Hello Shane, It takes practice. There are a few ways that I use.
1) gently advance the tip of the torch to the pipe and use it to feel your way to the seam of the joint then withdraw it an inch or so. Take care, it will sometimes put the flame out. As you withdraw the torch you should hear a slight deepening of the sound when the hot point of the flame is about on the pipe. Of course if possible you want that right on the junction but close will do. You should also wash the flame over the area and actually around the joint to insure even heating. 2) You might take a length of thin tube or steel long enough to use as a probe in the other hand so you can feel the end of the torch and the seam of the joint. This can be pretty tricky and you don't want to be robbing too much heat from the joint. The rod or tube will get hot pretty quickly as well, one advantage to thin tube is that it won't absorb heat so well and it cools more quickly. Again you should be able to hear a change in the sound of the flame as it centers on the work, use that. It can be very helpful if you can arrange things so that the arm operating the torch can be supported or braced against something to help refine your control and relative positioning of the torch.This can also be helpful for the arm controlling the solder as well, can make locating the seam with the solder more efficient and quick. When the pipe is hot enough to melt the solder it doesn't stay that way very long. Hope this helps. ----- Original Message ----- From: Shane Hecker To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 9:32 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] soldering questions When it comes to soldering, how do you know when you have the flame on the right place? It's not that I can't solder. The problem I have is keeping the flame on the spot where I want it, or I'll completely miss the spot entirely. Not talking about wires here, we're talking copper pipes. Shane ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.24.0/1460 - Release Date: 5/22/2008 7:06 AM [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
