[Jewelry making - Article 00150] - Re: [Orchid] Natural Gas

[James Binnion]

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    	 There seems to be much confusion on the list about natural gas
    torches. 

    Residential natural gas is supplied to the house at a fixed pressure
    typically no more than 11" WC (water column) this is about 1/2 psi.
    With high pressure bottled gas (like propane) from a tank the way to
    change the heat output of the torch is to change the pressure and if
    necessary change the torch tip size.  For natural gas appliances the
    way to get more gas supplied is to use larger pipes. This is why
    plumbers and the gas company will often suggest a 3/4 " line  rather
    than the standard 1/2" line. The low pressure of a house gas line
    makes it hard to get very much natural gas through the torch because
    the hoses and valves and tips for our torches are normally sized for
    higher supply pressure of bottled gas. Plumbers and the gas company
    may ask about the number of BTU's required because there is a direct
    relation between BTU's and the size of the pipe and burner orifices
    in a fixed pressure system. 

    So if you are going to use natural gas use as large a hose as you
    can from the wall to the torch. Any torch that will work for propane
    will work for natural gas with very little difference in
    performance. The micro tip torches like the Little Torch from Smith
    or the ones that use hypodermic needle tips will not work very well
    if at all due to the small hose, valve and tip size if you are using
    the natural gas straight out of the wall, but if you get a
    compressor it will work just fine but compressors cost a fair bit of
    money. 

    Hoke and Meco Midget torches work fine on bottled oxygen and natural
    gas  out of the wall just use 1/4" id hoses and the larger tips.
    There are also specific natural gas torches but they are not as
    popular with jewelers and can be hard to find but one brand to look
    for is National (http://www.nationaltorch.com) they make both
    gas/air and gas/oxy torches. These torches are designed for the low
    supply pressure of natural gas and work great. The gas/air torch is
    a little cool if you are used to working with oxy/gas but it is a
    large soft flame and can help in reducing fire scale during
    soldering. Gas/air is not very good for casting though due to its
    lower flame temperature. 

-- 
Jim Binnion

James Binnion Metal Arts
Phone (360) 756-6550
Toll Free (877) 408 7287
Fax (360) 756-2160
http://www.mokume-gane.com
jbin AT mokume-gane.com
Member of the Better Business Bureau


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