Hot Rod Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Who made my Craftsman torch?

10K views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  MARTINSR 
#1 ·
I want to get some smaller tips for my torch but #1 was all I have found, I have one of those already. I want 0 and 00 anyone know who made this thing so I can look it up by that name? Knowing how Craftsman tools are there is another company out there that sold this I am thinking. The butt is is made of copper (or is it brass?) tubes going from the valves up to the tip, with an aluminum tube over the top of them.




I also have my jewelers torch which I think is a tad small, the largest tip being WAY smaller than the #1 on my Craftsman. I am thinking about drilling out one of those tips, using a Jet drill, what do you guys think? It has five tips, with the smallest one allowing you to solder on a circuit board with it! I can weld butted 18 gauge sheetmetal but I have to go pretty slow. I would like to get the job done just a bit faster to keep heat down.

Ideas?

Brian
 
See less See more
1
#2 ·
I would et a nickel to a donut ours were made by Victor just because they had to be made in the 60's or 70's but I really don't know.

I have a 00 tip for mine but do not like it. It seems to be too cold for my liking. I think probably a lot of it has to do with the way I was taught and the fact that I have used the same tip for 35 years.

I do agree that sometimes it is better to have more heat so you can get on it and off it more quickly and limit the time the heat has to travel?

It would be nice if my torch had come with a helper that would hold it for me while I metal worked the weld area. :thumbup:

John
 
#3 ·
John, we have talked about this before and I may just use the #1 tip as you do for some tests and see if I am man enough. I do have a holder for my torch for "hammer welding" that I made from a model A frame horn...hope I can find it just because it's cool. :D

I have to tell you, my mentor at work has opened my eyes to a method of welding sheet metal that I will be using on my roof. I will do some tests first but it sure makes sense!

This being you DON'T work the welds as you go. You weld the seam fully, let it cool and then work them. It makes total sense as if you weld a small area and planish it, how do you know how much to planish it? That area gets stretched back out a certain amount, then the area right next to it gets heated a little different with a slightly shorter weld, or you have to spend more time to fill a blow thru, and wham, you have a totally different condition that when planished is left different than the area next to it. He said look at the HAZ of a long weld done this way and you will see the wavy line of heated metal next to the weld, how can that be good? How can you have consistency when the HAZ is changing the whole way?

I will be posting with my results but it really makes sense. Make small tacks across the seam, then when it is cool you weld one bead from one end to the other. Let it cool and planish it into proper shape.

Brian
 
This post has been deleted
#5 ·
Yeah I have looked, I was surprised to find very little actually. A few complete sets, I have that, I need just the smaller tips. Thanks, that was a good collection you pulled there though.:thumbup:

Brian
 
#4 ·
torch tips

I sold my craftsman when I bought a Victor. My old craftsman had some tips that had what looked like a # 12 wire for a tip with a very small hole. My nephaew is a jewler and for very fine repair work he lites up his small torch then when the tip is hot he turns it off and slips a hypodermic needle over the end and the heat melts the plastic and the needle is sealed to the tip. I don't know what size needle he uses .I know the farm store has different size needles for animal uses.
 
#6 ·
I sold my craftsman when I bought a Victor. My old craftsman had some tips that had what looked like a # 12 wire for a tip with a very small hole. My nephaew is a jewler and for very fine repair work he lites up his small torch then when the tip is hot he turns it off and slips a hypodermic needle over the end and the heat melts the plastic and the needle is sealed to the tip. I don't know what size needle he uses .I know the farm store has different size needles for animal uses.
Wow, that's an interesting solution!

Brian
 
#7 ·
Brian - take it to the local big welding supply and let them tell you who made your torch. I had to have mine repaired a few years ago, and they said it was a Harris. So like others above, it all depends on the actual part number. Heck, as much as I've used oxy-acetylene outfit over the past couple years I'm even tempted to part company with it.....nahhhh, ya never know!

