Took me 3 years to realize I was running my torch totally wrong

I always set my rosebud to a nice blue cone and thought that was perfect. Then an old-timer in Tulsa named Hank watched me work a joint and said 'son, you're burning the metal, not heating it.' He showed me how I needed a softer flame with more feather, and I felt like an idiot. Has anyone else had a basic technique blow their mind years into the trade?

2 comments

2 Comments

adamcoleman10d ago

Had a buddy named Dave who swore by his old beat-up torch for years. He was always complaining about how slow his joints were to heat up and how he kept getting weird hot spots. Turns out his tip was so clogged with carbon that the gas was coming out all sputtering and uneven. He finally replaced the tip after I wouldn't stop bugging him about it and said it was like learning to weld all over again... the difference was that dramatic. Said he felt like a moron for not swapping it out sooner.

noahw539d ago

Same thing happened to me with an old Harris torch. A thirty dollar tip replacement fixed everything I thought was just normal wear and tear. Makes you wonder how many guys are out there fighting with equipment that just needs basic maintenance.