Miller O/A torch questions

Dammit.. I mean Harris of course. ;) I'm having a brain dead day.

Mike (and yes, I know that is a Victor tip sitting next to the Harris cutting attachment. I got a box of tips at an auction and they were all Victor, of course I have a HARRIS torch. (got them before I got the torch even, because I wanted the helmet and soapstone pencils) for cheap)

I like Harris torches. I expect you can still get tips. If a silver soldered joint is leaking like you describe you will have to get it serviced at a torch repair center. If you drop it off at your local welding supplier he will send it to a repair service. To avoid the middle man I would look around for a outfit that services torches and nothing else. They will tell you if the cost is excessive. Sometimes torches and regulators are not worth repairing since you can purchase a new one for less, Randy

I sauntered out to the shed and took said photos, sent them to him, and got a quick answer back. "We don't make that model anymore, it's been obsolete for at least 20 years".

I emailed him back to see if he could at least tell me the model # so I could look for NOS and used stuff maybe... he never answered me. *sigh*

My yahoo photos has some pics of the handle and cutting attachment. There are NO model #'s, letters, numbers, or symbols of ANY kind on the thing, except where you screw on the hose and one side says "gas" and the other side says "Ox". Some pics are posted at:

Or In that pic of the handle I have the end covered with some masking tape (to keep dirt and crap out) so it doesn't show the threads, I can take another pic if needed.

Also, today when trying to cut some stuff I got a flame out of the junction between the silver tube and the brass head of the cutting attachment. I shut it off smartly and looked at it, it seems the joint is failing there, how easy is this to repair? I think this is just silver soldered isn't it?

Thanks for any help! Mike in Warrensburg

That's odd considering how much it looks like this brand new one for sale on eBay:

I don't know how it's attached and I'm hardly an expert on the subject but I wouldn't trust it. I would either take it to a repair shop or I'd buy a new head. They're not that expensive especially on eBay if you know which one you need. The diameter of the tourch handle is probably enough to be sure you're getting the right one.

Maybe this one?

Or you can pick up a whole new torch since any standard torch will connect to your hoses and regulators. They should have standard "B" connectors that will fit Victor, Harris, Airco, Generico or even any of the cheap chinese import Victor clones.

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

Mike,

I think I have some goodies for that very torch. Some time ago, on ebay, I bought a "lot" of welding supplies that included these items. Provided I can find the stuff and you can use it, I'd probably be willing to trade it to you for a can of pork and beans.

I'm not sure I have the torch body. But I'm nearly sure I have the cutting attachment and some tips for it.

Is the cutting attachment the part that's leaking??

Vernon snipped-for-privacy@tucklings.com

I was hitting the local auctions and sales myself. I've pretty much stopped buying on Ebay because too many sellers charge $40 shipping to make up for selling something $30 cheaper than I can buy it locally.

Yes, specifically where one of the triple tubes meets the torch head. The torch body itself is fine as far as I can tell, except I have no mixer or tips for it.

Let me know if you find that stuff and what you think it's worth.

Thanks! Mike

I expect I could get tips if I had the mixer, but without the mixer I'm limited to cutting stuff (which would be tolerable if I could get my electrical upgrade done so I could use my stick welder)

There's something though, I have a friend that is a silversmith and I KNOW he could silver solder this head back on, assuming that would be a safe thing to do. If I had a decent heatsource I think *I* could actually repair it, I'm just not sure if it's a simple silver soldering job as I suspect it is and wanted to see if someone could tell me that might know.

Thanks, Mike

I looked, they had a link to the original item at Sears, it has a zoomed picture, they are similar but not the same. If I had the extra C note I'd just go to the local welding supply and get a new torch body and cutting attachment that I could get new tips for but I'm on a fairly tight budget. (interestingly, the cutting attachment I have uses tips I can buy new still, they are standard 6290-# tips (I have a #1 in it))

If I had a model # for this torch body it might well be that easy, but when I asked the guy at Harris he never replied. I'm going to send him a reminder email I think.

I have a bunch of Victor cutting tips so I might just see about picking up an inexpensive Victor or clone...

Thanks! Mike

That is almost definitely the tip I have.

As to how much I think it's worth... I already told ya... a can of pork and beans.

The trick will be finding it. During Rita, the hurricane that wasn't, we moved to another house. Our world hasn't been the same since.

VT

I have started sending a question to sellers asking politely if they are willing to ship via USPS Priority Mail flat rate envelopes, always adding that I know it costs them gas money to go to the post office, etc. About 1 or 2 times out of 10 they say OK, about 1 more time out of 10 they agree to drop egregious shipping rates a few bucks. Certainly worth an email.

GWE

Man, that would be spiff. ;)

As I can't tolerate pork and beans I'm fairly sure my missus can part with one of her cans for me! :)

Whew... glad you didn't get hurricaned but I can sympathize with moving. I moved four times last year (I was renting, moved to another rental for two months to finish out my job, then moved to a spare room at my parents while my house was closing, then moved to the new house... I'm STILL looking for most of my tools).

Mike

"Mike Martin" wrote: (clip) I'm just not sure if it's a simple silver soldering job as I suspect it is and wanted to see if someone could tell me that might know. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I have silver soldered a large rosebud assembly to a threaded fitting to fit my torch butt, and it works just fine.

Mike,

That torch may be a Harris 63-2. Google around and crossreference the mixer, maybe an E-43.

I think a 43-2 Handle is a super duty version of a 63-2. A 63-2 torch might be like a 18-5 without the gas saver.

I don't think a 63-2 is made by Harris anymore, but the 18-5 and the 43-2 are.

My details may be fuzzy but you can probably track this all down.

Mark

Well, looking on the websites it tells me a 63-2 handle is 9.75 inches, mine is 9 inches even.

Looks to me like 7 threads in the 3/8th inch threaded section at the top, and the diameter is a hair over 3/4 inch (OD, at the threads)

I'm also going to try emailing the guy at Harris again and seeing if he will pin down a model #. Maybe he intended to answer me but forgot...

Thanks for everyone's help! Mike