TOOLS AND THE SHOP > WELDING & METAL FABRICATION

Acetylene cylinders - somebody always asks

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Lance:
Couple old illustrations from days gone by since the Grating Protectors in the Swamp decided Asbestos was going to kill them. 
Unfortunately Asbestos didn't kill em fast enough. 

Evidently the word concretious wasn't splained while they were awake and sober in cow ledge. 

Yes, that cylinder was cut in half on a saw with water running on the cut to flush away chips, and yes the blade was ruined by the concretious filler, but it was ready to go before the cut began.  Up close it looks like a sponge or blue styrofoam board that's been sawn.

pep:
Interesting, I've known they were filled ..... Seeing the reason as to why Acetylene cylinders are not to be store on the side. And if shipped on the side (pickup bed) why there is a need to let the gas settle before using.

Good one

Pep

Fins/413:
The Acetylene is also dissolved in Acetone.

Lance:
As with so much in the world of uneducated people the Do Not store on side issue has been blown way beyond proportion. 

Acetylene did build itself a bad reputation coming from France to the US where people who couldn't read or understand instructions managed to blow many buildings apart with simple devices like household lighting systems.  PresToLite found itself needing to build a small city a few miles from Indianapolis to get the canned Acetylene business up and running for vehicles.  As the city went up, buses and other vehicles, even electric vehicles, plodded along in the dark using Ham kerosene lights if they could afford the best.

Oddly, when canned Acetylene arrived in buses, the cylinder was used oriented slightly above horizontal.  PresToLite B cylinders into the 1940s were built with gauges in the bottom so the user could determine contents remaining, and discharge valves located near the side of the head rather than centered.

In 2019 the uneducated masses only working till they can find a fool to pay their student loans hides from Acetylene peeing down their leg in a closet wondering how long the battery will last on their device, and will 911 send a big truck to save them.

goodfellow:
"B" cylinders did stand for "Bus", and I believe the smaller "M" cylinders, that we use in the porta torches today, stands for "Motorcycle" -- God only knows how many other cylinder designations they had back in the day.

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