Gas Blowtorches

[ANDREW JACKSON 6Participant @andrewjackson6]

Hello,

I am looking to get a small gas torch for brazing & silver soldering of small fittings and fabrications but not for boiler making. Can anybody give any recommendations please?

Thanks

Andrew

[ANDREW JACKSON 6Participant @andrewjackson6]

Recommendations wanted for small gas torches

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Hi Andrew,

A Bemzomatic TS8000 is good for silver soldering and brazing small parts. It has a valve to adjust the flame size and a trigger which opens the gas supply valve and ignites the flame. Great one hand operation. Got mine from the local hardware shop.

Propane and Map gas canisters are available in different sizes. Map pas produces a hotter flame but costs a bit more. For brazing bigger parts I use an oxy/propane torch.

Paul.

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Yeo, use the same type for plumbing and small brazing jobs Map gas is by far the best.

Paul, i;ve been looking for an oxy propane torch, which one do you use?

Graeme

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

I would look at the British made Bullfinch, I have had these for over 40 years and used very regularly almost daily and only one small problem. On one torch the pizzo ignition stopped working, returned to Bullfinch and it was repaired at a very modest cost. Would highly recommend them.

Edited By JohnF on 18/02/2015 22:20:58

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

Hi Andrew,

I am using a Sievert propane torch, similar to this. Mine is old but is still working well. The handle can accept a wide variety of burners and neck tubes.

Thor

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Hi Grahame,

My oxy/propane torch is a CIG Porta Colt and is about 25 years old but still works. problem is the price for oxygen bottles. I only use 1 D-size bottle per year and the cost of rental for the bottle costs me more than the gas which I use.

Paul.

[ANDREW JACKSON 6Participant @andrewjackson6]

Hello,

Thanks to everyone for your advice.

Andrew

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I've bought a variety of torches over the years, for all of them the control knob stripped off its shaft before I'd used a canister of gas. Then I got a Bernzomatic, it is excellent and never had another problem. It mainly gets used to light our anthracite stove but there when I need to solder something.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

All the small torches that screw on to the top of a bottle of gas are not equal. I have two and one is MUCH fiercer than the other, but they are not marked so I can't recommend a brand.

If you only want to do a modest amount of work, the cheap torch kits from Clarke/Machine Mart that run off a big cylinder are fine, but not as robust or flexible as a sievert/bullfinch type.

Neil

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Andrew, what sort of size are your fabrications? I fabricate a lot of my models and the type of torch that screws onto a bottle even if a decent mapp gas would not get them anywhere near hot enough for silver soldering. I use a bullfinch torch that runs of a Calor propane cylinder and even then it can take a while to get the larger fabrications hot enough.

J

[Jesse Hancock 1Participant @jessehancock1]

Yes bottled GAS from B.O.C or similar is prohibitively expensive to rent for a lone amateur. I know from experience when welding a steel boat. It may be possible, if needs be, to bring several members of a club together to share the expense? Bring back colleges with night school classes.

Plumbers used to carry a port a pack oxygen acetylene from the above but because of rising rent prices they too have gone over to MAPP. My son, being a plumber, uses a Rothmanberg torch both as a cigarette lighter and a soldering torch! I suspect as usual you pay your money and get what you pay for.

Note: there will be a small burn off of the residue gas in the torch neck, so don't be tempted to tweak them too hard when turning them off.

If treated with care they will last a long time.

Jesse

[IanTParticipant @iant]

I've used various 'portable' gas torches to silver solder, including the small disposable can (B&Q) types. For small items I use a (baked bean) can stuffed with ceramic blanket to focus the flame and hold the heat – takes less time and uses less gas. I also have a 1/4" steel plate that I place on the gas ring (when someone else is watching TV) to pre-heat multiple parts – again the gas torch is used to complete the work but this approach uses less (bottled) gas. For soft soldering parts together – I sometimes don't even need the extra heat btw – I just use the plate.

I have trained on O/A and very much enjoyed using it – it's a very useful tool but I decided I could not afford the cylinder hire for the amount I would likely use it (and I didn't really like the idea of having O/A cylinders around either).

So I purchased a Bullfinch 404 which will 'Bronze' (brass) braze steel as well as silver solder. SIF bronze is much cheaper than silver solder – so worth using where possible – it's probably stronger too in many applications.

