Smith has Lifetime warranty. And they are nickel plated which makes them
easy to keep clean.
Price is comparable to the higher end Victor but the Quality is better.
Just my 2c.
RR

"Eli the Bearded" wrote in message
...
I haven't tried looking in an actual welding supply store, but I
have been looking in larger hardware stores. I'm curious about
the usefulness of various lower end welding torches. I've had about
six hours experience using an oxy-acetylene torch, but I've
never owned one. My usage would be occasional art projects, nothing
regular. I am hesitant about renting cylinders since if they sit
there for a month without being used, I'll feel like I'm wasting
money.

At the really low end, of course, are the propane ones. Even the
oxygen-propane models I suspect are fairly limited and not going
be able to do much. I've heard they are okay for cutting, and
cheaper than oxy-acetylene for that, though.

In the $250 to $300 range there are several small oxy-acetylene
setups, like this one:

http://store.weldingdepot.com/cgi/we...2GKA50-TC.html

The cylinders are small, but I expect sporatic use. It comes with
just one size each of brazing and cutting tip, but that site sells
a bunch of others with compatible connectors. Is this a good small
set up, or does it have drawbacks I'm not seeing?

The scale of the work I would be doing is probably bigger than a
mouse and smaller than a sheep dog. E.g tire iron candelabra.

Elijah
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needs better wiring before an arc welder is an option