Peter, when talking about the little torch no one refers to the dials.. I mean what is the gas set to and the oxy set ?? say starting at the beginning what are the gauages set for the # 1 torch and etc. all theway to # 5 .. LIke gas at 10 and the ox at 10 or..
Calgang, The trouble with this question is that there may not be one
correct answer. In general, though, the little torch is happiest
with pressures considerably lower than those used by other, larger,
torches. I don’t have them right at hand, but I seem to recall the
instructions that came with the thing suggesting pressures more like
3-6 psi on both oxy and gas. But the exact figures will depend on
which fuel gas you’re using, and what you’re doing with the flame as
well.
the smallest tips on the little torch, the numbers 1 and 2, can
really only be usefully lit, if I recall, using either hydrogen and
oxygen, or acetylene and oxygen. Propane or natural gas just won’t
work with those tiny tips, and with them, even the #3 can be hard to
light. I used to find that lighting them needed an actual open
flame, like an alcohol lamp or butane lighter, or the like. Spark
lighters wouldn’t do it. And even with low pressures, you may find
with those small tips that you have to open the gas valve a bit, let
it flow long enough so you’ve cleared out any mixed gas or air in the
lines (there shouldn’t be such, but sometimes…), and then you’ll
need to often close down the valve a bit till the flow is slow enough
to light. If you find you cannot do this usefully, then you know
your pressures are too high. I often find it useful to have the
oxygen pressure a bit higher than the gas, but again, this may vary
depending on what you’re doing. And should you switch to a larger
torch, you’ll often find that the pressures at which the little
torch is happy are way too low to get full use from the larger
torches.
One note worth mentioning too. If a torch tip is hard to light,
take the time to look at the orifice in the end and make sure it’s not
partially clogged. the ruby tipped ones don’t have too much trouble,
but can get clogged with soot, or if you touch the tip to something.
The plain metal tipped ends need periodic cleaning/reaming out,
since as the metal at the tip gets a bit hot, it oxidizes. The oxide
can form flakes, or deposits at the end of the orifice that change
the shape and size of the end hole, making the flame less stable.
It’s easy to scrape it clean again using a small drill bit (one
smaller than the hole. Just use the flutes to gently clean the tip.
Try not to remove actual metal. Or, at a welding supply house, you
can get twisted wire reamers made for the purpose of cleaning torch
tips, though most are sized to welding tips, but there are usually a
few in those sets small enough to be useful for us.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that as with so many things that get
discussed a lot on Orchid, I’d suggest that rather than talking it
over too much, just try some different settings and see what works.
Chances are, you can play with it a bit and find the best settings
for your uses in less time than it takes to send the email to
Orchid. If it doesn’t work, you’ll find that out, and learn something
in the process. People learn a lot more by trying something and
having it not work, than they do by reading about what not to do,
even if, (ahem) it’s me writing it. Most of these things aren’t
“rocket science”. Some folks, especially beginners, find themselves
timid about experimenting, afraid they’ll screw something up. Don’t
be afraid to experiment. Other than taking safety risks (don’t),
usually the worst you can do is mess up a little bit of metal. And
what you’ll learn from just trying it, right or wrong, is far more
valuable than the cost of a bit of metal. I’ve seen a lot of folks
who get quite good at doing some particular technique the perfectly
right way, but who’ve got little understanding of why the wrong ways
are wrong, or whether some might just be other ways, or whether even
there might be easier ways to do a thing. That in depth
understanding of what one is doing is what one learns by making lots
of mistakes, not by making a lot of successful work.
PS Gini Rollins said she met you at a Snag conference.. lucky her.. But she said you were soooooo nice.. Course I knew that already...
Thanks. Say hi to Ginny for me when you see her next. (or are you
reading this too, Ginny?)
Peter