Henrob Gas torch

[rotorwrench]

My Victor Micro-Torch is one of the last aircraft type torches made with exception to the pistol grip type Cobra/Henrob types. It's a lot like the Smiths Little Torch except it is larger and has the larger tips necessary for steel. Most of the jewelers types are just too small to make enough heat to get a quick melt. 22 gauge steel needs just the right amount of heat to get the weld started. A lot of the little ones just take too long to get started. Sheet steel can take a good bit of heat without much warpage but you can only concentrate it on there for about an inch before it starts getting too hot no matter how fast you go. You can use compressed air to cool things sometimes but you have to have patience. Some folks use wet rags to cool or quench but to me that's too much and I don't think it's necessary.

I still see an occasional used Victor torch but the Airco, Prestoweld, Purox, and Marquette Aero-Jet torches of the prewar an post war eras are still around in someones tool set and they were are decent torches. Some better than others. Linde (Union Carbide) made some of these types after they bought out some of the old companies that made them. The good ones are harder to find these days but they are still out there just like the old cars.

[BillM]

The best thing I ever did was to buy this Victor J-27 torch and tips. Always struggled with welding sheet metal with the larger set inherited from my father.

[Ggmac]

Doesn't anyone use a resistance spot welder ?

[rotorwrench]

I use a resistance welder to spot patches on stainless steel. The helicopters have a lot of fire shields and they like to crack. Spot welding reinforcements on works well to stop that and they can be replaced if they crack in turn.

For body steel panels, I just butt weld them with as close to a zero gap fit as possible. If you overlap the panels, they have to be joggled for a flush fit and most of the time a resistance welder won't fit unless a person has some really long extended contacts plus the gap either has to be welded or filled. It's a lot harder to straighten a double wall panel if it ever gets bent again. They also tend to corrode between the two overlapping panels. The resistance welder I use has about a 12 inch reach.

I looked at the Harris 15-3 torch and it looks like it might be a good one. It's the only brass body torch I could find that is still available and has regular copper tips in all the right sizes. A person could have near 300 bucks invested to get a handle with the mixer and a set of five tips but at least there is still something available in the aircraft torch line. Two stage regulators are another story. They are very expensive now.

Those old Victor J-27 models were a decent torch. I used those way back in A&P school to learn the sheet metal and tubular structural welding trade. The Victor Micro Torch that I have was less expensive but it wasn't made as beefy as those models were. It's been working for me for the last 34 years though.

[quickchange34]

The Victor J- 27 torch is the way to go if you plan to metal finish the panel and not leave it low for the bondo and grind on the weld . It make a nice job to hammer weld the panel in.