Latest project was getting this newest antique score to run.
It's a Jim Dandy alcohol fuel blow torch. Late forties, early fifties. A radio hobbyist or jewelers blow torch. Normally, I wouldn't spend more than ten bucks on an old blow torch but this one is way different than any other one I own. Plated, for one. No real nozzle to speak of. Two fuel reservoirs. I've found some info online about Jim Dandy torches online but almost nothing on this model.
First thing was figuring out how it works. That took a bit of head scratching. The knurled cap is the tank for the burner. The cap with the handle is the tank for the orifice. I couldn't even find the orifice at first as it was really plugged.
This is the first lighting before I figured out there was separate tank for the orifice.
I had unscrewed the hex at the pipe and dumped alcohol down there. It ran for maybe 5 minutes.
This is after getting my head out of my ass and filling the second tank.
It ran for well over an hour on a single filling. It could have easily run longer but I got bored and went in the house. Usually, an old blow torch, Coleman type lantern, or stove that hasn't been used in years will begin to burn better the longer they are run. The gunk in the generators gets cleaned out. This one was no exception. As far as lighting it after filling, pop the cap off the wick and put a match to it. That's it. Within two minutes, the long flame begins to shoot out.
Yesterday, for shits and giggles, I used it to sweat solder a scrap piece of sheet metal to a piece of steel tube. One, to see if it would, and two, to see if I still could. It was a yes to both. Unlike most blow torches, this torch is quiet. It doesn't generate too much heat, and the handle is more comfortable than my Lenk brand alcohol blow torch. It may have become my favorite.
The Lenk. There's a ritual to get this one lit.
This was the first lighting of it. The green in the flame is impurities being burned away. Also the cause of the crooked flame. This does have the satisfying roar of a gas blow torch.