Hello; There's 3 commonly available torches on the north american
market that are meant to be used for the smaller jobs. Victor,harris
and smith all make small torches with the valves up top to make
easier control of the mixture. Anyone have any preferences on the 3
torches? Am working on a project that's going to use small dia thin
wall tubing- a recumbent bike frame and need an excuse to buy a
smaller torch. Thanks Pat

patrick wrote:
Hello; There's 3 commonly available torches on the north american
market that are meant to be used for the smaller jobs. Victor,harris
and smith all make small torches with the valves up top to make
easier control of the mixture. Anyone have any preferences on the 3
torches? Am working on a project that's going to use small dia thin
wall tubing- a recumbent bike frame and need an excuse to buy a
smaller torch. Thanks Pat

I like my Smith's ... Just wish it had more than one welding tip . Ah well
, what can a guy expect for 50 bucks at a pawn shop ? Handle , one cutting
tip , one welding tip (#2 I think) and that included a pair of single stage
regulators - but no hose .
--
Snag
every answer
leads to another
question

"patrick" wrote in message
...
Hello; There's 3 commonly available torches on the north american
market that are meant to be used for the smaller jobs. Victor,harris
and smith all make small torches with the valves up top to make
easier control of the mixture. Anyone have any preferences on the 3
torches? Am working on a project that's going to use small dia thin
wall tubing- a recumbent bike frame and need an excuse to buy a
smaller torch. Thanks Pat


I have a small Harris torch and it works well for me. One of the best metal
workers I've seen uses the Meco Midget. Look at this site.

http://tinmantech.chainreactionweb.c...56a 78c977823

Tom

On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:59:54 -0700 (PDT), patrick
wrote:

Hello; There's 3 commonly available torches on the north american
market that are meant to be used for the smaller jobs. Victor,harris
and smith all make small torches with the valves up top to make
easier control of the mixture. Anyone have any preferences on the 3
torches? Am working on a project that's going to use small dia thin
wall tubing- a recumbent bike frame and need an excuse to buy a
smaller torch. Thanks Pat


Go to tinmantech.com and take a long look at the Meco Midget. I'm
very happy with mine. You couldn't give me a Harris.

Bob

On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:59:54 -0700 (PDT), patrick
wrote:

Hello; There's 3 commonly available torches on the north american
market that are meant to be used for the smaller jobs. Victor,harris
and smith all make small torches with the valves up top to make
easier control of the mixture. Anyone have any preferences on the 3
torches? Am working on a project that's going to use small dia thin
wall tubing- a recumbent bike frame and need an excuse to buy a
smaller torch. Thanks Pat

I think a Meco Midget would work well for you. It would be my first
choice for that sort of work. I use mine for about 90% of my O/A
work.

I have a victor that goes down to size 000, which I really like for small
stuff, and I have a micro torch that of course goes dramatically smaller
(the smallest flame will fit easily through the eye of a largish needle)
"patrick" wrote in message
...
Hello; There's 3 commonly available torches on the north american
market that are meant to be used for the smaller jobs. Victor,harris
and smith all make small torches with the valves up top to make
easier control of the mixture. Anyone have any preferences on the 3
torches? Am working on a project that's going to use small dia thin
wall tubing- a recumbent bike frame and need an excuse to buy a
smaller torch. Thanks Pat

On Jun 18, 5:59*pm, patrick wrote:
Hello; There's 3 commonly available torches on the north american
market that are meant to be used for the smaller jobs. Victor,harris
and smith all make small torches with the valves *up top to make
easier control of the mixture. Anyone have any preferences on the 3
torches? Am working on a project that's going to use small dia thin
wall tubing- a recumbent bike frame and need an excuse to buy a
smaller *torch. Thanks Pat

I've got a Victor aircraft torch and like it.

Two things to check, though.

One: does the layout of the hose connections allow you to use anti-
flashback check valves at the torch? The Victor torch, when I got it
many years ago, required that the valves be placed at the regulator.
Things may have changed - new connections or smaller check valves.

Two: comparative cost of tips. The Victor tips were up around $40
each the last time I checked. Don't know if the others are the same.

John Martin

On Jun 18, 3:59*pm, patrick wrote:
Hello; There's 3 commonly available torches on the north american
market that are meant to be used for the smaller jobs. Victor,harris
and smith all make small torches with the valves *up top to make
easier control of the mixture. Anyone have any preferences on the 3
torches? Am working on a project that's going to use small dia thin
wall tubing- a recumbent bike frame and need an excuse to buy a
smaller *torch. Thanks Pat

I've got Victor and the Smith Little Torch for really small stuff.
Victor, because it's what was cheap at an auction and I later found
out that every welding supply in town had parts for it. Only one weld
supply has tips for Smith and only cutting tips. Nobody carries
Harris. Yeah, you can get stuff off the internet for just about
anything, old or new, but it's nice to walk into a place and they've
got what you need, no shipping needed. I have the mid-size handle,
tips down to 000 were available for it, I have the full set of welding
tips for it. My dad had a Harris set, I found the handle to be very
heavy to use, and hard to manipulate. Just my opinion. Buy what you
can get support for.

If you are going to braze, the Little Torch had a ring burner for
doing tubing, works very well. Don't know if it's still available,
though, if I like it, it's discontinued, pronto. Takes longer to
purge the hoses than to do most silver-brazing jobs.

Stan

Bob wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:59:54 -0700 (PDT), patrick
wrote:

Hello; There's 3 commonly available torches on the north american
market that are meant to be used for the smaller jobs. Victor,harris
and smith all make small torches with the valves up top to make
easier control of the mixture. Anyone have any preferences on the 3
torches? Am working on a project that's going to use small dia thin
wall tubing- a recumbent bike frame and need an excuse to buy a
smaller torch. Thanks Pat


Go to tinmantech.com and take a long look at the Meco Midget. I'm
very happy with mine. You couldn't give me a Harris.

Meco Midget. A joy to use. It will also
support a big enough tip that you don't
have to switch back and forth to a regular
sized torch very often.