Burning question

[dervishcarving]

Hey all. Been doing this carving-lark for a fair few months now and so far i just haven't found the ideal blowtorch. I have tried a few of the B&Q gas-jobbies and found tehm to be a mixed bag. I found one that gives a lovely 1600C fine point flame that is lovely to use BUT it cuts out after about 3 minutes and has to cool down again (v tedious). another one i tried gives a very diffuse flame and is just not hot enough.

So my question is.... what do you use? given that i dont like carting around masses of heavy kit and i cant transport big gas cylinders (or an oxy-acetylene rig) i am mainly looking at hand held blowtorches or something that runs off small gas bottles.

cheers

Dave

[Guss109]

Hi dave have you tried a plumbers gas torch and run it on the yellow canisters of gas as it burns hotter. Or maybe try a roofers felting torch but you need to run it of the red tanks of gas but you can pull the trigger and it allows more air into the mix and gets the heat up nicely. If you want to borrow one give us a shout mate

[Mutley]

Mapp gas. I've never used it, but I've watched other carvers use it. I tried with a normal blow torch but it was rubbish, kept blowing out.

[chainsawdick]

Hey Dave

The plumbers or roofers burners are the way to go, heres a couple of pix of some burning fun

 

dick

[GeeSaw]

Hi Dave,

 

I've been using the Go system torch from B & Q which I agree can be a bit hit n miss but seems to function ok even upside down.

I've also tried the Go system pro auto power torch with its own ignition system which is a very handy feature,

it works upside down & has a slightly better flame than a standard Go system torch.

For the smaller stuff I picked up a wee flambéing gas burner which gives a tight flame & should come in handy for more detailed scorching

+ both are compact & won't take up much space.

 

Hope this helps

Gee

[dervishcarving]

Thanks for the feedback guy's, keep it coming.

Gee i had one of the go-systme torches and i agree, the flame is a bit poor (and not hot enough). i also had one of the auto-model ones and it was great: lovely flame, v hot, great for precision burning BUT it kept going out after 2 or 3 minutes (not blowing out, just going out even though teh gas was still going). Eventually i broke it (melted it) so yesterday i got another one and this one seems fine. if it stays fine it wil be great

 

love the roofers burners Dick but arent they a little on the indiscriminate-side? i usually burn for detail and i dont know i could be sufficiently precise with one of them.

[chainsawdick]

I burn a lot Dave so need something quick, you can turn the gas down

 

From a light scorch to a heavy burn, burning fadfes after time so a perminent colour is needed.

I see guys use a combination of grey and black spray on eagles and owls, after a quick sandflapping' highlites the feathers.

 

Heres a couple of pix using the vinegar and steelwool on oak and sweetchestnut.

Heavy burn and sandblast, I hate to see grinder gouges in carvings, some neat effects can be simply acheived just saw.

The last picture is of a fire totum.

 

dick

[GeeSaw]

Nice work Dick, it's amazing the effects you can achieve by using a mixture of different techniques

[Ross Macneil]

Toolstation > Hand Tools > Soldering Torches & Accessories > Piezo Ignition Turbo Torch

Used with map plus:thumbup:

[chainsawdick]

Just scratching the surface Gee lol