I haven't seen a thread on these yet so here goes. Anybody have or collect antique gasoline blowtorches? I picked this one up the other day for $15. It is a Montgomery Ward, but not sure of exact age.
Alway wondered about these What fuel do they use and are they more for soldering or ....... Really cool looking always see them for sale Not an expensive collection to start But if they can be used even better
They use gasoline though I think alcohol would work fine as well. I have seen them advertised as plumbers torches before. If you do find one you may want to make sure the check valve is in working order before you pressurize and light it.
I bet Coleman fuel burns cleaner, no additives. Even better it doesn't sour or turn to sludge if left in the tank for 20 years.
Interestingly enough the worn label on this unit advises against using high test fuel at risk of clogging it.
Yep. At least in those days, lower octane fuel meant less additives. So the cheap stuff was best, or "White gas". That's what Coleman Fuel is basically. Naphtha. Octane about 50, leaves no residue. Same thing for camping stoves. Auto gas will burn but the generator will clog often.
It's a first distillate in making gasoline as I understand it, without any gums or varnish or additives. So it's used in gasoline appliances like stoves, torches and catalytic heaters. And cigarette lighters, will save some money, Ronsonal is probably 90 bucks a gallon.
Interesting. I am sure my local hardware store sells camp fuel. I will have to try some and see how it compares to the 87 octane I've been running through it.
I can appreciate the vintage nature of these torches but I have to be honest, I'd never use one. We've come a long way in terms of the safety of the products we're sold, and with a basic propane or MAPP torch so readily available and so safe to use, I don't think I'd want to light one of these off when the potential downside (horribly painful and disfiguring burns, loss of property and life) is so great. Pass.
87 automotive gas works fine, I doubt you'll notice too much difference in operation, it's just the additives that will cause clogging and other issues. It burns a lot dirtier on startup. I assume these torches need a pre-heat period of time before they burn with a blue flame. The main thing to me is Coleman fuel (Naphtha) also stores well. I've picked up old self pressurized camp stoves and lanterns with Coleman fuel that is at least 20 years old or more in the tank and they fire right up. Automotive gas on the other hand, turns to a stinky sludge, a real mess after a year or two, maybe less. "Panel wipe" would work too. Some places, Coleman fuel is hard to get, particularly overseas. Svea started out in Sweden making those torches, and eventually started making camp stoves. Somebody probably figured out how to heat their coffee with those things. I use this type hiking. These burn "White gas" or Coleman fuel as well, though they also make Kerosene versions.
Yes, mine has a preheat period. You fill the cup under the nozzle with fuel and light it off. Once the cup burns dry, it is usually hot enough to light.
Yes, that's exactly the same design as the self-pressurized camp stoves. Alcohol is good for the pre-heat, if you've taken the time to polish all the brass up nice and spiffy anyway, as it burns with very little soot. I don't believe these torches are especially dangerous as such. Like anything else, they require a certain amount of care in use and understanding how they operate. Keep away from Children. Whether they are effective if someone wants to use them as intended, I don't know. I imagine they work well enough.
I gave my collection of them to my eldest son. leaded gas would clog them up. So that's why the (white gas) was used. When I was a teen I was rather small. some friends grandmother had frozen pipes. and I was small enough to crawl under the house. So I take a blow torch and am under there heating the galvanized pipes. And the dust bunnys caught on fire. almost burnt the old widows house down. singed my eyebrows ect. The hook at the top is to catch the metal rod on your soldering copper. you let the flame heat the copper tip of the soldering iron. You filed the copper clean and tinned it with acid core solder. Soldered stuff like radiator tanks and the metal bracket that attached to them. (Keep away from Children LOL) My brother and I when we where in grade school used them to melt lead and had molds to make lead army men. Then we lined those up and shot them will a 22 rifle. gathered up the carnage and melted them again.
I am glad to hear some stories of first hand use with one. Incidentally, mine has seemed to have clogged up. It will not let anything out when you open the valve, so it will come apart and get a cleaning. I am hoping to get it going again soon. Just a question, Wolf, do you think I could use this for 'slinging lead'? I have been wanting to practice lead body work on an off topic truck project but don't have access to an acetylene torch.
If your torch is clogged because of using leaded gas. you will have to heat it to melt the lead in order vto unclog it. Certainly you can use it for doing lead body work. It is exactly what they used back in the day.
We used a oxygen/acetaline torch with a little adapter on the end to make a nice soft flame to do lead work still use it today, no mess no fuss. Frank
Thank you, that is exactly what I wanted to hear. I will heat up the tip as well as scrub everything good since there is quite a bit of carbon built up around the nozzle.
On the stoves, they supplied a "pricker" to clean the jet. I don't know how the torches work but I bet it's similar. If you don't have one a piece of high "E" guitar string might work. The orifice is pretty small on the stoves, maybe .012". If you can clean all the crud out of the vaporiser too it should work well.
Just my opinion, but these old gasoline torches look better if you leave the original patina on them, this was my grandfathers torch, aside from using it to heat things up, in the summer time when bees would build a nest in the pump house eves, 20 ft up, he would fire it up and rig it to a long stout bamboo pole and burn out the bees nest!
I've got one out in the garage (somewhere) that I picked up at an estate (note, no "sale" in that. Everything was free.) It's a Craftsman with the item number on it. I think it's more recent vintage than the brass ones others have shown. Someday I'll find it and check more on it. (I have a pretty good idea where it is.)
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