Subject: Re: Small Torches for Silversmithing

From: [email-masked] (Neal Howard)
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 22:50:21 GMT

In article <znr753480513k@halcyon> [email-masked] writes:
>In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] writes:
>> I am just getting into silversmithing and am trying to do it on a 
>> tight budget.  The other day I was in a Radio Shack store where I
>> saw a very small butane torch.  It was about 4 inches tall 
>> and took a cartridge refil.
>> My question is, are these torches suitable for soldering small
>> items, like jewelry?  
>        I haven't tried one, but the short answer I'll give you is no.
>I see two problems with them.  They don't sound too versatile and I'd 
>guess they're expensive to operate.
>        They may work fine on a very small piece, but silver soaks up 
>heat like a sponge soaks up water.  The work itself is going to be 
>drawing heat from the joint as fast as that little flame can pour it
>in and you'll play hell trying to get it hot enough.  Probably work for 
>attaching a bail or soldering jump-rings, but I doubt it would be much 
>good if you wanted to sweat something down to a backing piece.  
>        Also, those little CO2 cartridge-sized gas bottles have got to
>be expensive.  If you only use it once in a while it might be okay, but
>silver work ain't like that.  :)
>        I use a Bernz-O-Matic propane-torch-on-a-hose with a "pencil 
>flame" tip (which is still pretty coarse) that cost about $40 a couple 
>of years ago.  Atmosphere-acetylene works well too but it's messy (black 
>soot) and you have to buy or lease a tank.  Since my shop is inside my 
>house, I'm not sure I want that much bottled gas in there.  I stock up 
>on propane bottles when they go on sale (and store them away from where 
>I use 'em), that helps keep fuel prices down.  
>        One of these days I'm going to shell out for a "Little Torch" oxy-
>propane setup.  If you want the names of a few suppliers, let me know.

There's always "Mapp" gas (ethylene or a mixture of ethylene/propane) that
is available in the same size/same fittings bottles as the propane bottles
for Bernz-O-Matic style torches that burns significantly hotter that
plain propane and doesn't cost much more. I used mapp gas in a plain propane
torch successfully to fix some motorcycle exhaust pipes (used a flux-coated
bronze brazing rod) when propane alone wouldn't get hot enough. The mapp gas
flame took a little while to get the pipes up to a workable temperature,
but it did work(an oxy-propane or oxy-ethylene torch would've been a lot
more fun, though). I'd bet that mapp gas in the propane torch-onna-hose
would work pretty well and cost effective for silver work.
=========================================================================
Neal Howard     [email-masked]  CompuTrac,Inc. (Richardson,TX)
|355033|        Disclaimer: My opinions are mine, not CompuTrac's.        
DoD #686        "Let us learn to dream, gentlemen, and then perhaps
'91 XLH-1200     we shall learn the truth." - August Kekule' in 1890
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