What torch?

[Jazzy]

Like George, I have many torches, but have finally settled for my little smith and my aquaflame thingy.

My orca now sits lonely in a drawer as I no longer need to take visits up to my mum. Very portable, but now redundant for my set up. It has connectors for mapp and for the big standard gas bottle. It is a wonderful beastie, but space and limits mean the two I now use can only have smaller support. I have a little nimrod for those spot soldering moments or power failure.

The orca remains a favourite tool from the past.

Hi Wallace

Could I ask if you would be interested in selling your orca and accessories

Thank you jazzy

[medusa]

If you are considering buying the sievert torch shown in the link above, look here
I've got a smiths little torch hongkong knock off and I'm very happy with it, but it also requires a supply of Oxygen as well as fuel.

I think mine is a knock off as well. I use mine with an oxycon, but dear lord, I have problems with it! I'm doing something wrong, I know, but I'm pretty sure the flame isn't supposed to be ~that~ little!

[Goldsmith]

I think mine is a knock off as well. I use mine with an oxycon, but dear lord, I have problems with it! I'm doing something wrong, I know, but I'm pretty sure the flame isn't supposed to be ~that~ little!

Hi Liz, My Lttle Torch is a very old model, I only use nozzle sizes 4/5/6/7. I thought I would take a few photos to give you an idea of what size the flames should be. The firebrick in the background is 9 inches long and I included a £1 coin as a size reference. My torch runs off propane and an oxy cylinder. the photos show each nozzle's flame size from my smallest, number 4 up to the largest I use number 7.

James

[medusa]

thanks for that James.

I think I really need to get mine sorted because I get nothing like those kind of flames off mine. Nozzle 6 (which is the largest one I have) gives me something close to your first picture. Maybe it's the oxycon or the it's the fact that it's a knock-off.

When I get the next lot of work out of the way I'll try and get some vid of it in action.

[ps_bond]

I get about the same as James with my (gen, recent) Little Torch and an oxycon.

[trialuser]

Mine is definitely a fake (or a bargain, which I doubt!). It seems the knock offs are slightly less powerful than the genuine item for the same nozzle size.
These are pictures of mine with a number 5 nozzle set to about min and about max, there is loads of range within each nozzle size depending on the flow rate of the gasses.
This is O2 from an oxycon and fuel is propane, I have also used it from medical (100%) oxygen and it 'seemed' a bit hotter. I think Oxycons knock out low 90's%.

[medusa]

I get about the same as James with my (gen, recent) Little Torch and an oxycon.

go on. rub it in.

[ps_bond]

I think Oxycons knock out low 90's%.

The Devilbiss I bought from Tuffnells does 93% +/- 3% @ 1-5lpm according to the service manual.

go on. rub it in.

Sorry. Looked at the knock offs and came to the conclusion it was an area where "buy cheap, buy twice" held sway.

[susieq]

I often have problems soldering and truth be told I think the main problem is me, but it doesn't stop me from wishing that I had a torch with a bit more oomph.

For bangles, which is mostly what I (try to) make, I have, as Dennis has suggested in the past, built a little "oven", but with limited success especially when it comes to avoiding firescale. I manage to solder 3.2 x 1.6 mm wire but it takes several minutes, and I've never had any success getting solder to flow on wire larger than that, even with two handheld torches. (I have the cheapie cookies torch and a lakeland torch, although the latter, even though it's bigger than the cookies, doesn't seem to hold much gas and quickly runs out).

Mind you, I frequently have problems soldering jump rings - I can have a whole row of them and some solder easily and others remain stubbornly unsoldered and then I lose patience with them and spitefully turn them into little balls.

The little torch looks lovely - small, easy to use and lots of youtube tutorials where one needs only tight clean joints, flux, a few bits of solder, a little heat either side of the join, flux turns glassy and voi la - solder flows, no time for firescale and hardly any cleaning up to do. Obviously, I do all this already (with the exception of the solder flowing and no firescale) but iin any case, unless I spend the next year doing overtime then I can't justify the cost.

I've used a Sievert in class and although weight wasn't a problem, I did find it very difficult to see where the hot part of the flame was in relation to the bushy part, so whilst it was great for annealing I had just as much trouble with firescale when it came to soldering with it so I'm not sure it's an ideal next step up for me.

I'm leaning towards the Orca, but I've only ever seen it in a catalogue, never up close and personal. The cheapest option would be with a Mapp cannister, but I'm concerned that that will make it cumbersome (and heavy) to hold. Also, would hotter Mapp in my inexperienced hands be more of a liability than propane?

Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions. Hopefully Walsh's will have one I can manhandle at IJL.

Susie

[Dennis]

Hi Susie,

Don't hold you breath, I don't think Walshes will be there, and if they are, they haven't in the past had any gas on. Sutton tools have demonstrations, so they are a more likely bet.

You are right, bangles even of quite thin wire, need large torches to solder them efficiently. As I have mentioned before I often use two hand held Campingas torches together (one in each hand) to spread heat evenly. To get a more bushy flame, which is kinder to wire, I have made sliding brass clips, so that I can partially close the air holes. This has not been tested by Health and safety, but works for me.

As for jump rings, try laying them flat with each join exactly on a small pallion of solder. Then heat patiently and it will give you a high success rate. Regards, Dennis.