Hello Everyone,
The oil soak is cheaper (around here anyway).
> You mean there's something other than cat litter to soak up oil?
I think I missed something, but the hearth is used for protecting your work area
from the heat and flame and to retain as much heat as possible into the work area,
and the clay (oil soak or cat litter) is used as a heat soak to prevent
un-soldering what you have already done. Correct? At least that's what the oil
soak is used for at work (other than soaking up oil). If it's used as a hearth,
wouldn't the pressure from the torch blow it everywhere? If there's a way to use
it for a hearth it would be a lot cheaper and easier than the refractory brick.
> If you get your hearth or cat litter bed or whatever set up properly,
> you may not need this, but keep in mind that you may need even
> more heat than one torch can deliver.
Brownel's (of gunsmithing supplies fame) has a product that is a paste,
specifically designed to be a heat soak called Heat Stop (catchy name, huh?). I've
only used it a few times, but it works well. It's used to prevent de-soldering the
vent ribs and magazine rings on shotguns and preventing heating surounding areas
when repairing other parts of the barrel or gun. It doesn't run or sag during use
and cleans up with water. One claim that they made that we tried was putting the
Heat Stop on center part of a steel rod, heating one end cherry red while holding
the other in your hand. It worked!
We always put a lot of the paste on the work and after using it, put the paste
back in the can. I don't really think you're supposed to do that but don't
remember for sure. At over $9 for a 1 lb. can, you try to save as much as
possible.
Later,
Trent
