Why oxyacetylene vs. TIG. and is there any strength differences. I know you will get this one alot so I beat everyone to the punch. HaHa!

-- James Johnson, 0000-00-00

Dear James, and everyone else, too. This is a good question and one I get asked a lot. OA welding thin wall tubing is kind of a lost art. I learned from an old gunsmith who had worked in the World War 2 aircraft plants. Those days almost all 'planes had chrome-moly tubing subassemblies, like to hang the engines and landing gear, and so on. The US was making 80,000 planes a year in these giant plants. That translates to a lot of cro-mo tubing and a lot of women and men welding it up. One of them might have been your granma, baby! Anyway, if you do it right, you get a super strong weld joint that looks like a million bucks and finishes out just beautiful. Is it better that TIG welding? yes and no. TIG is in-and-out fast, with less heat-induced distortion around joints. OA is more forgiving with regard to fitting up the joints. Are there strength differences? OA and TIG welding both wipe out any heat treatment in the frame tubes, around the weld. With OA, the wipeout area (heat-affected zone) is larger than with TIG welding. Does it make a difference? Well, that's one of the reasons frame tubes are butted, to compensate for heat-induced weakening in the joint area. I used to think that those gently curving fillet welds you get with OA welding allow for smoother transitions where forces change direction at frame joints, with fewer stress risers. But only destructive testing could answer the question for sure. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it ugly? I OA weld bicycle frames because I like doing it that way, and it is definitely not ugly. Actually the frames look so good it's a shame to paint them. Thursday

-- Jon

Dear Thursday, Who do you think you are, anyway!!! What do you mean with your snide remarks about S********** and C********* bikes? I ride an FS and I just thought you'd like to know your best frame is DOGMEAT next to the lowliest Taiwan comfort bike from the big S. so there! LL

-- Lowly Larry, 2006-01-01

Dear Larry, Thanks for your comment, I haven't been gettin much action on this site lately. I know I should give you a response, but I just don't know where to start. anyone else want to weigh in? Thursday

-- Jon