meco midget vs little torch for silver fabrication
 

It's nice to see this board again. I use to post here a few years ago,
but drifted away when I moved.

I have searched the archives but have some specific questions comparing
the Meco Midget & the Little Torch, and how they will work with a wide
range of silver fabrication projects.

I currently use a smith acetylene/air torch. It has served me well for
years. But I now want a torch that has more range at the finer more
delicate end for soldering on prongs and other delicate silver work.

Many friends and fellow jewelers say get a Little Torch. But my concern
with it is that it won't work on my larger hollow formed (but still
jewelry) pieces. (If you need visuals my website offers the full range
of what I am talking about...www.carlamfox.com)

The Meco Midget seems to have the range that could work with the larger
silver pieces...but can it also work with the finer/delicate pieces?

Then someone suggested the hoses on the Meco may be awkward to use.
More awkward then my acetylene/air hose?

At this point I am really stuck in the middle of which torch will work
the best for my range of projects. Any thoughts would be most
appreciated.

Thanks.

Carla

CM Fox wrote:

The Meco Midget seems to have the range that could work with the larger
silver pieces...but can it also work with the finer/delicate pieces?

No single torch can do everything.
A Y manifold (about $20 U.S.) makes you able to run your old torch and the
new one. These area available for both fuel and oxygen tanks, so almost
any combination is possible. I'm presently running an air-acetylene and an
oxy-acetylene Little Torch, using a manifold on just the acetylene tank.
--
mbstevens http://www.mbstevens.com

I am mulling over the exact same decision for the same reasons. I have the Prest-0-lite Silversmith torch with acetylene/air. It doesn't have finer tips for precise and delicate work. I hope for more posts to help decide whether to get a Smith Little Torch or the Meco Midget.