I've always used victor. I bought another outfit the other day for a little over $200. I think most of the victor stuff is made in china. I don't like that, but I already have lots of victor tips and I didn't want to have to stock different types.
If I was buying a new set, I'd probably buy smith. They're still made in the US and the torches have lifetime warranty. I have the smith AW1A and it's a good little torch. I wouldn't recommend it for your only torch. Get something bigger.

You can probably save some cash and still get good stuff buying used. Be careful about the oxygen regulator. Any flammable contamination in the high pressure side can cause big trouble. I'd feel ok with a setup that was still connected to the bottle. I'd be worried about an ox regulator that's been sitting in a box in the garage for years. If it's capped and protected that's a good sign. I'd feel ok with used torches. There are lots of older brands. Most are very good stuff, but you may need to worry about tips and replacement parts. Just ask questions on es you're thinking of buying. Don't bother with used hoses. New ones are not terribly expensive (roughly $1/ft for twin hose). The hose fittings are standard so you don't have to run the same brand of regulators and torch. Maybe you catch a deal on just a torch, etc.

 

I sure like my Smith torches and regulators!!! And like previously said, MADE IN USA!!!

 

I'd avoid used torches - just too much old junk out there and you really can't tell till you get it home... and find things like stripped threads, leaking torch valves, old crusty diaphrams, etc. By the time you try to fix the old crap, you could have gone new - on sale. Happened to me!

Now you may get lucky and come across the rare used deal where the whole shebang (torches and cylinders and cart) was bought new only three years ago and the seller is clearing out because he hardly ever used it or is moving and transport laws prevent him moving the gas cyclinders. Then you might get something decent at a good price for you.

As to new, go for the name brands such as Victor, Smith,etc.)... sometimes the big welding suppliers (Praxair, Linde/BOC, Air Liquide) will be offering their house brand for 1/2 to 2/3rds the price... but it's the same Victor or Smith, just repackaged. These repackaged sets are often fairly close in price to the Chicom discount sets. I'd check that out.

 

I'd agree about buying used when you haven't seen it (ebay). You could probably do ok at garage/estate sales and craigslist where you can fiddle with it before laying any money down.

The best deals are the estate sales where the guy took care of his tools. The kids don't know jack about them, and they're just selling it all.
Also good are the wife selling the soon-to-be-ex husband's tools for pennies.
Both sad situations, but good tools need good homes. Adopt a tool today

 

I am pretty sure most of the brands have two or three sizes. Just because the tip and the handle are the same brand it doesn't mean they screw together. I would look at the welding heads first. Some sets have a mixing chamber tuned to every size tip and some you just use different tips. Logic would say the matched mixing chamber would give better results. If you get a torch capable of operating the largest rosebud it isn't going to be as sensitive for the small tips. I would say even if you only use acetylene and only have a 40 cubic foot tank you should have six sizes of welding heads. I can't say I see any kits in my travels with a lot of tips or welding heads which is the tip and mixer.

As for the cutting end of things, It really depends on how you feel comfortable holding it and that the pre heat oxygen knob is out of the way for the way you generally hold it. There are cutting torches that are stand alone things and don't attach to a handle.

Haris makes some automatic torches which you can adjust and then flip a device and turn it off and then flip it agian to turn it on. They grow in favor if you get one of them. Neither has seperate welding heads but the largrer one has seperate assemblies for alternate fuel for each size. I find the older cutting attachments have more of a lump under the cutting valve to hold and prefer them to the curent cutting attachments.

It is nice to have equipment where once adjusted properly pushing and pulling on the knobs in an in and out manner makes minimal effect. That is a technique of how to test used stuff out. The packing nut can be adjusted and that will effect how easy the knob turns. You can also look to see if knobs wander around as they turn.

Fran

 

Victor Journeyman---buy once----nuff said.

 

Is some of the victor stuff still made in the USA? If so, can you tell which are and which aren't by the part number, etc?

 

I would only own an aircraft style handle (a popular but poorly performing one is the Victor J-27). These handles put the valves at the tip joint so you can actually control them with you fingers while welding. These torches are also balanced properly: if you lay the torch handle in your hand, it will balance.

There were other brands that were good. Smiths was one of the best but it is long gone. Purox is another one.

Unfortunately, the really good torches are no longer made so its about find a used one. Probably not the thing for the first time buyer.
______________________

Flame stability is of monumental importance. Try to welding in the inside corner of a box. Most flames will extinguish themselves. The old Smiths aviation w/o orings would weld there all day long. The J27 is poor in this regard.

