Purox CW-300 Oxy/Acetylene Torch

These torches are made by Esab now. You can get what ever you want for them. Be warned that unless you've got a full Esab dealer near you the tips can be hard to find. In this area nearly everybody uses Victor so that is all anybody stocks. Thus it takes a while to get tips for my Purox torches. Also be aware that you may get spoiled and not want to use any other torch after using a Purox. :-)
Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

All parts are readily available from ESAB, you will never want to use anything but Purox or Oxweld after trying it.

Spoiled? Are they really THAT good? I thought they were like a cheap model or something. I can find the tips around here, or at least these ProStar tips that are compatible with pretty much whatever torch you own (the popular models, that is). But, I actually need everything else right now. :) All I have is a hose and the torch head, with a cutting tip.

Hmm, okay, that's two people now who say these are good. Like I said, I thought they were cheapies or something. I have also seen Oxweld listed around here, and figured that anything other than Harris and Victor were $hit. Good to know. I will have to check out ESAB then.

Well to me and a few other people I know they have better balance, handling, and smoother cutting control. I've got both a old Purox made by Union Carbide at the time (Purox has gone through a lot of owners) and a new Esab unit. I must say that I prefer the old in many ways but I still think the new one beats any Victor I've ever used. But then the old Purox I've got is the one I bought when I was 13 and is what I learned on. On the other hand I did have a guy helping me who had a fair amount of experience with Victor cutting torches. He became a convert real quick after using my Purox for a while. I know that several of the old time welders around here who used to do a lot of torch work favored Purox torches. Most of these guys are dead now but they started welding back when the only thing going was a acetylene generator , oxygen tank, and a torch. There's still several pipelines around here that they welded with a torch.
Points in favor of the Purox.
The handle is a decent size. The victor handle is way to small in diameter making it hard to get a good grip on without straining.
The oxygen lever is smooth. Well it's extremely smooth on my old Purox. The new one is a little stiff but I think It'll smooth out with a little use. Victors on the other hand tend to have a catch about half way through the action. This makes it hard to feather the oxygen lance. Admittedly this isn't as big a deal with normal cutting but for cutting old welds or other free hand shaping operations it can make a big difference.
The tips tend to be better. In the past I would of challenged anybody to find a better tip than the Purox tip. They where drilled and then swaged down to size. Victor and after market companies step drill there tips. I've had brand spanking new Victor tips that wouldn't cut worth a flip. Looking down the lance hole showed that the small hole had been drilled completely off to the side of the larger hole. Purox on the other hand had a smoothly tapered hole due to the swaging process. I'm not completely positive that Esab has kept this swaging process but I've yet to get a tip from them that didn't cut decent right out of the box. I'm afraid I can't say the same for aftermarket tips.
Wayne Cook Shamrock, TX

Every Purox and Oxweld tip is flame tested before it leaves the factory in South Carolina.

That sounds pretty decent. I just need to find somewhere now that sells them. I was on ESAB's site, but their "Store Locator" isn't working.

I will definitely need to keep all of this in mind, then. I just need to find somewhere that sells the parts I need and I will be set.

You can get them or order them through any Airgas, Praxair, AGA/Linde or many independant distributors.

Really? That sounds good then. We have a Praxair here, but I have not been in there. I know they are the ones who have the ProStar Purox compatible tips, though.

I can't find anything on their site other than those ProStar Purox compatible tips. I am going to have to find somewhere that sells the torch handle and such. I can't get ESAB's site to cooperate with me, either. Everything I try to do results in a "Page Cannot be Displayed" error.