quite a few leak less tanks on first pass. Thanked him many times for taking me under his wing, also taught torch cutting, brazing and stick welding steel, castiron, aluminium and stainless. Lessons learned were used all through life, have passed on to my sons. Another great video Karl and tks for memories

Like so many others, I began welding with oxy-fuel and coathanger, back in the early seventies, I was handed the torch and a bundle of coathanger, told to practice for a bit, and tackle the job. I took three years of tig, thirty years ago, because I didn't have a tig welder, and used college classes to begin my tig welding, and bought my tig welder six months or so later. Knowing gas first made every other form of welding easy, you have to learn to control the puddle with gas, as no other form is so demanding. It's really nice to see the same techniques continuing so many years later. Thanks!

You do a great job explaining, all the older muffler shops gas welded you muffler and pipes

I learned so much. Thanks. I used to weld for Toyota in the 90s. Only mig welding. Then never welded again for 20 years. I just picked up a kangaroo kit and want to mess around on my old homemade flatbed trailer. I think I’m ready to give it a try now.

You're taking me back... Nice to see this skill is not lost in the days of electronic everything. Keep it up! 👏

Like others, I started out brazing, and also gas welding with a coat hanger in early 20's. Fast forward 50 years LOL. I mostly arc welded after that, and a bit of MIG. I recently had a need to do a very delicate weld on a broken hydraulic control handle. Too delicate for arc, brazing not strong enough. This video was an EXCELLENT refresher. You have great skill, and you are a very good teacher. Off to the garage, and see how it goes! Thanks a million.

Oh man, you took me right back to Navy HT - A school. You had to master cutting and welding with the torch before they even let you touch the arc welder, and when you did, understanding that puddle flow and feeding it was key to mastering the arc.

I learned to gas weld by reading old WWII training manuals. wish this video was around when I was doing this. I welded my whole frame together this way.

I did my first gas weld today, new rig and bottles. I’ve gone from stick it MiG, now trying gas. Very informative.

Love the way you explain the concept. Really helps me understand and grasp it sooner. I also love the way you use whatever is at hand to make it work. Like the lens on the camera to view the flame. For me that was an eye opener. Thanks again for the great content.

This takes me back to high school 1982-86. This was the first welding process they taught. I suggest use a cutting torch to weld the thin gauge and that will tell you how good you are or are not. In high school i welded my friends kawasaki h2 750 tnt exhaust with a coat hanger and a cutting torch. When you don't have all the tips to do the job you do with what you have. A fat bead in 18 gauge chrome pipes. To me it was adjusting the heat by lifting the torch or hot and fast as my machine shop teacher told me. Practice! Great video!

Big thanks for doing this video and the accurate comparison to TIG. So many younger folks today just commonly joke about gas welding as if it is obviously inferior to TIG. Not so and you just proved it here. Fusion of metals is just that regardless of how you accomplish it. I will agree that TIG offers modern day benefits for ease of use and cleanliness maybe and of course replacing a tungsten is easier than running out to buy more gas but if a joint is welded with proper care, gas welding can be just as strong. It’s still a good skill to know and have in our knowledge tool box.

Finally at age 44 I’ve gotten a complete kit, bottles, cart. Lots of yt university going on recently. My grandpa used to use coat hangers. He also did a ton on brazing on my 71 mustang. I remember a couple of lessons in his garage in Michigan when I was young…lots of melting through. I love the art and finesse of gas welding along with heating and cutting. Best part: flint and steel, no electricity bill!

As a owner of a torch and regulator repair shop you can say I have played around with gas welding and cutting for decades. I must say those fusion welds were clean AF. Gas welding is was and always will be the most economical way of melting metal. Good tutorial sir.

I learned more in this video than any other video on welding. So much good information.

I use oxy/ace about every day and consider myself a jack of all trades. And then I found this channel. I've never had the opportunity to do any metal or fab work of any kind. I've learned SO much watching this channel! I had no clue you could weld with oxy/ace! I will absolutely be giving this a go. Thanks so much for the intro to it. Would be cool to see more of the dark lens shots to watch the puddles but I'll see my own soon enough. Thanks again!

Yeah I fought my teacher in gas welding, too. I wanted to go to the MIG because I thought it was cool. It had the automatic wire feed the cool little trigger thing, man it looked sweet. I spent a lot of time with the torch in my hand though and I got pretty good at gas welding. I got pretty ok with stick welding, too. These days I’m happy he made me spend so much time with the torch.

I’m a new welding student. Last week we learned oxyacetylene cutting and are now on fusion welding with filler metal. This video was immensely helpful. Thanks for going so in-depth and helping me understand beyond the technique.

I am a high school science teacher of 36 years, but am new at learning welding. I want to compliment you on your explanations of technique and why you are doing each step. It makes it much easier to understand the process.

When I first learnt to weld in 1972 at night school, I wanted to learn arc welding but the instructor said learn oxy/acetylene welding first because if you can do that all the other processes will be easy. He was certainly right on that, when I got my first tig unit in the mid 80's it was dead easy as basically the same as gas welding also made mig and arc welding easier.

Great video. I too learned gas welding first. Lately only use the torch for heating and beating with the occasional brazing

The tip sizes actually bring us back to our roots. All of this welding business started in the blacksmith shops of years gone by. There is a correlation between the nomenclature of tips and the nomenclature of horseshoes. Horseshoes come in various sizes. For instance ones (1), ought (O), double ought (00).....arranged in descending sizes.

I'm an old guy; when i was a kid that's all we had with wet rags for body work. Fantastic video ! Thank you sir

You are an amazing fabricator. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with the world. I thoroughly enjoy watching you create new things. Thank you for the positive energy that you put out into the universe!!!!

I still oxy-fuel mainly. I'd go with a #2 for 10ga. Kind of how you control the heat input not only by amps as with speed in TIG. Love your videos!