I don’t think that the floating black stuff happens unless oxygen is
used with the propane.
Mark me another Presto-lite person,
Marilyn Smith
I love it !! If you have been using acetylene or propane torches
with the smith-type setups, it will take some adjustment, but it is
nice. Any adjustments that you want to make to the flame while you
work, you can make without having to do anything other than move your
fingers. In addition, you can get tips that allow you to work with
everything from a micro flame to a vey large bushy flame and they can
be changed quickly and easily.
Laura
lwiesler@att.net
Belinda:
I have a Little Torch which I have attached to a Victor Firepower
setup with Y adapters so that I can use the larger Victor torch for
casting and the LT for jewelry work. I have not used the LT very
much, but it seems to work fine with the Firepower regulators. The
Firepower setup is one of those small oxyacetylene rigs which
refrigerator repairmen carry. The main difficulty seems to be
adjusting the regulators to low enough pressures. They do this OK,
but my gages don’t read real low, so it is a bit by guess and by
golly. That said, I haven’t really felt it is enough of a handicap
that I need to change. I just may need to adjust the regulator after
the flame is turned on because I couldn’t adjust the regulator finely
enough just looking at the gage. A very minor annoyance. I use
mostly the #3 and larger tips, so maybe it is more of an issue with
the #1. IF you need more data, I’ll be happy to fire it up with the
#1 and see how easy it is to get the mixture right.
If you ask me, I would go with the Victor regulators if you already
have them. I don’t think you will feel a need to change.
HTH,
Roy
Hi - Not sure who asked for feedback on Hoke users . . but just a vote
for the Hoke! Mine has served me well since buying it used about 30
years ago. It has worked fine for all purposes, so, never needed to
change. My hoke set up is propane/oxygen. This past year, I replaced
the stiffened/aged hoses - but so far, have never had a problem with
the torch valves.
The Prest-o-lite (or Smith) has the advantage of being fairly
portable - for demos or on-site teaching purposes - utilizing only one
acetyline tank. I wouldn’t mind owning one as a second torch - works
fine for small soldering as well as larger pieces. It would be handy
to have one when soldering larger works (handles on raised pieces
etc.), where it seems to require more than one torch to have enough
heat to do the job. Then, of course, it also helps to have another
person to work the second torch. 
If I was starting out today, I would consider the Little Torch - it
didn’t exist when I started out. However, the Hoke is still just fine
and if you have the goal of doing casting or pouring ingots - for
versatility, you may want to invest in the Hoke set up.
You will learn something from every teacher, every book and every
experience. As far as I know, Ray Gabriel still rents videos. His
website for rentals is:
http://www.xmission.com/~arts/gabriel/items.html
Hope this info is useful,
Cynthia
I have a little torch, as well as a larger one. I use them both with
Propane and Oxygen. I like them better with propane than Acetylene.
I have listened to some people say it doesn’t get hot enough, and I
suppose if you work with Platinum, it probably doesn’t, but I am a
classically trained silversmith, and it is fantastic for me. The
little torch has even done candle holders for me… (before I got the
larger torch) so I have absolutely no complaints, but I would not be
nearly so happy with either torch, if I didn’t use Oxygen with both of
them. I have dual regulators on both oxygen tanks, and the control
over the pressure is very important. The only word of advice is to
always loosen the bladder of the regulators when you bleed the hoses
at the end of the day. If you release the oxy, or any gas for that
matter, against an already set pressure bladder, you run the risk of
damaging the bladder. This is not a good thing, and it doesn’t take
more than a few seconds at the beginning and at the end of every day
to ensure that you don’t have this problem.
Listening to this forum, and listening to the choices in fuel, it
sounds a bit like jewelers talking about their favorite tool. There
isn’t a right and a wrong, just which ever you are comfortable with.
(comfort usually eases and helps produce more productivity) But, as
with everything in our trades, be careful, and be aware of the safety
precautions. Any way, releasing the bladders will prolong the life of
your equipment. Always a good thing.
A. Austin
Silversmith
I liked my Little Torch for a little while. One day, though, you
have a 12" x 12" board full of sterling earrings to solder up, and
you want more fire so you can finish standing there already. Also,
it was difficult to solder something the size of a bracelet cuff
(silver) or even a large, manly ring. I’m quite a bit happier with
my Hoke.
I must say I never noticed any difference between the two as far as
visibility of the flame because of the tip angle. Someone’s
stretching to support their love of the Hoke, I think.
-Dana Carlson
Hi Marilyn,
The floating black stuff is soot. It’s usually formed when lighting
an acetelyne-oxy torch with only the acet turn on. I results from
there being too much acet for the available oxy. The excess acet is
converted to carbon (soot) & floats around until it finds something to
land on (usually something light colored).
When lighting an acet-oxy torch, it’s best to leave the oxy off, just
crack the acet valve & light. If soot floaters are observed, adjust
the acet a little lower or turn the oxy on slowly until the soot
disappears. When you’ve got a clean burning flame, adjust the gas/oxy
for the type (oxidizing/reducing/neutral) & size flame desired.
I’ve never observed soot floaters from any of the other fuel gases
typically used for jewelery work.
Dave
Hi Dave, I use acetylene with a Presto-lite so this connection to the
floaters is what I observed during a welding class I once took. I hope
that your fuller explanation will help those who do use the Little
Torch and don’t understand the soot.
Marilyn Smith
Regarding torches: when I wrote before about using the Little Torch,
I neglected to mention that in fact I use three different torches in
my studio. I run both the little torch and a Midget from the same
propane/oxygen supply with a ‘Y’ and two sets of hoses. I also have a
Smith torch using acetylene only. I use the little torch at the
bench, I use the Midget for casting (with an extension neck and
rosebud tip) amalgamating and pouring ingots, and I use the Smith for
annealing only. Each has many applications other than my own usage,
but as other contributors have mentioned, it is entirely a matter of
what you have and what you become accustomed to using.
Michael David Sturlin, jewelry artist @Michael_Sturlin
Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos Michael Sturlin
Studio, Scottsdale Arizona USA