What is a blow lamp used for?
What is a blow lamp used for? |
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| A blow lamp can be used for many things. Here are a few examples: | ||||
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A gardening blow lamp can be used for killing weeds in a garden. This is achieved by the high temperature it can produce, which scorches the leaves until they can no longer grow back.
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Blow lamps are predominantly used for soft soldering and brazing. One difference between the two is the temperature at which the jointing material becomes molten. | |||
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Soft soldering is where different solder compositions require the use of different soldering temperatures. The pipe is heated by the blow lamp until it reaches the relatively low melting point (approx. 180 to 240 degrees Celsius) of the solder material. The material then liquefies upon touching the heated pipe and flows into the join, where it hardens to hold the two metals together. It is mainly used for making leak-proof joints. | |||
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Brazing, on the other hand, produces a harder and stronger joint than soft soldering. It works by using a brazing rod (or filler rod) which has a lower melting point than the two metals being joined, but higher than that of soft soldering (typically above 450 degrees Celsius).
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Blow lamps can also be found in the kitchen. They are used for caramelising sugar on the top of a crème brûlée, or scorching the skin of vegetables and meat.
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Through the use of a flat flame burner, a blow lamp can also be used for stripping paint from a wall. The blow lamp’s flame heats the paint until it bubbles and lifts away from the surface. This will then allow you to remove the paint easily with a scraper.
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A standard blow lamp can also be used to mould plastic pipes with the addition of a flame extension piece and a deflector. The heat from the blow lamp warms the plastic to a temperature where the plastic can be bent.
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