Oxweld torches?
10-31-23, 08:50 AM
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Oxweld torches?
I found this torch today. It's an Oxweld 22. I was wondering if this was worth fixing up and whether there are any tips available that will work with propane and an oxygen generator?
Last edited by bark_eater; 10-31-23 at 08:56 AM.
10-31-23, 10:22 AM
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I think it's worth getting one of the more common torches, like a J-28 or an A1WA. They really aren't super expensive, and it will save you a lot of fiddling around. I would start with the Paige Tools framebuilder set for propane.
I bought a box of torches off of ebay and ended up giving them to a metal recycler because they were all obsolete. It was mostly a gamble because a couple of them looked like a J-28. But they weren't.
I bought a box of torches off of ebay and ended up giving them to a metal recycler because they were all obsolete. It was mostly a gamble because a couple of them looked like a J-28. But they weren't.
11-03-23, 01:40 PM
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I think the w-22 (like the more common w-17) is an older-style "injector mixer" torch designed for very low-pressure Acetylene and much higher pressure Oxygen ( @ 20 -30 PSI).
It was a top-quality torch in it's day around the 1940's and through the 1960's. Nowadays you would need to track down the asst. w-17 tips that fit, and you would need to find out
if indeed people have been able to make the mixer design work with the now much more standard "balanced" pressures ( a common setting for acetylene is roughly 5 and 5 ).
If it is an injector torch than I doubt an Oxygen Generator would put out anywhere near enough PSI to pull the fuel through.
Like Unterhausen sez - it probably just isn't worth the time, money, and energy to scour Ebay for tips if the torch is not going to work well. Some older torches are still fully functional and the older tips seem IMHO to have been a much better quality than modern ones. But for the usual simple brazing involved in bike-making it probably doesn't matter much compared to gas welding airframes, thin sheet-metal, or jewelry work.
You would be better off getting a more "mainstream" modern torch. There's lots of used J-28s, J-27's, and the numerous clones out there. Also Smiths, Purox, and Harris, but they all have their own tips and they tend to be a more expensive
proposition IME. Maybe put the W-22 on Ebay and see if it sells ?
Good Luck,
Michael (old torch nut)
It was a top-quality torch in it's day around the 1940's and through the 1960's. Nowadays you would need to track down the asst. w-17 tips that fit, and you would need to find out
if indeed people have been able to make the mixer design work with the now much more standard "balanced" pressures ( a common setting for acetylene is roughly 5 and 5 ).
If it is an injector torch than I doubt an Oxygen Generator would put out anywhere near enough PSI to pull the fuel through.
Like Unterhausen sez - it probably just isn't worth the time, money, and energy to scour Ebay for tips if the torch is not going to work well. Some older torches are still fully functional and the older tips seem IMHO to have been a much better quality than modern ones. But for the usual simple brazing involved in bike-making it probably doesn't matter much compared to gas welding airframes, thin sheet-metal, or jewelry work.
You would be better off getting a more "mainstream" modern torch. There's lots of used J-28s, J-27's, and the numerous clones out there. Also Smiths, Purox, and Harris, but they all have their own tips and they tend to be a more expensive
proposition IME. Maybe put the W-22 on Ebay and see if it sells ?
Good Luck,
Michael (old torch nut)
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11-03-23, 03:30 PM
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Thanks for the information, if I ever find any old torches, I'll know who to send them to.
