Water Torches Product Review

I’ve just recieved the Rio Grande News and Product Review and
Eddie’s Tips has an article on torches this time. He talks about a
water torch which uses electricity and distilled water to split the
water into hydrogen and oxygen and deliver them to the torch where
they recombine and burn producing heat and water vapor.

He mentions several advantages…low fuel cost, almost no stored fuel,
no pressurized gas cylinders, portability. Says they work wel for
goldsmithing and for small silver work.

I am researching torches right at the moment, and I would like to
know more…Does anyone have on these torches? Where to
get them, who makes them, how they compare cost-wise to acetylene or
propane set-ups, and how they perform?

Any info would be appreciated…thanks. Catherine…Cate Jewelry

   I am researching torches right at the moment, and I would like
to know more....Does anyone have on these torches?
Where to get them, who makes them, how they compare cost-wise to
acetylene or propane set-ups, and how they perform? 

http://shorinternational.com/WaterFlameInstr.htm

Not sure if this is the correct one - but hope it helps.

I am researching torches right at the moment, and I would like to
know more....Does anyone have on these torches? Where to
get them, who makes them, how they compare cost-wise to acetylene
or propane set-ups, and how they perform? 

I can’t speak for all water torches, but I’ve been using the Okai
“TurboBraze Hydrofluz Welder” for about six months, and it’s serving
the majority of my needs well. Those needs are safety, reasonable
cost of operation and, obviously, effectiveness. On the plus side,
this unit’s 18 to 36 gauge (‘sharp-point-less’ hypodermic needle)
torch tips enable me to get right in on top of tasks with a kind of
precision I could never dream of otherwise, save for the use of a
laser welder, which is about 20-30x as expensive. And, since my shop
is in our home, the facts that I don’t need to store gas tanks and
that theprimary gaseous byproduct oftorchburning – other than that
from fluxes, metallic oxides, et al – is water vapor,make
itreassuring to me to use it. Now, for the bad news… If you’re a
lover of textures, like I am, you’llprobably wantto pick up a second
torch, like those butaneBlazer torches (or, you can save some money
by heading over to your local home goods store and asking for a Creme
Brulee` torch, since the two are identical!), since the majority of
the water torches use a self-fluxing catalyst, which prevents you
from doing the depletion gilding necessary to do reticulation. In
addition, the flame sizes they produce – again, via hypodermic
needle torch tips – are so small that the heat they produce, while
extremely intense, occurs in such small diameter flames that most
larger works in silver or platinum are simply not possible to do.
With mine came a warning that it could not handle silver or platinum
pieces larger thanthe average wedding band. By the same token, there
are other such torches that can, although you’re not too likely to
find them for much less than $2,000US. In the end, I guess it all
comes down to an accurate needs assessment: what sizes and metals
are you likely to be working in, and under what conditions? (I hope
this’s helped somewhat.)

Doug
Douglas Turet, G.J. President, Turet Design
P.O. Box 242 Avon, MA 02322-0242 (508) 586-5690
@doug