[Jewelry making - Article 00152] - Re: [Orchid] Mouth Blow Torches

[Peter W . Rowe]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

Ron,

>     Mouth blow torches are really primitive.....a kind of court of
>     last resort. They are mainly used in Africa and other third world
>     countries. 

    I'm going to have to disagree with your here. Somewhat strongly, in
    fact. I'm assuming by mouth blown torches that we're on the same
    page, ie a torch with a gas line, and a second air line fitted with a
    mouth piece. The gas line feeds fuel to the torch tip, and mouth
    blown air supplies the oxidizer, ie air. 

    You're correct that these may be used in third world countries. But
    lets not also consider that they are traditional in many workshops all
    through europe. They may not be popular here in the U.S., but I know
    a number of jewelers who prefer the things. I recall visiting a
    workshop in London of (and darn, I can't recall the name. Might have
    been David Webb, but I'm not sure) a jeweler and designer who had just
    won several diamonds international competitions. Very well known. His
    shop had about a dozen fine smiths working there, and every one of
    them used a mouth blown torch fed with natural gas, to do the
    fabrication. Every smith I know who uses these, tells me that for
    many types of fabrication and soldering, they prefer this torch over
    one with air from a compressor, or oxygen from a tank. The reason is
    the instant control over the flame they have. From general overall
    gentle heating to a sharp pinpoint with just a slight change in how
    you blow, or back again. All hands free. Obviously, these are not
    suited to platinum work, nor are they suited to highly detailed work
    where tiny hot flames are needed. But for much general gold smithing,
    they have long been the standard tool in european workshops, and
    people who've learned to use these well, often like them very much,
    both for the increase flame control, and the low operational cost.
    Here in the U.S., of course, they are a rarity, but this is likely
    due mostly to the fact that U.S. trained jewelers simply haven't
    been trained in the use of these things. They DO take practice to
    learn to blow them properly, a whole seperate skill from the uses the
    torch is put to, so many people simply don't want to take the time to
    get used to this tool. But this is certainly NOT just some archaic
    tool of last resort. 

Peter Rowe

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________