Some may recall that I asked whether it was possible to adapt my "Patio" gas propane cylinder to use with the 5/8" POL fitting on the Bullfinch. Well the solution was much simpler. I still had the old Calor butane cylinder for the BBQ that I owned before the new (propane) one. I was enquiring about 'adaptors' at my local Calor stockist when the Manager said he would happily exchange my butane cylinder for a propane one. So I swopped a 7kg butane for a 6kg propane and just paid for the refill (£22). This will last a good deal longer than the smaller gas bottles and is not too heavy to move.

I will probably still use my smaller torches for quick jobs but the Bullfinch 404 will get used for SIF brazing of smaller parts and some silver soldering. I'm still practising with it so cannot say too much but it seems good I think it is the best alternative to O/A for my particular needs but I will have to take be cautious in its use for some work as it can be quite fierce and I'm pretty sure I could melt smaller brass components with it if not careful. So my smaller propane & butane torches will still get used when I need something a bit "softer" in the way of heat.

Regards,

IanT

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

I've got a standard Clark type torch, runs off propane bottle, had it for years and still OK. It takes different nozzles, have a small one about 1/2" dia ,ideal for small plumbing and will do small silver soldering esp. on stainless. I have been looking for a gas -air torch that will use propane with no luck, I am sure I can remember them in the past but seem to have disapeared.

[VicParticipant @vic]

Sievert make a great range of gas torches. Just be careful where you buy them, they can be expensive.

These folks were the best price I found at the time but do a google.

http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Sievert_Neck_Tubes___Burners_1.html

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Keep us posted as to how you get on with the 404 Ian, I have been thinking about one as it would suit the steel fabrications that I do and the ability to form a larger fillet than silver soldering would be very useful. I've also got a couple of packs of sifbronze rod somewhere.

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Look at ADAMS Gas, they supply rent free bottles on the basis of a refundable deposit of £55, you can get it back any time. £85+vat. Worth looking at under "HOBBY GASES"

Edited By KWIL on 19/02/2015 11:08:41

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

You don't specify the sizes, but I imagine you mean rather small items? The following may be of assistance. They are all silver soldered fabrications.

This governor valve body is small – the copper pipe is only 1/16" diameter and fairly short. I used a turbo-flame lighter (the type that produces a small needlle flame):

This sandbox is about 1 1/2" high from 16 gauge brass, and at the upper limit for the cook's blowtorch:

This water pump is about 1 1/2" high. I used a cook's blowtorch:

This fabricated cylinder is about 2" tall and comprises 7 parts, it required the use of a screw-to-a-can blowtorch:

Finally, this fabricated engine frame is about 5" high from steel and required the use of the Clark propane torch:

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

over thirty years ago I and a friend made our regular visit to the Saturday morning Auction in Colchester where I found a box of junk, proper rubbish with a Sievert torch a gas regulator and a few nozzles stuck at the bottom, which I got for less than £10 which I've used regularly since and added several nozzles from a fine flame to blowlamp size, it gets used to soft solder petrol tanks together and generally heating metal.

Martin P

[ANDREW JACKSON 6Participant @andrewjackson6]

Hello,

Thanks again for all the assistance. I have just taken up Model Eng. again and plan to make small stationary engines and possibly G1 locos or 1" traction engines. I was thinking of a "screw on a can" type torch to cope with the boiler fittings and valve gear type fabrications, and nothing larger than Neil's examples.

All the best

Andrew

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

A collection of old petrol blow lamps on display at a recent antique engine fair.

Paul.

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

I have a bullfinch torch the hose could do with replacing Where would you buy about six feet? I am near Bolton Lancs

Roy

[JohnFParticipant @johnf59703]

Roy, try a caravan supply shop or go to your local Calor Gas supplier or try a welding supplier in your area.

[CabengParticipant @cabeng]

Not relevant to the thread, but…

Paul, my eyes popped out of my head when I saw your photograph!

Many moons ago I was in the Nelson area of NZ, we passed an antiques place on some back country road, my wife couldn't resist, so we went in. Where I found this item:

Sievert Type 28. I sent my photograph to Sievert, who said that they had no record of the device, they didn't have one in their collection, and that it must be quite rare. And now there's another one, right in the middle of your picture!

A complete aside – my wife was talking to the owners wife, who was also English – turned out they both came from Upton on the Wirral, and both had attended the same convent school.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Those Sievert soldering irons were about as common as grass, every plumber had at least one.

My conversion to LPG came about when I was using my grandfather's petrol blowlamp (Primus I think), it blew back through the gland on the control knob, and as I was standing near the door, I dropped it, and kicked it across the yard, the shock put the flame out, but I have not used it since.

Ian S C

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