Flash wrote:
i stopped by the local welding store and they quoted me what looks
like
list price for the following items :

1) Harris "victor compatible" kit
$470 includes 55 cu. ft. oxy and 35 cu ft. acet
add $35 for cart. Exchange both bottles for $30.

2) Victor kits $630 for the Journeyman. plus (lg. bottles) $185 for
acet, $228 for oxy, $80 for a cart. $40 to exchange both bottles.

It's been many years since I've done any brazing or welding and my
first
project will be some light work on some custom tools and parts of a
motorcycle exhaust system.

Later I plan on working on some mild steel "wrought iron" work around
my
property that has been kind of beat up over the years. Longer term I
will be doing more work on motorcycle exhausts and a few more custom
tools and equipment...nothing big. This is mostly hobby stuff.

Has anyone bought this type of equipment lately and how much of a
discount did you get/expect ?

Are the victor kits that superior to the Harris or is it a name brand

thing ? Are the victor regulators of vastly higher quality, for
example ?

thanks for any comments or suggestions.

---
John

Ouch! Usually those kits are more like $150, the mailorder outfits
will have them at those prices. The kits usually include 3 or 4
welding tips, 1 cutting tip(either too small or too large, depending),
cutting attachment, handle, hoses and single-stage regulators. The
hoses are usually too short, too. For general work, single-stage
regulators will work and will probably do for what you want. If you do
a lot of heavy cutting, you'll want to go to two-stage regulators,
maybe with a higher flow rate.

"Victor-compatible" sounds like a rebadged Chinese import to me, HF
sells these cheap.

I've used both Harris and Victor equipment, the Harris handle my dad
had is pretty heavy, the mid-sized Victor I've got is more comfortable
in my hands for long usage. Both are decent quality units that should
stand up to hard use, I wouldn't say one was superior to the other.
The main difference is in availability of parts and accessories like
tips, that's dependent on your local dealers. If you buy a kit, you're
going to definitely want to get more cutting tips and maybe larger or
smaller welding tips, depending on what you decide to tackle. Around
here, Victor seems to have better parts availability. YMMV

Bottle exchanges rates around here have been running in the $15-20
range. You need to look at the fine print to see if you're actually
buying a bottle, leasing for a fixed term(like 5 years), or what. The
initial cost for the cylinders seems a little high.

Stan