Oliver-upwind propane burner

[Harold_V]

I stated, previously, that the biggest problem I have had to overcome is straightening out problems that come from misinformation- Picking fly specks from pepper may seem like an attack on others, but if any of you had spent the amount of time I have trying to get someone on the right track because they've followed information that is misleading, yet not so intended, you might better understand why I respond as I do.

People, by their nature, generally believe what they want to believe, regardless of the truth. They also often have a poor understanding of why things happen as they do. To them, a casual observation creates an image that translates to their reality, often completely wrong. To pass such misinformation to others perpetuates ignorance, creating a never ending cycle of stupidity. All of us see that on a daily basis by the huge number of readers that recover low grade gold deposits from base metals by dissolving everything as a unit, instead of eliminating the base metals, or stripping the gold. The number of people that have come to the forum to ask why they can't find their gold speaks for itself, yet few accept that they should change their operating procedure.

One thing readers need to understand. I get nothing from my presence on this board. I have no aspirations of bettering my processes (I no longer refine precious metals), and I receive nothing in the way of compensation for the time I spend here. I do this to help others. I have no intentions of spending any more of my time trying to straighten out problems created by others that don't understand refining, but refuse to accept the fact that they may be misguided. As long as I'm on this board, if I read the least trace of information that is misleading, I expect I'll step forth and make a correction. If that is more than readers care to see, all it takes is a request for me to stop posting and I'll gladly leave the forum. I spend more time here now than I can afford. The choice is in the hands of the readers.

Harold

 

[Harold_V]

Harold, since we are going to pick apart every little detail here...
In all my years of using a cutting torch, I have never gotten the cut to start until the metal was molten.
True, it is only a shallow skin layer of molten metal when you hit the oxygen lever, but, molten all the same.
Try hitting the oxygen lever before that point, and you get nothing.

I stand corrected.

I should have been more explicit in my comment.
What I was trying to say, and failed to do so, is that the air (oxygen) supply is not just a means of displacing molten metal. In order for the (chemical) reaction to take place, steel must be heated to the point of combustion. It need not be heated to a full molten state, where it would be displaced by air pressure. Cutting action isn't done by melting, it's done by burning, a process that isn't well supported by air due to the inert gasses contained within. That was my point.

Harold

 

[butcher]

only the stong survive.

Lost_Adams, cool off buddy, I can learn from you, and would like you to stay active here, what I wish you could see here is that, Harold is trying to keep information accurate as possible, in which we all learn better, many of us can see something work, and not be able to explain in detail how it works or the chemistry or physics of it, and may be mistaken in the details of the explanation, that do's not mean that it doesn't work, and if we do make mistakes or assumption's of what we see, and another who understand's these reactions, clarifies it, for the good of all on forum and us, we need to learn not to take that personal,(hard to do), but trying to understand as it may only benifit us, it seems your message almost got lost here in the details, and I think you had some good points, I did not understand the concrete cutting with the red hot pipe and air or oxygen, and would like to expieriment or learn more about this.
I am sure you will agree we all want to understand what we see as best as possible, and hopefully be able to explain it that way also.
only the strong survive we need not take this personally as an attack against us, for Harolds intention is only to further our understanding of these reactions, which can only help us to better be able to use them.