I’m a tool nerd like most of us and I wanted to try out the upgraded tips that are offered for the little smith torch.
Luckily, Neil on here was willing to send me an adaptor that converts the standard little smith threading to a meco threading which the aftermarket tips are made in.
Thank you @neil_a3 , you are a truly generous person.
Upon receiving my adapter, I excitedly got on Etsy to order some tips from the vendor I had heard about. Sadly it was one of the most deranged and hostile purchasing experiences I’ve ever had and ultimately I decided NOT to pursue that brand. (Search my posts for context)
I DID buy the Impgen tips from Otto Frei. I purchased sizes 00,1 and 3.
Since I’m not a multi decade pro, my review will not be exhaustive. What I will say is that I prefer these tips for focused work. They seem to have more “velocity”. They might be a bit hotter as well. For things like soldering jump rings, resizing shanks with the ring body in water, and other high focused heat, I prefer the Impgen tips.
For general silversmithing tasks and annealing, the original smith tips are great.
I hope this is at least marginally helpful and if anyone has specific questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Hi Brennan,
just a couple of Q’s if that ok.
Did you still have to use the adaptor on the Impgen tips?
I’m still trying to perfect the focused hot quick solder work and the water trick. I use LPG and find the number 4 tip is good for 0.5mm jump rings, I used the number 3 on my granddaughters very fine chain but ended up soldering two links together. She does not mind as her favourite chain is back together and can wear it again.
What gas do you use? and is there and tips of information you could give me?
Thanks,
Dazzle.
You still need an adapter. They sell one on Otto Frei. I think it’s to convert to the meco threading.
The 00 or 0 tip works really well for soldering jump rings. I don’t even use water. I use my tweezers to hold the joint separate from the necklace and lobster clasp and fuse the solder filled jump ring. I’ve also had luck using the standard size 04 tip too so I don’t think these tips are required for this type of thing. But it’s a good place they excel.
Thanks Brennan, what I mean by the water trick is fixing broken rings with stones, I did a ring shank repair for a friend and tried the water as it had a very pale blue topaz in a bezzle setting and yep, turned the stone clear/ Lucky for me that she loved that it happen as she didn’t like the blue that much. I’ve done some research on the subject since then and when I get a bit of time, I’m going to make a ring with bezzle and set stone, then solder the shank together last to practice what I have learnt.
Dazzle.
I use the water technique to do most of my resizes because I work with mostly semi precious opaque stones that can’t handle any heat. I do have to use two torches to get enough heat to solder a wider band most of the time. I’m still trying to perfect my process and water splatter can be a pain in the butt.
I’m not very knowledgeable about topazes. Did the topaz get too hot in the water?
I only had a small can and wrapped paper hand towel around it, soaked it but I was using the wrong flame and by the time the solder flowed, the h2o had evaporated, the paper towel was smouldering and the stone turned clear. basically heat treated it, glad there was no flaws in it. you can do it with zircons too, get the dark brown ones and hit it with a flame and they turn clear, sometimes they may turn green but rare.
I got the idea for paper towel from an English guy that lives in Japan and has a you tube channel but as I said, wrong flame
Regarding zircon turning clear from brown, yes, that’s true, but brown zircon is commonly heat treated to controlled temperatures to drive off the brown and improve the color to red or pink. If you go to too high a temp, it goes clear. So I wouldn’t use an open flame and heat it without any control. The nice reds and pinks are worth far more than the clears, so don’t heat it indiscriminately or on accident. Just another colored stone issue to be aware of. -royjohn