Hello all, I was recently in the mall with my kids, and noticed a
fellow off to the side of the jewelry counter at JC Pennys,
sizing rings. Knowing he was working an instore/ourside
concession promotional, I took my kids over to watch him size a
ring. What looked like a large aluminum hotdog stand type
bench, I asked him what kind of torch he was using, and he told
me it was a hydrogen/water set up! Small handpiece, clean hot
flame… anyone see this before?
Gail Selig, too busy schleping kids to find quality time at the bench!
Gail: I have seen and used this type of torch and personally, I
don’t like them. Their biggest advantage is that you don’t need
compressed gases like accetylene or oxy. Much safer and easier
for the enviornment of a shopping mall or other public area.
However, the type of flame produced is much more condensed and
intense. The units cost about $1,000. & up I believe and require
a supply of chemicals as well as oxy drawn from the outside to
produce heat. I suppose that if you were used to it, it would be
fine but I learned many years ago using the traditional
oxy/natural gas jewelers torch and prefer it greatly.
Best;
Steve Klepinger
bench jeweler and frustrated designer
I opened up a jewelry store in 1987 and picked up on one of the
hydro torches. Neat little tool. It was extremely clean and
once purchased was pretty economical to use. The problem was
that I picked up on a smaller unit thinking about the type of
work I would be doing (mostly bench work). It worked well for
retipping and shank work, but anything much larger it was pretty
useless. I am sure that they have become more efficient over
the last dozen years, but if you check one out, make sure it has
enough heat for what you will need.