Tourch

Jewelry Discussion
1

I may be starting up a conversation that has been beaten to
death on Orchid but here it goes…I thought Acetylene burned
hoter and cleaner than propane and that it was much safer to use
and store…I had several jewerly teachers tell me that…

2 
   hoter and cleaner than propane and that it was much safer
to use and store

Hotter, yes; cleaner, no. I think in some cases too hot for my
work (I have never worked in platinum). There has been
discussion of propane pooling in low areas if you have a leak,
but I doubt either is safe if you have a leak!

Dave
Dave Sebaste
Sebaste Studio
Charlotte, NC (USA)
dave@sebaste.com

3

I have been using propane for the last for years, it does not
burn as hot as Acetylene, but it is much cleaner. I forget the
exact temperatures but there is only a few hundred degrees
temperature difference if I remember right. I have found that
propane is much more forgiving of a old tip. I had trouble
getting used to Acetylene. I was given handme downs for torch
tips. I brought mine form home and they worked wonders. I had
ordered new ones the next day. Rick

4 
I may be starting up a conversation that has been beaten to
death on Orchid but here it goes....I thought Acetylene burned
hoter and cleaner than propane and that it was much safer to
use and store....I had several jewerly teachers tell me that..

I was told the same thing, but after reading what has been
written in this group, I am starting to wonder . . .

5 
   I may be starting up a conversation that has been beaten to
death on Orchid but here it goes....I thought Acetylene burned
hoter and cleaner than propane and that it was much safer to
use and store....I had several jewerly teachers tell me that..

hi dede, yes you are and it certainly has. thank goodness i’m not
the only one.

acetylene does burn hotter but not cleaner. the flame contains
(i think) hydrocarbons that can contaminate your metal. propane
is much cleaner. hydrogen is the cleanest and the hottest.

everyone has their own preference for what fuel they like to
use. this was amply demonstrated by the lively discussion you
mentioned.

best regards,

geo fox

6

re: oxy/acetylene being hotter than oxy/propane>>

With oxy/acetylene, most of the heat is concentrated at the tip
of the inner cone of the flame, while the outer envelope of the
flame is relatively cool. (It’s a great flame for accidentally
burning holes in your gold and silver while trying to get the
whole piece hot enough to melt the solder. )

With natural gas and propane, the heat is much more evenly
distributed throughout the flame, and though the peak temperature
is lower, the overall heating ability of the flame is just as
good. Oxy/acetylene can burn in a much smaller tip than
oxy/natural gas or oxy/propane, making flames smaller than a
pinhead possible if you need them. But acetylene tends to burn
with excess carbon. As well as making the flame much too hot at
the tip, that carbon will not only contaminate some gold alloys
(white golds can form carbide inclusions on melting with
acetylene), but it can be absolutely deadly to platinum.

(snipped from article by Peter Rowe)
(rec.crafts.jewelry newsgroup moderator), refer to:
http://users.lanminds.com/~drewid/jewelry%20techniques%20page.html
(United Artworks) for other interesting articles.

L.Veska

7

Dede Sullivan wrote: “I thought Acetylene burned hotter and
cleaner than propane and that it was much safer to use and
store.”

I have always been under the impression that the two kinds of
tanks are constructed quite differently. Propane tanks have a
release valve that will allow the gas to escape when they get too
warm. They don’t have to be very warm either. Being next to a
heat source, or being in an unair-conditioned building in the
summer, or being in the sun is enough to cause some propane to be
released. That is the reason it is dangerous to have them inside
a building. Acetylene tanks have a pressure release plug designed
to melt if they are in a fire so the gas will burn off rather
than explode like a bomb. But they are perfectly safe to keep
inside a building. Think of all the acetylene tanks stored in
unair-conditioned welding shops in Arizona where the temperatures
reach over 100 with no problems. There has been lots of
discussion of the pros and cons of the two kinds of flames.
There seems to be advantages to each one. But I think it’s clear
that acetylene is the safer of the two tanks to store.

Neal Nye
@nnye

8 
 With oxy/acetylene, most of the heat is concentrated at the
tip of the inner cone of the flame, while the outer envelope of
the flame is relatively cool. (It's a great flame for
accidentally burning holes in your gold and silver while trying
to get the whole piece hot enough to melt the solder. )

Just a thought and opinion. I burned more holes in pieces
BEFORE the oxy/acetylene (not an oxygen tan, but there is a mix
of air and acetylene at the base of the tip,) when I was using
the oxy/propane (dual regulator with two tanks)

Maybe, one should just use which ever torch they happen to be
used to.