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Micro torch?

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 5:59 am
by DianneB
I need a micro torch for silver soldering small pipe fittings. This one looks promising but I am having trouble finding technical details:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Jewelry-Jeweler ... 1438.l2649

They are sold under various brand names but obviously come from the same manufacturer. If anyone has one, I'd like to know how small/fine a flame you can get with the smallest tip! :?:

I have many decades of soldering experience but even my "jeweller's torch" is too big for small fittings. I have a Mircoflame torch that was perfect but gas cylinders haven't been available for years. I would adapt it to oxy-acetylene but don't know what to use for cylinders.

Experience, thoughts, and suggestions welcome.

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 6:39 am
by Bill Shields
you can us any O2 / C2H2 cylinder with mounted regulators...setting the pressures appropriately. The fittings on the tank end of the hoses should be the same.

I have one of these things and honestly have not used it in decades...having converted to a small Sievert air / propane torch for the small stuff.

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 11:30 am
by steamin10
Its not much money to invest in a tiny torch. I have a similar one but dont use it. I use my industrial sized rig. The small bottles will be a pain for filling for frequency. But then again, a small hot torch is better than nothing at all.

Remember it is the journey and not the destination that is important. Once you have any tool and its abilities, the learning starts.

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 3:23 pm
by Harold_V
Be aware that the torch set does NOT include regulators. It's a knock-off of the Smith mini torch, which comes with not only regulators, but a set of mini bottles. The torch set offered would not be functional without them.

You need not worry about the smallest tip if you acquire a Smith torch, as one of the advertisements that used to be seen shows the lighted tip inside the end of a cigarette. I expect that it would be too small, if anything. If memory serves, the smaller tips have rubies for the orifices. Very small, indeed.

H

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 3:49 pm
by DianneB
I have an oxy-acetylene set (with regulators) and just need a pinpoint torch.

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 5:54 pm
by NP317
DianneB wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 3:49 pm I have an oxy-acetylene set (with regulators) and just need a pinpoint torch.
I simply install the smallest tip in my oxy-acet torch assembly, and keep the balanced flame small.
I do all my small-piece plumbing silver brazing this way.
Yes, I COULD melt some of the parts with this setup, but I don't. Heat management is easy to learn.
Molten metal travels "up-heat" toward the hotter area.
~RN

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 6:06 pm
by DianneB
I know that. That is precisely why I am looking for a pinpoint flame, so I can draw the solder where I want it without cooking the rest of the piece.

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Sat May 26, 2018 8:14 pm
by pete
Hi Dianne,
Fwiw a guy on Youtube with the user name of Cliffs Shed did a review of that torch not to long ago. The video might be worth checking out as he had some minor and not so minor issues with it.

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Sat May 26, 2018 8:42 pm
by Bill Shields
D:

trying to draw solder without getting the entire piece to the correct temperature is fraught with peril.

it is best to get the entire piece to the correct temperature then wave the torch around where you want it to flow.

in the long run, you will find this a good way to work.

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 6:04 am
by DianneB
Oh I can solder! I can solder very well. The more precise a heat source I have, the more precise the work I can do, which is why I am looking for a finer tip. Using a regular torch on fine stuff is like driving a finishing nail with a sledge hammer!

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 10:05 am
by 10KPete
I have a Smith Little Torch and it works quite well. Somewhere in the past I saw a demo of this torch where the guy fusion welded the wires for a thermocouple inside a cigarette tube without damaging the tube. He used the smallest tip, which has a saphire jewel orifice, and hydrogen, which is all Smiths recommends for the smallest tip...

I love mine but the shakes prevent me from welding things inside paper cigarette tubes....

Pete

Re: Micro torch?

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 10:52 am
by Frank Ford
Here's a second vote for the Smith Little torch. Only problem I've had is remembering that the tiny flame is actually there on the smallest #2 tip sometimes, it's so small it's hard to see in some lighting situations. I find the tiny tip works with acetylene.