Using propane gas

Can I use propane gas to do my silversmithing ? I do lampwork beads
and have to use propane, but dont want to buy another torch and
another bottle of butane gas - so wondered if I could use propane
for the metal ?

Thanks so much
Kind regards
Jaqui

Yes you can. I use propan - butan gas for 30 years.

Just don’t use it in the basement. Unlike natural gas, propane is
heavier than air (1.5 times as dense). In its raw state, propane
sinks and pools at the floor.

Mark

You bet, many of us use propane/oxygen all the time. I started out
on propane alone, in a plumber’s type torch with a pencil tip. But
you probably are using oxygen for your glass, right?

Mlou Brubaker

Flammability is a property not usually mentioned when discussing
fuel gas safety. Flammability relates to the maximum and minimum
concentrations of a gas or vapor that will burn in air and is
defined by a range between the Upper Explosive Limit (UEL) and the
Lower Explosive Limit (LEL). Above the UEL a gas air mixture is too
’rich,’ or concentrated, to burn. Below the LEL the gas mixture is
to ‘lean’ to burn. Propane has a range of 2.1 to 9.5. The narrowest
range of the common fuel gasses acetylene, hydrogen, propane and
natural gas. Acetylene has the widest flammability range by far of
2.5 to 100. A narrow range is safer.

I use propane (LP) and O2 for everything, including casting
platinum. It creates plenty of heat, burns clean and is easy and
cheap to get. Others have warned about its heavier-than-air property,
so I won’t elaborate. Just please be aware.

Dave

Can I use propane gas to do my silversmithing ? I do lampwork
beads and have to use propane, but dont want to buy another torch
and another bottle of butane gas - so wondered if I could use
propane for the metal ? 

That’s all I use anymore. You can even use the little bottles. The
little torch works well with propane. You do need to have oxygen with
it though