I was thinking of picking up a kerosene (never gasoline/petrol) blow lamp (blow torch) and I was wondering what brands you recommend. AND what to stay away from? My intention is to use this for projects, not just something to sit on the shelf. AND I prefer to buy antique (or older), but does it make more sense to buy new in this instance? Thanks for the help.
a lot will depend on what country you are in !!! if you fill out that part in your profile , someone in your country will /should be able to give you good advice . i can only tell you what is available here in Australia kerry oops i just found you are in the USA. sorry i thought it was displayed in with your avatar ,
Well I have a couple that I use regularly. A Primus 630 for when parts need a heat and quench to loosen and a Primus 605 for heating and quenching stove burners. A bigger one would be better for that job, but that's the best at the moment. There is no need to buy new as they can all be fettled. They might need a new jet though and that is more of a challenge than finding a stove jet.
Does anyone still manufacture kerosene or gasoline blow lamps? Other than something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SabpLuqd2ZA
Hmm...is it to use as you build your own house? I own more than one of these in operating condition, however I would still think about a propane one if I was doing serious work on a house. At the risk of receiving a significant flaming from others, I think the propane is safer- so quick to light that there is no temptation to sit it down while it is lit, then get in it's way, or knock it over. (I hope they let me stay as a member of the forum!).
I'm in the USA. What brands are good here? Clayton & Lambert, Champion, Otto Bernz, Max Sievert, P. Wall Mfg, and Turner are some of the names I have found. No Primus yet, but I am looking. Any years to avoid? I have access to used kerosene blow lamps at local antique stores and on the internet at websites that shall not be named. These things are dirt cheap. Again, I don't want a gasoline model.
G,,day i have had nothing to do with the USA ones . but i do have a few sieverts amongst mine , they are well made and work well . kerry
Kerry is right. Sievert blow lamps are very good. However I get the feeling that the majority of those are meant for petrol, so if you must have a paraffin lamp, esarratt, you'd better check twice if you get your hands on a Sievert. That goes for any brand of course... I think I only have Swedish blow lamps, but I would say that any of those brands will do if you can get one. It's not just a matter of brand. You need a good size for the jobs you intend to use it for. You don't say what kind of "projects" you are thinking about, so I guess you mean an all purpose lamp? E.g. Primus 603 is a very nice and compact lamp for being a "real" blow lamp. A tad bit smaller than the 605 Nils mention, but still of the more powerful type i.e. with a good coil vapouriser and a cast iron nozzle instead of that flimsy all brass flame tube the smaller soldering lamps has. It all comes down to what you need it for. Best is of course to get atleast three lamps in different size and function to cover most things...
My purpose would be to heat up a stuck bolt every now and use it for other small projects that might require fire. Plus pressure kerosene anything is cool. Any excuse to buy and fettle another toy! I like the 3 lamp idea.
I don't think you will find a lot of kerosene blow torches here, (in the U.S.A.). Most of the companies here built white gas (naphtha) torches. There are lots of them around. I've seen hundreds of gas ones, but don't recall seeing one for kero. You might need to buy one from a Swedish or other Euro source. Dean
You have indicated you wish to avoid petrol blowtorches and that is a wise move as many of them are dangerous, unlike most petrol stoves and petrol lanterns. A check of Zangobob's blowtorch website Link will give you more details. I think for what you have described a standard kerosene blowtorch including the Primus models already mentioned and recommended would be most satisfactory. I have many of them in working order (605, 615, 618, 631) and I also like the standard Primus 632 which is similar to the Australian Companion 42 (1 pint) and 43 (2 pint) models in performance and approximate size. I also like the English Monitor Model 26. In short I wouldn't go for a smaller unit (eg Primus 631) or the larger 'brazing units' but the 'common sized' Primus 632, Monitor 26 and Companion 1 pt models are all very workable. I often use a Dominion 500 USA petrol model for demos (very similar to Clayton and Lambert and Otto Bernz) and it makes me think each time I light it. I would also avoid the constant soldering elongated blowtorches if you come across these as they are more cumbersome. However, despite having a variety of blowlamps, I personally just use a good cheap trigger operated LPG blowtorch for loosening nuts and small silver soldering repair projects. Good luck. Iain
Second-hand day at a local market is a good bet.... I saw a box of about 10 kero' blowlamps yesterday on a market stall a couple of miles from home. They were priced at £4 each and there were various types, including a couple of Sievert ones (stamped made in Sweden) with wooden handles among them... Pumps were dry and stuck in some, but all looked complete and restorable.
You do what I do with stoves, keep buying ones you think will be good for using and then just put them on display when you find a better one. I must have about 30 or 40 doing that. Note that I don't call this collecting On blow lamps, I have been good and only have a few. One Bladon that I use if I need one, a small petrol Three Crowns and a vapouria 11 just for display. Then these three that I just couldn't resist when I saw them. Left to right, Primus 651, Primus 659 and Vapouria 3038. I guess technically they are hot bulb engine pre heaters, be fun trying to solder with the vapouria.
