Micro torch?

Welding Techniques, Theory, Machines and Questions.

Moderator: Harold_V

User avatar
DianneB
Posts: 733
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:05 pm
Location: Manitoba, Canada

Micro torch?

Post 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.
User avatar
Bill Shields
Posts: 10460
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
Location: 39.367, -75.765
Contact:

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
User avatar
steamin10
Posts: 6712
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2003 11:52 pm
Location: NW Indiana. Close to Lake Michigan S. tip

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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.
Big Dave, former Millwright, Electrician, Environmental conditioning, and back yard Fixxit guy. Now retired, persuing boats, trains, and broken relics.
We have enough youth, how about a fountain of Smart. My computer beat me at chess, but not kickboxing
It is not getting caught in the rain, its learning to dance in it. People saying good morning, should have to prove it.
User avatar
Harold_V
Posts: 20231
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 11:02 pm
Location: Onalaska, WA USA

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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
Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
User avatar
DianneB
Posts: 733
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:05 pm
Location: Manitoba, Canada

Re: Micro torch?

Post by DianneB »

I have an oxy-acetylene set (with regulators) and just need a pinpoint torch.
User avatar
NP317
Posts: 4557
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: Northern Oregon, USA

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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
User avatar
DianneB
Posts: 733
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:05 pm
Location: Manitoba, Canada

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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.
pete
Posts: 2518
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:04 am

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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.
User avatar
Bill Shields
Posts: 10460
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
Location: 39.367, -75.765
Contact:

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
User avatar
DianneB
Posts: 733
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:05 pm
Location: Manitoba, Canada

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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!
User avatar
10KPete
Posts: 440
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:29 pm
Location: Nordland, WA, USA

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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
Just tryin'
User avatar
Frank Ford
Posts: 594
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Contact:

Re: Micro torch?

Post 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.
Cheers,

Frank Ford
Post Reply