Oxy/Fuel bottles - Buying, renting, exchanging, etc.

[Mike00]

Thank you all for chiming in with your experiences.
I guess it varies a lot by distributor.

"First do you know there is a maximum withdraw rate (flow) for acetylene bottles"
I have read about that, as I understand it, the general rule is not to flow at a rate higher than would empty the bottle in 7 hours. Is that right? and would that allow for short use at higher flow or is that a hard limit that must not be exceeded even for a short time?

As far as lease tanks, I read that there is some ID stamped on top near the collar with the lessor's name or number or something. Could someone with leased tanks confirm this? I'd hate to buy an empty core, trying to save money, then be stuch with a useless tank.

"if you lay an acet. cylinder down for transport, you MUST wait at least 12 hours or preferably 24 after you put it upright before you open the valve and/or attach your gauges!"
I did not know that. I'm very glad to have learned this, the easy way.

"buy any size above the MC, as far as i know, there is no issue buying one off CL and taking it in to swap or get filled they are not as regulated as O2 bottles"
That leads me to a new line of questioning, oxygen bottles.

"I replaced your photo with an attachment of the same.
We do not use embedded images or off-site hosting."
Sorry, I should have read the rules.

"Please indicate what you want to do with your torch set, and then we all can
give advice from that point forward."
First thing I need to do is get familliar with it. Then I'll probably try to work up to brazing soup cans. I've only ever used an oxy torch to loosen seized/rusted metal. If I build up enough skill, I have a few old vehicles I'd like to try my hand at body work on.
As far as bottle sizes go though, even if I'd never need to flow more than a 35cf tank can flow, and the supplier was right next door, I'd still want to look at price because I doubt that a 105cf tank costs 3 times to fill as a 35cf.

"Rules on bottles change from state to state and supplier to supplier."
I'll have to look into Illinois. I don't think I'll be pushing anywhere near the limits on capacity unless Illinois is extremely restrictive.

"getting the hydro'd every 10 years"
I understand there is a date that should be readable on top of the cylinder. Is this date the date of the test or the date the certification expires? Also if I bring a tank as a core, that is out of certification will they take it anyway and test it? charge me a fee? will they take one that was last tested 20-30 years ago?

I ask this because those kind of tanks that have been sitting around, not being used for that long, are the ones people finally end up dumping on craigslist.

Thanks for all the help so far.
I might have about a million more questions once I get this thing up and going.