No, not for me, for hotting up metal things
Can anyone recommend a heat source to have around for general use in the garage/DIY? I've got a butane blowlamp but it lack's guts and would
like summat a bit hotter. I don't think a propane torch'd be hot enough, do you?
If there's any (legal
) way of avoiding paying for yearly rental of a Portapak from BOC I'd prefer it
Get a bernzomatic brazing blowlamp running on mapp gas, it burns hot enough to melt aluminium. I have a Portapak set with some bottles I acquired and the local agent exchanged them for £50 (backhander) with no agreement. They should last me years as I only use them for hot spanner.
Get some full size bottles, off ebay etc, and if your local agent is also a metal fabricator, then they may be open to exchanging them for full ones
for cash, as he can run the bottles through his own account. My local place does this for me, though at the rate I use gas it's only once every
2-3 years - you can't beat a bit of oxy-acetylene heat
If you have oxy acetylene bottles in your garage, you need to display appropriate hazard signs.
Yep, in my opinion oxyacetylene is a bit on the dangerous side to have at home, and a lot of people dont appreciate just how dangerous it is.
Firefighters will also not enter your house if they know theres oxy acetylene bottles in there apparently.
You can get small brazing hearths/torches which run on natural gas and have a small compressor in. They get pretty damn hot, and will certainly melt
ali and brass (i know from experience 
) Probably the more sensible solution for home, if a little less portable.
David
[Edited on 11/2/07 by flak monkey]
quote:
Originally posted by ayoungman
If you have oxy acetylene bottles in your garage, you need to display appropriate hazard signs.
I had to clear out of my house for 24 hours last year cos someone had a fire next door to a garage with oxy acetylene bottles in it. Once they've
been heated, the acetylene becomes very unstable
The fire brigade take a very dim view of them in domestic locations !
Most of the time I manage with a blowtorch and 6kg propane bottle - standard plumbers' kit. I have a range of burners that give flames from
pencil-wide to one that works like Concorde on re-heat! (the last one is a roofer's burner about 2" diameter). Combine any of these with a 2
bar regulator (pref adjustable) and you can get a piece of steel up to yellow-hot with little difficulty.
If you want to get greater heat without oxygen etc. you might look at air-gas torches. Can get expensive unless you can find second-hand, but they
combine propane or house gas with air from a high-volume low-pressure air compressor. They can get quite a lot hotter than gas alone, although they
still can't cut or weld steel.
Don't forget that you can get a piece of metal up to heat far quicker if it's put into a hearth made of insulating bricks - I have a couple
of blocks that I drag out when needed. Of course, this isn't much use when you want to heat something on the car. 
HTH
David
[Edited on 12/2/07 by David Jenkins]
quote:
Originally posted by ayoungman
If you have oxy acetylene bottles in your garage, you need to display appropriate hazard signs.
the MAPP stuff that pete mentions is amazingly hot. Deffo worth it as a start im sure.