Old School Soldering

[joeqsmith]

That's a big shell casing. 

I finally put the Turner back together.   Your friend my not like my repair work. The handle screws are new brass as I had destroyed the original ones.  I left the paint on the handle original.  Note the pump stems discolored part way up.  The torch was stored on it's side and the stem had corroded to the point where it was about to snap off.  I welded that entire stem to build it up and then put it in a lathe to cut it back down and polished it a bit.   Used some Teflon tape for the small pipe and replaced all the seals.   

I ran water through it today for the first time.   No leaks and seems to hold pressure well. 

Now we just need some good weather and I'll try out the new soldering iron...

Looks just fine in fact very tidy Joe. 
If it wasn't functional the only options are restoration, buying a donor to fix it or scrap/recycling.

But like anything aged one must decide its value to you and whether you intend to use it or have it as a collectors piece in used, restored or NIB condition where the common models are worth more as a tool that gets used rather than just sitting on a shelf.

Jimz and I chuckle at your water pressure tests where we'd just be adding some fuel and pressurizing it ready to fire up and if it leaked then back to square one. They need be in a very abused condition before leakage is likely and they were made as portable so got a pile of abuse over the years. Don't remember ever seeing a blow lamp leak.

It held pressure overnight with just air.  It's ready.   

Yeah, I'm not thinking these are worth but a few dollars so I'm not too concerned with keeping them original.   I enjoy seeing vintage tech in operation.  The labor of welding that shaft up far outweighs the value of the torch. 

The water makes it easier to check for leaks but I can watch the spray pattern while adjusting the jet, making sure it's steady, centered and will turn off. 
   

Suspect they left the original graphite seal an damaged it when they took it apart to pretty it up. 
https://youtu.be/nVuhe5IcuJA?t=595

This one looks like the spray is way off center.   
https://youtu.be/s2vYk0b_tUI?t=413

[PwrElectronics]

Another use for a gas fired blow torch....

My father's uncle on a road trip in Sept 1951.  Heating up the pan for cooking supper.  My father (age 18) and his uncle went on a road trip in 1951.  They camped out along the side of the road for the most part.



The car is a 1939 Ford, was my fathers.  They are somewhere in a desert area in the US west.

Either this same torch or one similar is still in the tools collection on the family farm.  I've never seen it working as by the 1970's propane torches with disposable cylinders were in use.

[coppercone2]

The old one that has rust in the seam you can try to use the low damage rust remover that sells for 20$ a gallon. It may be able to clean it up enough that it can be silver soldered. You can possibly solder a copper wire around the interior seam to act as a sealer for the crimped point when its filled with low-medium flow braze but I think it will be a dangerous repair.

[MathWizard]

I think I tried to solder some wire back together with a candle and a nail once, or maybe I just tried it as an experiment....or saw it on utube, I don't seem to remember if it worked or not, but I'd use a "heavy" copper ground wire if I had to try that again.

[joeqsmith]

The Turner Brass Works torch runs again...   A night time show for those of you who enjoy seeing some flames.   Also a flame shootout between the Turner and the 100 year old Clayton & Lambert.     

Won't be long now and we can try doing a little surface mount soldering.

[joeqsmith]

As promised, using the 100 year old Clayton and Lambert torch to do some surface mount soldering. 

[EPAIII]

My dad had one like that but it had a rack on top to hold the soldering iron in the flame.

Fun and games! I learned a few new words when he tried to use it.

Testing the oldest torch.

[G7PSK]

I have few old copper billet soldering irons some are ex MOD and were unused and wrapped in grease paper when Igot them one is shaped like hatchet and weighs severl pounds. I also have very small one made for electrical work that I purchased brand new in the early 70's from a local electronics shop.
I also have a couple of parafin blow lamps one of which is rather large ex British railways and made for defrosting points.

[DenzilPenberthy]

You don't happen to know how to transfer acetylene from one tank to another? I'm curious.
[...]
But acetylene... I have no idea. At least of how to do it safely. Must be possible, since cylinders _are_ filled.
[...]
Years ago I swore I'd never again get sucked into the cylinder rental scam.

