To butane or solder?

[FJ and G]

I picked up a butane (pencil looking) torch for about $12 from Harbor Freight, with the idea of using it to solder my rails (on wood ties), rather than use the soldering iron.

I've "sweated" copper plumbing pipes before when I did my new bathroom so I'm familiar with the routine. Using resin solder for rails of course.

I'm thinking that the butane method might help speed up the process and get the rails hot a bit faster than the Weller gun I use.

Is there anything to consider when deciding which method to use to solder?

Thanks

[lionelsoni]

I would worry about burning whatever is behind the rails, like ties and table. The plumber's solution is to wedge a piece of scrap sheet metal between the pipe and the background. Another useful trick is to put a wet cloth around the pipe between the joint and any combustible object that it touches nearby. In your case, this could perhaps be a wet Q-tip near the closest crosstie.

[FJ and G]

Thanks, I'll be outside doing this with gravel for a base and have already thought about the heat sink materials like wet ballast etc. So butane sounds like it might be the way to go to get a quick, hot solder?