Very slight tangent... but heading in a good direction;
Take the star with you to a real,not sLowes,Home Despot... welding supply store. Ask them for a name of any retired or small machine shops in your area. Show them the Star, it's lightyears faster than ANY attempt to explain the problem. Once they see you're not trying to circumvent? any uhh,how you say... large shops? They'd know who has the right equipment,as they probably sell gases to the guy. Don't call,go in middle of the week,look for the old guy.
Good luck with your project.