If BOC can still have a major incident while filling acetylene bottles, I definitely wouldn't recommend it as a DIY project!
https://www.avonfire.gov.uk/bristol-incidents/305-crews-attend-bristol-explosion
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-28702874
https://www.shponline.co.uk/prosecutions/boc-to-pay-260-000-after-explosion-injures-workers/

As to the cylinder rental - here in the UK now there are places doing rental free gasses. Maybe you can get similar in Aus now? I've got argon mix for the MIG welder and oxygen & acetylene at home for car bodywork/fabrication etc with no rental fees  Just pay once for a deposit for the cylinder then pay for refills.

[SilverSolder]

[...]
As to the cylinder rental - here in the UK now there are places doing rental free gasses. Maybe you can get similar in Aus now? I've got argon mix for the MIG welder and oxygen & acetylene at home for car bodywork/fabrication etc with no rental fees  Just pay once for a deposit for the cylinder then pay for refills.

That's how it works in the US too - you own the cylinder, it has to pass muster (age) but you are free to refill it as often (or not) as you like...

[tautech]

I have few old copper billet soldering irons some are ex MOD and were unused and wrapped in grease paper when Igot them one is shaped like hatchet and weighs severl pounds. I also have very small one made for electrical work that I purchased brand new in the early 70's from a local electronics shop.
I also have a couple of parafin blow lamps one of which is rather large ex British railways and made for defrosting points.

Nice and not very common these days. AFAIK they were for sealing folded sheetmetal seams.
Those new ones should be quite valuable in decades to come.

[G7PSK]

Problem with comppresed acetylene is that it can explosivly polyimerise which is why it is used as DA (disolved aceytalene) the disolving agent used is acetone soaked kapoc or some other material.

Disolving it involves coppressing it so it ia wonder that there is not more explosions when filling cylinders.
The HSE rules are based on standards set up by companies like BOC so I guess the reason they pleaded guilty in this case was it was the cheapest option.

I had a fire officer come round the workshop years ago and say you cannot have that cylinder of acetalene in the workshop as it is flammable I pointed out that the whole idea was it burns at very high temperature and the cylinder of pure oxygen nect to it on the trolly was in many ways a greater hazzard as if it leked every thing became highly flammable. He then told me that I had to take both outside when not in use, which is something he already knew I did as I had previously shown him the gas cage outside.Guess these type just havre to have the last word.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyacetylene

[coppercone2]

acetone is not used anymore, its THF? now. It's a better solvent for many things. Also makes a super great super glue remover (the super glue remover tin squirter in the store is THF and it actually works amazing).. it is also low toxicity and the odor is less noxious then acetone.. but the odor in your acetylene comes from arsenic and phosphine related compounds in trace quantity.

I believe its more stable with THF then acetone also, chemically.. you really wanna do your modern research before fooling around with anything involving acetylene transfers... very dangerous. In fact I recommend not doing it at all, for acetylene I won't use any second hand equipment and I have the welding store do the hoses etc.. its the one gas not worth fucking around with yourself IMO. You can do alot of cool things that are safe with other gases like lens/diffuser backfilling apparatus, plasma, etc.. but none of those gases detonate. Even if you buy all the feed plumbing primo its cheap for a shop.

or maybe it was DMF.. I could be off on the THF. But I think when I was asking about the tanks he said the new ones do not use acetone for some reason... but I asked 5 years ago (for airgas).. the clerk happened to have a welding engineering degree so I talked to him a little bit about the specifics and he I recall him correcting me on the acetone remark when I was asking about how they do tank maintenance and stuff (I happened to have possession of a old out of hyrotest spec bottle that was real nasty looking (I cleaned it up, but I was worried about rust along the bottom that seemed to be penetrating a 'seam').. thankfully he took that in as a trade in for a new cylinder since I wire brushed it good.. it belonged to a plumber that I got it from when he retired ).

[Howardlong]

Timestamp 6:07