OA questions

Steve,

The top of the line is still the Journeyman. I just bought a Victor Super Range II because it was on special at my welding supplier for $199. The Super Range has the 100FC torch body. The contractor plus outfit has the same torch body as the Journeyman (H315FC), but not as many tips included.

If I had the money, I would have bought the Journeyman.

HTH,

rvb

SteveB wrote:

At the risk of not knowing your situation, I might suggest OA for welding and a plasma torch for cutting. I work in my garage and never felt safe cutting with OA so avoided it. But I suffered with the weight of the Victor handle when I welded. Eventually, I get a plasma torch (which I love) and replaced the Victor handle with a small Meco. The Meco is not only lighter and easier to get into small joints, but pops less than the Victor in tight corners. And the tips can be easily re-drilled for in-between sizes. Good luck.

I am assuming you are in the market for a combination torch. Journeyman and Contractor lines come with big regulators, torch handles and cutting head. The difference in packages is in the accessories that come with them. SuperRange comes with smaller regulators, torch handle and cutting head. Don't know what feels good in your hand, but most people I know who weld with OA prefer a smaller torch handle, some even the prefer one smaller than what comes in the SuperRange packages.

Journeyman is too much for the everyday hobbiest. The Henrob or Meco is probably a better choice size wise.

You probably missed the phrase, "I prefer Victor, as I have owned them

Am I being dinosauristic in sticking with the standard of the past, or are there new products and technology out there that I should consider?

Steve

Not really. I have a 10yr old Journeyman kit and it is great. They are hard to beat for many largish tasks.

However on a whim, I decided to get a Henrob a month ago and I really like it. The angle of the pistol grips isn't the best but the performance is great. I basically decided that the Journeyman (315fc handle) is really too big for the majority of stuff that I do. So far I've been wearing out the #00,#0,#1 tips on the Henrob and hardly touch the larger ones. This just tells you that for my uses the smaller torch is a great item to have. For $100 or so the Meco may have been a better purchase. Until I got a smaller torch, I wouldn't have realized how much I'd use it compared the to big boy.

-CAL