Best torch for jewelry making ?
Q.My wife is an avid jewelry making enthousiast and I thought for a christmas present she would like a torch she could use at home. I know...I know...it's not very romantic but she always complaining that she can't continue at home the work that she starts in her jewelry classes. So could anyone suggest a good, versatile torch that can be used for diverse metals and ideally an online shop where I could find it ? I'm looking to spend up to $500 for a good setup.
A.My personal favorite for jewelry is a little Mecco torch. The handle is sort of rectangular shaped and fits nicely into the palm of the hand. The needle valves are at the top and can be adjusted with the same hand that holds the torch. The needle valves are well made and the flame can be precisely adjusted. The wonderful thing is that if you buy some extra tips you can go easily from a very small flame to one large enough to melt gold, silver, etc for casting say a batch of 3 or 4 rings. Some jewelry torches are so small that they are not very versitile. However, since I do a whole range of metal working I do own larger torches as well and I use one of them to melt for casting because I can do it quite quickly. Another nice featureof the Mecco is that you can buy standard 3/8 hose connectors for use with an ordinary regulator and hose set up and you can also buy a hose barbs for small set ups. I like the standard hose because of my other torches even if they are a little heavy for jewelry torches. You might want to put some thought into the gas you are going to use. I would be totally happy with oxy-acetylene except for the soot that ends up floating around. So I now use propane and oxygen for jewelry (which is done in my basement which we try to keep nice and clean) and I use the acetylene for steel etc. in the garage where my better half is more tolerant of soot, grinding dust, smoke, fire, oil, toxic fumes and all the other by products of my metal working obssesions.
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