Well, having gone from my little handheld butane torch to my oxy/
propane bad boy, I’m finding it’s rather a massive learning curve to
say the least. The oxy/propane is fine for soldering palladium but
I’m finding it rather difficult to solder silver without almost
melting it! I haven’t actually melted anything yet, but I have ended
up with a horrible, bubbly looking finish on some pieces, which I can
only assume is due to me overheating it.
Problems I’m experiencing so far include:
-
The actual hand piece of the torch is really heavy, giving me
annoying arm ache when doing the simplest of soldering jobs. Then of
course there’s the added weight of the hoses attached to the hand
piece. -
Switching the whole thing on seems to be a job for an octopus
compared with the handheld. -
I’m finding pick soldering (which I do most of the time)
difficult, both in terms of actually picking up a piece of solder
and then placing it onto the work due to the different flame making
it difficult to see what is going on.
I’m sure there are other things that I’ve forgotten to mention but
there are a few to be going on with. I’m toying with the idea of
changing the hand piece for a much smaller one - not sure yet. Any
advice would be very welcome, thanks.
Helen
UK