Victor 0384-0936 Medium Duty Portable Outfit

I've had an industrial strength Oxy-Ace Torch for many years that I use for brazing and welding...but I only use it infrequently these days, and it takes up a bunch of space (4 foot tall tanks, etc). My spouse also uses a small Acetylene-only torch for jewelry making.So I bought this unit to replace both my huge welding torch setup and my spouses jewelry setup. It works like a champ with good industrial quality welding and cutting heads and is light enough to hand carry and store out of the way. For my spouse, I added a "Little Torch with 5 tips in a box." It provides a small-handle torch suitable for jewelry making that attaches directly to the Victor regulators and tanks (directly compatible hose fittings), and it provides better heating than she had with her small Acetylene-only torch.I'm VERY happy with the torch's quality and performance...it's actually a step up in quality from my 1950s professional-grade industrial strength torch. The soft burnished brass handles are rock solid, very attractive and professional looking. AND, the new smaller tanks and regulators are more in keeping with my present needs, and perfect for my spouses jewelry making torch.I highly recommend it for small scale applications similar to mine.

Usually, when I see an outlier rating like the 1-star titled "Perhaps too small for any welding use," I don't give it much weight. After all, there are almost always at least a few folks who simply are never happy, and how can (in this case) 9 people be so pleased with a bad product? Being new to gas welding, I assumed that an outfit supplied by one of the two names in gas equipment would comprise components that worked together to provide the capabilities advertised here, "Cuts up to 1/2" and welds up to 1/4" with tips supplied in kit." So--contrary to my normal approach to starting up a new pursuit, I bought first and educated myself second. After doing my own research, I found that Mr. Bode was absolutely on target. A check of the Victor catalog shows that, at 3 Psig the #1 welding tip in the kit uses 3 Scfh of acetylene (requiring at least a 30 cf tank of acetylene to meet the CGA minimum safe withdrawal limits for intermittant use)--the #0 cutting tip supplied uses 5 Scfh and requires a minimum of a 50 cf tank at the same working pressure. In fact, a call to the Victor tech line produced an admission that there is no welding/brazing, heating or cutting tip made by Victor that can be safely serviced by the included 10 cf (MC) acetylene tank with the possible exception of the #000 welding/brazing tip (which maxes out the tank safe-draw-down rate and allows you to weld 1/32" stock). Bottom line--the supplied tanks are essentially useless! Those who are happily using this kit may not be experiencing burning acetone dripping from their welding tips, but it is a good bet that acetone droplets/vapor are making it into their regulators. Forget about this kit! Save the $130 the tank and caddy add, and purchase all the other identical items plus a heating attachment in the Thermadyne (now Victor) 0384-2045 Victor 510/540 Performer Medium Duty Oxy Fuel Outfit for $247.96 and then buy some tanks locally that will actually allow you to safely do something!

For those that need portability in a cutting torch, this is a good option. The quality is very good. Even comes with goggles and a striker.

Excellent product. Victor is still one of the Best, as claimed by my friends.Clean and well-made torch. Lights easy, welds smoothly. I have not tried the cutting torch yet.Just bought it last month - so far no issues at all.

The Compressed Gas Association (CGA) is the regulatory agency for most aspects of compressed gas handling and use.Their rule G1 5.3.3.13 applies to absorbed acetylene cylinders limiting the rate of acetylene withdrawal for this MC or #1 sized cylinder at 1 SCFH intermittent use and .67 SCFH for continuous use. This eliminates all practical use for welding since the smallest usual welding tip, victor 000, consumes more (typicaly 1.5 SCFH) than these limits. ( The MC is still useful as supply for acetylene lamps on motorcycles for which it was designed)The concern about faster withdrawal is that acetone liquid will be withdrawn with the acetylene leading to regulator damage and/or hose damage. Also poor weld quality will result.I do recognize that there is wide use of this MC size acetylene cylinder for these portable welding outfits where the withdrawal rate may be as much as 10 times the CGA limit. Are regulators being damaged? Hoses damaged?I do know that the earlier 1966 CGA limits that would have allowed 1.4 SCFH was made tighter in 2006 to the above limits.Even the old 1966 rule all but eliminated welding use.I believe these regulators have a fitting for this size cylinder only.Here is the text of the 2006 CGA rule G1 5.3.3.13:"To minimize the withdrawal of liquid solvent, acetylene should be withdrawn from the cylinder at a rate not to exceed one-tenth (1/10) of the capacity of the cylinder per hour during intermittent use. For full withdrawal of the contents of the cylinder on a continuous basis, the flow rate should be no more than one-fifteenth (1/15) of the capacity of the cylinder per hour."I Hope to see some comment here on how the CGA rule can be violated without a problem so I do not have to return this outfit.

great for mobel use

We use this in commercial use on a daily basis and it is a good unit when you don't need a full size unit. It is used by us primarily to cut replacement torsion springs for sectional garage doors.

I had used for new compressor replacement job and it worked perfectly. I will buy again and also refer to friends !