Dave W
 
#8 ·
Dave! talk about the slap your head DUH feeling, you got it. I have a decent welding supply outfit near me and I will do that tomorrow if they are open, thanks so much.:thumbup:

Brian
 
#9 ·
I want to get some smaller tips for my torch but #1 was all I have found, I have one of those already. I want 0 and 00 anyone know who made this thing so I can look it up by that name? Knowing how Craftsman tools are there is another company out there that sold this I am thinking. The butt is is made of copper (or is it brass?) tubes going from the valves up to the tip, with an aluminum tube over the top of them.


I have had this same torch since I bought it new in 1980. It's made by Harris, and the Harris series 23A90 tips are the ones that fit it. I've bought and used Harris tips in my Craftsman torch.
 
#15 ·
Joe, I can't thank you enough. You gave me the info and in minutes I had purchased a tip and just picked it up at the store that is only about a mile from my house, very cool.



Thanks again, funny how long I have owned this set and this is the very first thing I have ever bought for it.

Brian
 
#11 ·
That is good to know guys. Thanks.

Brian, I try not to get to be too cocky but I think your friend is probably too young to have cut his teeth on O/A.

My personal opinion is, if you run a continuous weld, even after tacking, it will draw way more than you can deal with.

I certainly will be interested in the results of your experiments but as I said my personal feeling is you need to deal with the shrinkage as you go. That is the advantage of O/A. You can work it as you go and keep it in shape. It is also the dissadvantage. You wast a lot of time and gas working a small area at a time keeping every thing worked out.

If you run a continuous bead, or weld the whole panel without planishing it you will have a tremendous amount of draw from one end to the other and the tacks will be irrelevant when they are melted by the finish weld bead.

Keep us posted. I think it is cool you are interested in the methods and technoligy that was the bassis for all the great builds of the old days.

John
 
#12 ·
Ahhhh, believe me when he first told me of this I stunned and thought he was out of his mind. He loaned me a video that shows it being done. And I talked to him MUCH longer than just hearing the quickie description I posted. With much explanation and him showing me where he has used this method, on a 55 Chevy truck roof cut into four pieces,it looked damn good in the photos. It's funny because it makes perfect sense to me now and I wonder why we haven't been doing it this way all these years.

The HAZ is much more uniform doing it this way, think about it, one bead start to finish, there is no varying of the heat (or very little). Things like a corner, it's a no-no, he explains how you want a curve around a corner so you don't weld up to it then away from the corner creating more heat right in the corner. The explanation of this process REALLY makes sense. Hammering it while hot, does the metal move more easily, yep, but not any more than you could move it while cold. The only difference being with it hot hammering every weld is going to make each one a little different.

We will see, like I said honestly, he isn't talking out his butt, I have spent a lot of time discussing this with him and it makes perfect sense. All we can do is try and see how it goes, no hurt in trying.

Every single thing he has told me has been valuable, what the heck, I'll give it a shot.

Brian
 
#14 ·
I haven't had to flex any muscle in regards to hiding weld seams after grinding them down or planishing welds and after reading a few books I can safely say I have the skills to do the work but it's not something I need to focus in on at work. My point is, I feel the importance is in the welding itself. Many people have their ways to planish or flatten the welds but I think the upmost importance is in avoiding warpage alltogether. If I'm doing a chinsy patch at work it's tack around and then tack it shut. I spread a few tacks around and let it cool. I've gotten the feel to the point that if I wanted to I could take a little more time welding and know my welds will completely disappear when grinding them down and that's how I judge things. I judge the patience in welding in how it grinds. If you weld it too fast you'll have to live with edges of your welds being visible cause it shrunk in that area. If it grinds away smooth and easy then you took your time. It all depends on the job cause most of the stuff I read in those books won't be utilized at work but in my garage for sure, but there's moments where I can sneak a few lessons in there. My point is that it's pretty clear the focus is on the welding and planishing / undoing warpage is more to do with the welding than it is about planishing itself. So I wouldn't be too hung up on that aspect of things. If it needs planishing there's plenty of ways to go about it. The key to me is detecting those imperfections, having good hand feel, and knowing you took your time welding. Just my two cents.
 
#17 ·
I wonder who makes the Craftsman torch set nowadays since so many tools, including theirs comes in from a far off land of dubious quality items. My set is 'new' at 1986 vintage - used a lot for a while, but seldom in the past few years except for a little brazing.

Dave W
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top