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| Heat needed |
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| -steves-:
Hi all I am after doing some silver soldering on a Stuart Crank. Even after a fwe minutes of heating with my little blow torch (camping gaz style) I was not able to heat it up enough to make the solder run :( What do others use that I could purchase cheaply to do this type of job? Cheers Steve :) |
| John Rudd:
I dont think there is anything 'cheap' that will cut the mustard.... Firstly do you have a brazing hearth? One can easily be made and doesnt cost the earth to make. I use cement board, bought from Wickes for around £15 for a 3*4 foot sheet, knocked up a frame from some scrounged angle..job done...Smaller components can be surrounded with fire brick pieces to reflect the heat and that is where a lot of problems lay...Heat is easily given up into the surrounding air not what we really want... Heat wise, I too have a couple of the screw top bottled gas torches, ok for small stuff but nothing that comes close to a crank or a boiler.. My alternative is a 6kg Propane bottle and a suitable torch...Machine Mart is where mine came from (although I dont think its up to doing a boiler- something bigger needed I think) and costs around £30, a tad cheaper than the Sievert ones but does as good a job... I'll even admit to using a paraffin blow lamp at times.... :clap: |
| andyf:
On John Bogstandards's advice, I too went to Machine Mart and got one of these propane torches: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/fs555-gas-torch-kit When you release the lever on the side, the flame reduces considerably, which is economical on gas and safer than waving around a torch which is running at full blast if you are momentarily distracted. You need to budget for a total of £100 by the time you have bought the propane and paid the deposit on the bottle. Previously, I did manage to silver solder some realtively substantial items with a small MAPP torch like yoours, but I was able to balance them over a gas ring on the kitchen stove, and thus get some heat into them from below. Andy |
| -steves-:
So if I had a small red bottle of gas just happening to be sat in the back garden, i think that is propane? That should fit one of these torches? Failing that, I have 2 large red bottles of gas in the caravan I could "borrow" :) Are these the right sort of thing? I think the bottles are "Flowgas"? |
| John Rudd:
If the cylinders are Red in colour, look to see if it says Propane on the side somewhere....... Propane is the hottest of the two readily available gases and works down to a lower temperature ( if you're going to be doing stuff at sub zero temps... :lol: ) |
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