If you were creative enough, you could set up propane or mapp gas with a
compressed air setup instead of the small oxygen tanks. Compressed
atmospheric air is just about as good. I have a torch like this that we just
cut the hose, and attached to the air compressor....
thus giving you a limitless supply of air, and you just have to replace the
Mapp gas tanks. Heck my jewelry studio is run on compressed air and natural
gas....
It's plenty hot enough for most things, and it's just about as close as you
can get to limitless.

I still recommend the $50 homedepot setup. It's hot.

-Craig
'85gl turned westy

On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 10:57 AM, Allan Streib <streib@cs.indiana.edu>wrote:

> "craig cowan" <phishman068@GMAIL.COM> said:
>
> > Home Depot sells a cheap ($50ish) torch setup that's Map Gas and Oxygen
> (two
> > tanks) that gets pretty darn hot. I'd say just shy of Oxy Acetaline
> temps. I
> > run mine with Propane and Oxygen for a cleaner flame and use it to melt
> > silver all the time (which it does with very little effort). If you've
> > always said "I sure could use an acetaline or Oxy Acetaline torch" but
> think
> > the price of big tanks and regulators is just shy of scary, go for the
> home
> > depot route and expect the tanks to get used up fairly quickly (Though
> it's
> > not unreasonable, they last plenty long).
>
> If this has the small "propane torch sized" oxygen bottle, those don't
> last long at all in my experience -- propane and MAPP liquify under
> pressure so the bottles hold a fair amount.  Oxygen does not, at least
> not under the pressures that a little disposable bottle would contain,
> so there really is not a whole lot of gas in there.
>
> I used a kit like that once, it was a long time ago but I seem to recall
> the oxygen being gone in just a few minutes.
>
> Allan
> --
> 1991 Vanagon GL
>
>