Using a chef's torch for lampwork
 

I'm a beginner looking to finally get started making some small beads and small off-mandrel figurines. Just for personal enjoyment. I might send them off to be batch annealed. Anyways, my issue is that I rent a condo for now, so I don't feel comfortable using a propane/oxygen set up obviously or a HH. I live in a rural area, so no rental studio space, shared artist spaces or lampwork classes.

I found this video where an artist used a chef's torch (butane) to do some really cool pieces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhAh...uraQuinnDesign

Is this a viable way for me to dip my feet in? Obviously it's much less versatile, but I'm dying to at least get started melting some glass!

You absolutely can use a chef's torch to do this but it will be extremely slow. You won't be able to make very big pieces because the torch just won't put off enough ambient heat to keep a larger piece from shattering. I don't think the chef's torch would be any safer than a Hot Head, but your cost would be significantly lower. I used a Hot Head for about seven years before getting a Minor. It served very well.

What ESC said! Going slow in the beginning can be a very good way to understand how the glass wants to behave. Go for it!

So I'm not sure how much, or if any, glass.you have on hand, but that person is using stringers, not rods. You can buy them premade. And for what it's worth, I've bent stringers with a candle. Just bends, nothing fancy.