Sorry for the somewhat late reply. I am not worried about the MAPP damaging the torch; almost all the torch heads which are used with propane can be used safely with MAPP. My hardware store told me that MAPP burns hotter (duh) and is harder to work with for a beginner (me)... I need to know WHY, if any reason, MAPP is harder to work with then propane.
Either way, I am buying a nice torch for $60. The pencil ones are just not doing it for me. This one also has interchangeable torch tips, and the one which is included is a swirl flame one, which apparently is ideal for soldering.
The pencil one which I have now is suitable for soft soldering copper up to 1" in diameter (difficult to do now); the one I plan to buy is suitable for soft soldering copper up to 3"
![Surprised :o](./images/smilies/icon_e_surprised.png)
. I am never going to try that though, because if I screwed up... out WAY too many dollars. If the torch head really does work well, I might try some 1.5" copper and beyond.
Hopefully, I can just use propane with this torch (surprisingly, the MAPP gas at my hardware store is priced regularly, where the propane is way too much money, only $2 less than the MAPP). I might try brazing just for the hell of it once I grow bored of soft soldering (I heard brazing materials need to be machined to close tolerances though, so that might not work out...)