Nice Burner Torch

[bswartzwelder]

I started to make the "nice torch" discussed in another thread, but have found a way to make it much easier and cheaper.

I started with a brand new Bernzomatic torch head from Lowes ($14.99). Unscrew the nozzle from the end of it. Unscrew the orifice. Remove the filter from the back of the orifice. Drill a 0.016 inch hole in the orifice and screw it back into the nozzle end.

Next, take the 3/8 inch coupler and drill six 3/16 inch holes on the flats around the center of the coupler. Use Teflon tape made for gas service for all threaded connections. Screw the 3/8 inch by 1/8 inch adapter into one end of the coupler. This will later screw onto the nozzle assembly.

One of the 1/2 inch by 3/8 inch face bushings will need to be cut down to one half its normal thickness and a tap run completely through it. Screw this modified face bushing all the way down onto the piece of 3/8 inch brass pipe (either 3 inches long or 4 inches long). No Teflon tape needed here.

Wrap Teflon tape around the pipe threads left exposed by the face bushing and screw it into the other end of the coupler. Screw a second face bushing onto the other end of the brass pipe.

Remove the plastic from around the apple coring tool. Slide the apple coring tool down over the two face bushings and 3/8 inch pipe. Drop the 15/16 inch aerator screen down into the apple coring tool. Cut the push in drain strainer to fit snugly into the apple coring tool and push it in. That should finish it.

It eliminates the need for most of the brass fittings called for in the original post and makes a very neat and clean looking torch.

I have ordered a pin vise and #78 drills to make the proper sized orifice. I am going to try to make it on my mini lathe. I'll let you know how it works when I'm finished.

 

[Claudie]

Document it with pictures and keep us posted.

 

[GotTheBug]

In the words of Hannibal. "I Love it when a plan comes together".

 

[bswartzwelder]

I will be picking up parts on Monday when my local hardware store reopens. Trust me, I have learned much from trying to build the first one and I am sure there are lessons to come. The part I fear most is drilling the 0.016 inch hole for the orifice. This hole is only a fraction of 1/1000 inch larger than 1/64 of an inch. I have ordered a package of drill bits and a pin vise.

Any suggestions on the best way to approach this would be greatly appreciated. Should I chuck the orifice into my mini lathe to drill it out? Should I use my drill press or hand drill and just pray I don't use too much pressure? Should I just sit down and try to drill it out by hand with the pin vise? I have never had a metal shop class while in high school and this task appears daunting.

In the original video, I was able to read "MainStays" as the brand name for the apple corer. MainStays is a brand sold at WalMart, but I was unable to find it at any of the 3 WalMarts I visited. Nor did I see it in the online WalMart. I did find another brand name online. It is stainless steel as well and appears to be the same diameter as the MainStays one in the video. However, I tried to shorten it by one inch on my mini lathe and all I managed to do was get it shorter, destroy one of the carbide cutting tools, and damage the corer to the point where I really don't want to use it. I do not recommend trying to cut the stainless steel corer. Having said that, perhaps something like a tubing cutter could put enough of an indentation all the way around it to where it would easily break off. Would really have to give the cut off edge a lot of respect.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

There is a drill bit set sold exclusivly for drilling out orifices for gas burners. The bit's are not ment to be used in a drill but to be operated by hand. You can contact a local plumbing supply house or an HVAC supply house to find them.

 

[butcher]

Small bits break easy if the tool that holds and turns the bit, or the work is not held in alignment, too much pressure can bend the bit while it is turning, as the bit gets to the end of the work, at the point of coming out of the other end of the work is another point where the bit can jam and break.

Using small lath or drill press, to help keeping the bit and work in alignment, will work better than drilling it freehand, but it can also be harder to judge how much pressure you may be applying.

Whatever tool you use to drill out the small orifice, having good control of speed, pressure, and alignment will be important.

You can try to cut the stainless steel tube in a small lathe (or drill press) turning the tube slowly, using a fine tooth blade in the hack saw, holding the hack saw firmly in place (bracing or clamping the hack saw in place), turning the lath a slow speed, a trick to drilling or cutting stainless is to turn the bit or tool slowly where heat of friction will not heat the tool, I use a little milk or cream as a coolant and lubricant when I drill stainless steel, using a low speed on the drill.

A tubing cutter will indent the tubing at the cut.
You could cut it with a tubing cutter and then file off the indented portion.

