I had a plumber doing some work, so I asked him to run a natural gas line to my bench. He did and, at street pressure, it produces a nice small soft flame that I can use on little things like earrings and chains. The pressure would have to be boosted to get much more out it. I am curious what experience others have had with gas boosters and if there are any others beside the G-Tec line. They seem to be the gold standard for NG boosters. Thanks…Rob
Hi Rob,
My father/grandfather’s workshop used natural (town) gas and mouthpiece blowpipes to add air pressure. I first learned to use the tapered brass tube type (pictured below) that are only good for bench-mounted (fixed position) gas pipe outlets, that you move the work piece around within the fixed position flame. The small end sits onto a groove filed into the end of the gas outlet tube.
This video short shows the idea:
Alternatively, the handheld type gas torch (pictured below) with a flexitube mouth piece are suitable for moving the flame around the fixed position job piece.
And video showing usage:
Natural gas torches can also be used with an air compressor instead of mouthpiece. These torches have a second screw valve (for the compressed air):
Or can be used with tank oxygen, such as with a blowtorch or microtorch like the Smith Little Torch.
Here’s an interesting summary of torches:
There’s so much variety, have fun.
Regards,
Col.
the use of mouth blow pipes is ancient. before modern technology and during the turn of the 19th century, jewerly fabrication was done using mouth blow pipes… truly fabulous pieces were made with “primitive” equipment… lamp gas, made from heated coal and water, resulting in carbon monoxide and hydrogen was the first gas used before natural gas. Hydrogen came before natural gas. When I was a kid, I used a homemade blow pipe from aquarium tubing and a glass rod that had the end fused to a pinhole…blowing air into a candle flame gave temperatures hot enough to melt copper wire. I improved on it by using an aquarium air pump for airpressure… natural gas in the home is pressurized only to .02 PSI…methane (natural gas) burns at a lower temperature than propane. In fact, on a molar and volume basis, it’s the lowest temperature gas that is a common fuel gas.
Overcoming it’s limitations is by pressurizing it gives high temperatures and high heat output. G-tec makes natural gas and air compressors that have enough heat output to use for industrial purposes. Nat gas is delivered to the home at 200 psi, however building codes do not permit bypass of the regulator that drops the pressure to 0.2 psi.
What is the benefit to NG over any of the other possible options?
Like Rob I learned on a Prestolite plumbers torch. I was never concerned about the possible safety issues of the acetylene/air torch. Dad had one in the shop for nearly 50 years with no worries. The reason I changed to a propane and O2 Little Torch was the convenience of buying propane at the hardware on Sunday if I ran out of gas. I realized the benefit of the additional heat a Propane/O2 torch brings to game pretty quick. (The change over was not cheap I must add) The capability for bigger melts being only one benefit but it was a big one. I don’t do anything with platinum so I get all the heat I need with my fairly simple set up. And I am capable of handling my current production schedule for shows with my Little Torch in my One Man Shop. Perhaps if I were running a large production operation I would look into NG.
But is there a benefit to NG that a small shop like mine would find? Does it create a cleaner atmosphere in the shop when it burns? Is there less fire scale to worry about? Besides an NG compressor would I need to buy more, different, tools? (My wife says I don’t need much of an excuse to buy more tools.)
Don Meixner
Don…I am only looking at NG as a way to get all the compressed gas cylinders out of the house. As it turns out, the NG pipe installation cost me nothing. I initially contacted my plumber to see if he did that kind of work. He said that he did and then sent me a quote. He was in the process of selling his business, so when I got around to actually having the work done, the new owner sent out a couple of his people to do the work. Luckily the old plumber was still working and he came with them to explain the job. He left and when they were done I went to attach my torch to try it out and discovered that all but a couple fittings were only hand tight. I got on the phone and called the new owner and as soon as I mentioned that these fittings were so loose that there could be a leak, they suggested that I call the gas company and have them shut off the service. I blow my top and explained that their guys were just here and I wanted someone beside them to come out right now and fix the installation. My old plumber came out in about 30 minutes, took everything apart, reassembled and tested each joint and left very embarrassed. A couple days later they called and said that it was a no charge job because of all the trouble that they caused. When the two guys who did the initial installation were ready to leave, I asked them what they do normally and they said drywall and insulation. That is when I knew that I had a problem. The G-Tec booster takes on NG as you use it and boosts the pressure to as much as 15 psi. It is somehow designed such that it doesn’t retain any NG other than that which s being used at any point in time. The fire regulations for all of New York City are written to prohibit any compressed gas cylinders, so G-Tec boosters are what it installed. They are expensive and I don’t know as I will ever buy one. I would like to see if I can find a torch that will run on street pressure NG and O2 from a concentrator or compressed air first. As for NG, it is very clean and produces a bit less heat than propane. It is very convenient otherwise…Rob
If you use a ventilated tip, natural gas works fine. I chose to get a G-tec and have used it for 20 years. I don’t run out of gas, it’s clean and cheap. What’s not to like?
Judy h
We use natural gas in our studio with oxy tanks. We have a gas furnace, a gas on demand hot water heater, and a gas stove. Tim did all of the gas plumbing as well as the oxygen lines. The gas pressure we get from the city is just fine.
Since we work with platinum, gold, and silver we like the ability to adjust the oxy/gas flames from super hot to soft and bushy depending on the metals and the projects we are doing.
I hate acetylene and propane gas. Acetylene is dirty and the heat from propane is very unforgiving. Especially when you are trying to avoid fire scale. Also propane gas sinks. You never want that gas to sink to a natural gas furnace or hot water heater in a basement. The tiniest spark and boom! It’s game over.
Jo…What torches work with NG at street pressure? Thanks…Rob
My sweetie Tim uses a meco midget. My torch is probably 80-100 years old. Note the modification on the photo of one of the tips. I drilled out one of the tips to add a piece of brass tubing for fine work. Then eventually I added a syringe tip as well. One of my former favorite soldering set ups was when I had access to a water torch while I was working in the repair/ manufacturing trade. It was perfect for tipping prongs on diamonds and repairing super fine chains, jump rings in dicy places, etc. The syringe tip is as close as I can get to that.
Jo…Thanks for the words and pictures. I have a Meco that I too have used for years. I have the original single hole tips and a complete set of Paige tips. Finally, I have modified an extra tip with as a piece of syringe just like yours. I haven’t used it for a while. Are you saying that your Meco will work with street pressure (less than 1 psi) and O2? I haven’t really tried, but will soon. Thanks…Rob
My husbands Meco works just fine without a booster. That said if you add a blow back arrestor on your gas line then yes you will need a booster.
I have used ng at street pressure, but like it better with a G-tec. Emily Benoit Ruffin, jeweler extraordinaire in Taos, NM uses ng at street pressure in her shop - and she uses an older Hoke torch.