old gas torches

[Pitchy]

I`ve had the big torch for years and just bought the small one yesterday.
They are gasoline torches but i`m burning Coleman fuel in them as using gas makes me nervous.
The small ones could be used for soldering and i like the old way of doing things.
Anyone have or use these type torches?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnVRrYJVZr8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDuLLX6LvHo

[AmBraCol]

I've seen them, never had a chance to play with one though. Nifty gadgets that most folks anymore would snub. Me? I love old tools!

[Pitchy]

Thanks, yep caution, careful, safety all come into play when fiddling with these old torches.
I bought a couple others on ebay that will be here next week, one is a unusual alcohol model i`ll post about it then.

[J Miller]

I remember those torches. From many winters ago when my dad had to go out and crawl around the mobile home we were living in to thaw out the water pipes.
If my memory is right, the knob on the tank is used to pump pressure into it then the flame is controlled by the valve on top.

I've never had one myself.

Joe

[Pitchy]

Yep that`s right Joe and where most problems occur in that type torch. The check valve in the pump can go bad and when pumped spray gas all over you.
These torches should never be pumped when operating.
Here`s a good web site about them.
http://blotorches.com/

[Rusty]

I've got 2 of them Pitchy. The leather in the pump usually goes bad and makes it so you can't pump up any pressure in them so I put a schrader valve in mine. I only put about 5 lbs of pressure in them, it doesn't take much. I never thought of looking them up on the net. I only fill mine up 1/4 full when I'm ready to use it. fill the little trough with gas and let it burn till it's almost gone and flickering, then the top is hot enough for proper combustion.
I was wondering if you had any of the soldering irons that go with them. When you said you were building your boats out of a/c ducting it made me think back to high school shop when we all had to build a sheet metal tool box with a removable tray and all the joints had to be soldered using those old irons. Oh and to get an "A" the joints all had to be water tight.

There's really no difference between the Coleman fuel and regular gas from the pump as far as the flash point is concerned. The Coleman fuel might be filtered a bit better. With the tolerances in these old torches I wouldn't spend the extra $$$.

[wm]

I inherited two of them but have never fired them up......partly too chicken and partly I more accustomed to the propane ones.

Wm

[Pitchy]

Rusty i only have one iron, seen a set on ebay the other day.

[mikld]

I think these are the original "blow torches". BTW, Coleman fuel is just "white gas", or gasoline without all the automotive additives...

Keep us informed of your adventures, I enjoy reading them.

[Ranch Dog]

You guys might really dig this, a plumber's smelter! I used it a little for bullet casting. Inside the heat shroud is a removable cast iron pot for the alloy. I did have issue with all the seals in the unit, tried to replace them with leather but it wasn't unusual for it to catch on fire. I gave it to a fellow that really was into this type of equipment and he got it all right. He offered it back but I wanted him to keep it.

[wolfdog]

I have a couple that I have not messed with in years, probably should dig them out and go through them. I have 4 or 5 "irons" although if I remember right the proper term is copper.

[Grizz]

Yeah, I had one. I was laying on the dock stripping paint from the waterline up when the torch did the spray flame all over me thing. It was convenient that I only had to drop the terrorista directly in the water to give it the bubble test while I extinguished the sleeve fire...

...Grizz

P.S. description. bubble test: drop the item in question, often a faltering piece of electronics, sometimes a recalcitrant outboard motor, over board and count the bubbles. fewer than 7 bubbles the item is toast. more than 7 bubbles the item is toast. but 7 bubbles indicate the item is perfectly alright. common diagnostics used in fishing fleets everywhere.

[Sixgun]

They are gasoline torches but i`m burning Coleman fuel in them as using gas makes me nervous.

Yea Pitch, I read that too before. Probably why they don't make 'em anymore. You figure that while your using it, you may not pay attention to a little leak then...........vooooooooooommmmmm, your arm goes up in flames.------------------6

[gamekeeper]

We call them Blow Lamps over on my side of the pond.

[Blaine]

I had a Colman gasoline lantern go "BatStuff" on me about 20 years so..If it had been in the tent, I might not be here now... ..I've been using propane ever since

[stretch]

Gee, Pitchy - I actually learned to solder in shop class with a soldering iron like
the one in your pic! Holy smokes! Am I REALLY that far down the road?!?!

Cool torches - operate on the same principles as their lanterns. Just the thing for
rural living, too.