You might even consider using a brass tubing instead of stainless.

Another option is a Dremel tool at low speed to cut the stainless steel.

 

[bswartzwelder]

Thank you BarrenRealms and Butcher. I have decided to take a 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch bolt and chuck it into my lathe. Machine the head flat and drill a slight indentation in it using a centering bit. Then, I will drill the proper size hole and tap it for the orifice to fit into. Believe it or not, I think it takes a 8-36 tap and not the standard 8-32. Tap is on order. Once tapped, I can screw the orifice into the head of the bolt and it will provide a very stable platform for drilling out the orifice. This project is running into some really strange problems. I will document progress with photos when possible.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

You should be able to contact an HVAC supply house and get orifices that you can drill out to the size you need.

 

[bswartzwelder]

I finally got all the parts to build the "Super Torch" shown in another post. I like my version a little better.

In this picture, you can see two of the BernzOmatic torch heads with the burner tubes removed. The burner tubes are not used and may be discarded. In the "After" view, you can see the drill bit sticking out from the end of the orifice. Also, the four "Lines" around the penny are 4 of the same drill bits. I used the penny for a size comparison. The correct bit to use is a #78 drill bit and is 0.016 inches in diameter. It is within 0.001 inches of a 1/64 inch drill bit. Drilling the hole took about a half hour.

 

[bswartzwelder]

I am having difficulty posting the pictures, so I will do them individually. In this picture, the torch on the left is unmodified. The torch on the right shows the orifice with the #78 (0.016 inch) hole drilled into it.

 

[bswartzwelder]

This picture shows some of the other parts which will need modification.

On the left, you will see a 1/2 inch to 3/8 inch Hex adapter. In the "before" view, you can see that the threads do not extend all the way to the bottom of the adapter. I took a 3/8 inch NPT tap ($13.99 + tax at True Value) and mounted in my vise with the thread end pointing up. It has to be really tight. Then, screw the adapter (hex end first) down onto the tap. Using a lot of slippery stuff (cutting oil, silicon spray, WD-40, etc.), and a 7/8 inch deep well socket, I screwed to adapter down onto the tap till it just reached the shank of the tap. Make sure you use good tapping techniques and back the adapter off the tap frequently to clear brass filings from the tap. Then, remove the hex adapter and turn it upside down and again thread it down onto the tap as far as it will go. This opens up the threads all the way down and is crucial. It is also very demanding physically.

The outside threads on the adapter are not critical and if you damage them a little, that's ok. Next, I chucked the adapter (Hex end) into my mini lathe and cut a piece 5/16 inches long off the end. I will show this in another picture later on. Now, take what's left of the adapter and turn it around chucking the outside threads into the lathe chuck. I turned the hex end down until it just made a really snug fit on the inside of the apple corer tube. It is no longer a hex end, but a round end. If you don't have a lathe, you can simply cut 2 equal length pieces from the hex adapter, but turning it down really makes a nice fit. All the work on the hex adapter took about an hour.

In the center of the picture is a 3/8 inch brass pipe coupling. I drilled a 3/16 inch hole on the hex flats. Total of 6 holes. I marked the locations with a center punch then drill all the holes out to 1/16 inch. Replaced the drill bit with a 1/8 inch bit and opened them up. Finally, I used a 3/16 inch drill bit and opened them up to their final size. Make sure the coupler is firmly clamped when you are drilling it and use a very high speed with almost no pressure. Otherwise, as the drill punches through, the coupler will try to ride up the bit creating a less than perfect hole. This process took about 15 minutes.

In the right side of the picture it a Danco 80060 1.5 inch drain strainer. Available at many places. Make sure you get the one which is brass. They also make them out of aluminum and stainless steel. I tried to machine one of the stainless steel ones and just managed to destroy the carbide cutting bit for my lathe. I made a jig to hold this in my lathe and turned it down until is was a snug fit inside the apple corer tube. In the original video, they said you can cut it down with tin snips. It has to be slightly larger than the inside diameter of the tube because it is a "press" fit and holds the aerator screen in place.