_________________________

I have not had a lot of time put in on the Henrob, however its design philosophy, laminar flow, is the right idea. Frankly, these torches might be the best out there right now. The big deal about laminar flow is that it does not entrain oxygen as much as turbulent flow torches.

There was this old German that I knew and when he adjusted his Smith's torch, he would use pressures that were of the order "just enough to feel it blowing on your cheek." This produced a stable flame of limited heat output so you could weld without introducing excessive distortion. The Smiths was the best torch out there that could do this. Out in the open, I run my J27 like this.

I'm sure you didn't want to hear all of this, but it needs to be said every so often because this knowledge is being lost and forgotten.

Regards,
Tom

 

Tom brought up some interesting points, some of them I disaggree with. For automotive type work I too would suggest an "aircraft" type torch. That being said this is where Tom and I will differ. There is nothing "magic" about the older torches. Most were made well as one would expect and tended to have a very good flame shape. There are however modern torches that are high quality as well. Smith still makes its traditional "soft" flame tips, whose geometry is what used to be called the "A" series back in the days of the #2 handle which predated the AW1-A that is currently made. Vitors "J" series dates back a long time, however the quality of the tips has slipped in recent years. Uniwelds version of the Victor design is actually more true to the original 1930's design, tip wise, and is called the model 71 and the handle is a model 17. I have found them to be of good quality. Harris makes the model 15 handle, which is popular in the aviation world and is of high quality. There is lots to choose from, most of it is pretty good, some excellent, some junk. Dont get me wrong I love old torches and probably have more experience with aircraft torches of different makes than anyone still alive. So this would be my suggestion in order of best to worst currently made common torches.
1-Smith AW1-A
2-Harris 15
3-Uniweld 17
4-Concoa 450
5-Purox W-200
6-Goss
7-Victor J-27
The Dillon design is nothing special, dont buy the whole "laminar" flow BS thats told to you by some of the salesmen. Its a interesting design, well made, but nothing special. There is no gas savings when welding, and it does not do anything a normal torch cant and in some cases is actually very awkward to use. I keep one to use for some things that its more handy with. I would avoid anything antique or oddball if your intention is to just USE the tool. Antiques and oddities are for guys like me that have the capability and the interest to overhaul and use them. Good Luck!

 

Makoman,

You are the first person I've run into that knows a bunch about these aircraft type torches.

Putting the J-27 on the bottom of the list is where I would put it not knowing what else might be out there.

My only affection for the Henrob was that it seems to be setup the way this old German mentor did, I had when I was young. I don't think he ever had more than 5 psi in oxygen and probably 1/2 that in acetylene. He had this ancient aircraft torch that was so worn, you could not identify the manufacturer. It had no o-rings sealing the tip pipes to the handle. He said this was very important since it is possible to cook the o-rings during certain kinds of jobs. When he would weld with his torch, there would be no turbulent sound - the J-27 is all turbulence when you weld. The Henrob is not - again my only attraction to the Henrob.

I remember a number of times we would try to guess what that ancient torch was but he forgot what it was. Candidates were Smith, Purox, and maybe Goss. Never did find out.

Makoman, I would be interested to hear everything you can say about the list of torches you supplied. I know nothing about any of them aside from the J-27. Concoa I never heard of(!)

Thanks for the leads. I'll be investigating them now.

Thanks again,
Tom

 

Smiths was one of the best but it is long gone. Purox is another one.

Smith are quite healthy and very popular on these forums. The AW-1A plus tips etc and regulators separately would be so close to buying the same parts in the Versa-Torch kit I'd just buy the kit and adapt the regulator to a larger cylinder. The 30-series regs are nice.

http://www.weldfabulous.com/Torch-O...-Outfits/Portable-Torch/Smith-Equipment/Smith-Versa-Torch-Cutting-p4543776.html

Purox exist but I'm not seeing any W200s offered new online at the moment. I'll guess ESAB is fading due to various reasons.

Concoa were Airco. Still made, but no point in buying anything lesser than the Smith unless it's used and cheap.

 

Smith Equipment is very much alive and well(and owned by ITW)
Smith makes non Lifetime torches also.....you have to pay extra for Lifetime(worth every penny as far as I am concerned)
I own 2 Harris,1 Concoa and 2 Smith(one Lifetime one non Lifetime) and the only ones that get used are the Smith.
Victor are very common and have been knocked off by everyone and their brother and therefore easy to find tips for.