-Stretch

[3leggedturtle]

Gee, Pitchy - I actually learned to solder in shop class with a soldering iron like
the one in your pic! Holy smokes! Am I REALLY that far down the road?!?!

Cool torches - operate on the same principles as their lanterns. Just the thing for
rural living, too.

-Stretch

Pitchy: I have seen them and didn't know what they were til now.

Stretch: I gradjitated '80 and was taught how to use and "tin" them in '77 or so.

[Eye-Bite!]

when I was 7-8 years old my dad light it up and it scared the living Ticks out of me... Now I have it and won't go near the darn thing.

[Hawkeye2]

Wolfdog you are right, the correct term is soldering copper as they are made of copper. When I was a kid these (blowtorches) are what the plumbers used to solder pipe and they were regarded as very dangerous back then. They are meant to be used with "white gas", an unleaded gasoline. Back then Amoco sold an unleaded gasoline from the pumps at their stations and was the only source that I remember. The gas used aromatics to increase the octane rating rather than tetraethyl lead and was what everyone used in their Colemans too. I'm not sure but I think it was also recommended for outboards. BTW pressurized kerosene lamps such as Aladin can turn into a flaming tornado too.

If anyone has never had any experience with a blowtorch I recommend you keep it that way and just use a propane torch, it's much safer.

[Pitchy]

Thanks for the replies
Ranch Dog that`s pretty neat

I picked up a couple more odd balls today, the first was missing the chimney so made one, it`s a Otto Bernz.
The second is a Spartan alcohol torch but i can`t figure out how it works. There`s the big wick under the cap and then there`s that tube that runs up the side that ia open on the bottom and a hole out the side at the top. But there is no connection between it and the tank so i don`t know how it can get fumes in it or its purpose.

[Pitchy]

Up-date, i found some info on the Spartan, it works more like a bunsen burner. The main flame is the big wick, the tupe on the side is an air tube which when gets hot is supossed to draft air and blow the flame at an angle for some reason.
I have to see that happen yet.

[stretch]

Well, you keep at it, Pitchy!

You'll achieve hawkeye's "flaming tornado" yet.

Just mind your whiskers.....

-Stretch

[Pitchy]

This is a small Lenk torch, works great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xLXtb3HIFM

[Ben_Rumson]

Nothing I like more than putting old tools back in service and using them....But I'll take my piezo electric start propane torch every time over one of those old blow torches... especially laying under a house in the confines of scrawl space...on/off when I squeeze or let off the trigger...

[Ji in Hawaii]

My dad had one back in the 60s, he used to burn the weeds in our yard with it. I remember those were the stereo-typical torches in all the cartoons when I was a kid.

[wfo]

My plumber buddy has a few of these torches on a shelf in his office. Every time I see them, they remind me of The Three Stooges.

[Pitchy]

This is a small Lenk torch, works great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xLXtb3HIFM

Cool.

Correction this torch is a Jim Dandy.

[ollogger]

Not to much into torches

maybe cuz I drive a propane truck


ollogger

[Pitchy]

Not to much into torches

maybe cuz I drive a propane truck


ollogger

[Blaine]

This is a small Lenk torch, works great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xLXtb3HIFM

Alcohol? How hot will those get?

[Pitchy]

This is a small Lenk torch, works great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xLXtb3HIFM

Alcohol? How hot will those get?

Yep alcohol, don`t have any idea about the flame temp.

[Pitchy]

Got this one today and it`s a dandy, maker is Lenk and it burns alcohol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXZVSRX9TVI

[Tristan]

I`ve had the big torch for years and just bought the small one yesterday.
They are gasoline torches but i`m burning Coleman fuel in them as using gas makes me nervous.
The small ones could be used for soldering and i like the old way of doing things.
Anyone have or use these type torches?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnVRrYJVZr8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDuLLX6LvHo

Dad has one he's offered to let me clean up and use... thanks for the reminder!

You love the cool ol' tools, doncha Pichy?

- Tristan

[Pitchy]

You love the cool ol' tools, doncha Pichy?

- Tristan

I love the cool of things made well that are simple and i can fix myself before we got to this age of pay more and get less.

[madman4570]

Remember them Pitchy-----------don't have or ever used them.
Heck,I am spoiled------if it doesn't have(the little propane jobs)an electric push button igniter --- I am thinking I'm roughing it!