 

[bswartzwelder]

This picture shows the apple corer. It can be purchased online at eBay and cost $7.09 with free shipping. There is a plastic core ejector which comes with it and can be discarded. Look at the corer end and you will notice the end is beveled giving a sharp edge. Remove the plastic end piece by sawing almost the whole way through it at one or more locations. Then, using pliers, pull the plastic end off. Try not to damage it. It is stainless and I tried to cut a 3/4 inch to 1 inch piece off the end in my lathe. Later, I found out this was too long and suggest cutting a 1/2 inch piece off the end. Sorry for the bad information. I did manage to destroy another carbide cutter. I would suggest using a chop saw to cut the piece off of it. Cut it off the end which had the plastic on it and does not have a bevel. Save the piece you cut off. It will need some more work.

Split the piece you just cut off lengthwise. I chucked it into a machinists vise and used a 3.5 inch angle grinder and sliced a 1/4 inch gap down the length of the small tube. This short tube will be used as a spacer later on and must fit tightly inside the other piece of the apple corer. Once you have it cut off and have about a 1/4 inch gap down the short piece, use a pair of needle nose pliers and just grab a little bit of the top edge and bend it inward at several places around the circumference. This little "ledge" will help hold the wire mesh aerator screen and drain strainer in proper alignment later.

 

[bswartzwelder]

In this picture, you can see the basic layout of all the parts except the apple corer and the torch head. You can put all the pieces together and the just screw the finished burner head onto the torch head. Start by screwing the 3/8 inch by 1/8 inch adapter into one end of the 3/8 inch coupler. Use Teflon tape on this connection.

Then, screw the 5/16 inch piece cut from the 1/2 inch by 3/8 inch hex adapter all the way down onto one end of the 3/8 inch by 3 inch brass pipe. No Teflon tape needed here. Screw the pipe into the end of the 3/8 inch coupler using Teflon tape.

Next, screw the other piece of the modified hex adapter onto the other end of the brass pipe. If you turned it down like I did, screw the threaded end on first.

I will assemble these and the rest of the parts and put up pictures of them later, hopefully today.

 

[bswartzwelder]

This picture shows the burner assembly almost completely put together.

 

[bswartzwelder]

This picture shows the drain strainer in the apple corer and the wire mesh screen on top of it. The spacer (made from a 1 inch piece of the apple corer) is off to one side. The 15 mm deep well socket helps keep everything straight as you push the drain strainer and aerator mesh down into the apple corer tube from the beveled end. The spacer was found to be too long and was shortened to about 3/8 of an inch. Cutting a piece from the original apple corer length of 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch should be about perfect.

 

[bswartzwelder]

Here is the finished torch. You tell me if this isn't easier and nicer looking than the original design. I have tried it out and the flame it puts out is amazing. I will try to post a picture of it this evening. It's hard to get a good picture in broad daylight.

 

[bswartzwelder]

This last picture is looking down into the business end of the torch. I know I said to cut the spacer to 1/2 inch. In this torch, to compensate for the reduced length of the apple corer, I'll replace the 3 inch brass pipe with a 2.5 inch brass pipe.

The total cost of the parts only (including tax) and none of the tools needed are as follows:
BernzOmatic torch assembly from Lowes - Item 148722 - $15.90
3/8 inch to 1/8 inch adapter from True Value - 54087B - $2.22
3/8 inch pipe coupling from True Value - 54071B - $3.15
3/8 inch brass pipe 3 inches long from True Value - 609172 - $4.23
1/2 inch by 3/8 inch brass Hex adapter from True Value - $3.17
Flat Drain Strainer bought online for $4.78
15/16 inch aerator screen from True Value - 134388 - $1.90
Stainless Steel Apple Corer bought online - $7.09

Total cost of parts - $42.44 - Not too bad considering the apple corer and the torch assembly comprise 54% of the total cost.

The #78 drill bits and pin vise were about $20 and the 3/8 inch pipe tap was $14.83.

If anyone is interested, I can machine any of the parts listed and send them to you for a fee plus shipping charges.

 

[bswartzwelder]

OK, here it is. It's a little hard to see because the light just isn't right, but the original BernzOmatic torch is on the left and the modified Super torch is on the right. Original torch is at full throttle, Super Torch cannot be operated at full throttle because the orifice is so large it lets too much gas come through and it extinguishes itself. However, you can get quite a flame with this modification. Hope you like it. I can't begin to imagine what the heat output would be with MAPP Gas.

 

[Geo]

Good going. It looks great.

 

[rewalston]

Very nice looking torch. I would love to make one of those, just don't have a lathe. Some of your steps were a little confusing, but I'll have to re-read it with a bit more clear head.

Rusty