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Kris, the Mongoose is a fictional torch. Mike made it up for an April Fool's Day joke a year or two ago. I don't know if it survived the hacker attack on the old GLDG board.
Pretty elaborate/creative joke. And, the punchline is in the name, "Mongoose" since a Mongoose kills snakes, particularly Cobras. As far as me kicking anything, you can express whatever opinion you want to about me, GTT, or whatever, and I won't have a problem. I may disagree, but... It's just when people post untruths or personal attacks that I have a problem and will speak up. About your cuda center candle, it is normal for them to have a center candle that is longer than the rest. If it is significantly more yellow tipped than the others when trying to run a neutral flame, and you are unable to clean it up, it can be a problem. That would indicate that that center jet is not receiving as much oxygen as the rest. But, if it is just like the others, but a little bit longer, it should be fine. |
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Kimberly, the center candle can be fixed by adding oxy but it seems to make the rest of the flamea little to oxydized. My biggest complaint is how hot the cuda gets. I can not tell you how many swear words and burns have evolved from this. I seem to rest my pinky on the barrel and i am sick of getting burnt! Anyway I am going to ordera cheetah i think. My only concern is I am used to the inner and outer fire. I wonder if this will screw me up with larger beads.....hmmm, I didn't think of that.
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If I knew i could get a phantom...I would buy it today! Any suggestions????
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I would wait to buy. Carlisle is coming out with another torch soon. That's all I can say and I am not associated with them..! But you may want to see it first! Hmmm, I wonder if it will be at the Gathering??!!
Btw Kris my knobs only get hot on the mini cc's when I lower the pressure too much! Paula |
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I know Generations Glass has them. That's where I got mine. |
Frantz has them with a marble hole on one side of the marver. Super Cool! I just ordered one for the Cuda that I am finally hooking up today!!
Paula |
doggone it, kimberly! you let the mongoose out of the bag!!!
(chuckling) |
Sorry, Mike.
*snicker* Hey, wait a minute... could that be the new torch Paula is talking about? Maybe it isn't a joke, after all. |
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sounds like an interesting torch. can it operate with only compresses air, or is the compressed air and suppliment to an oxy tank?
Northern Light |
So of coarse money is an important consideration....now I'm wondering if the mirage is bigger than I need. I'm hoping to work with goblets and figures roughly 6"-8" tall....perhaps the phantom is enough?
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Ok, I"m still figuring out how this whole posting thing works!
I'm wondering if the Mirage is more than I need. What can the Phantom do? I'm hoping to create goblets and figures not more that 10" tall....can a Phantom handle it and save me some money?
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The rule of thumb is up to 12" on the Phantom, although it is possible to get bigger pieces with some good skills. Willy has seen up to 15" on a Phantom... But, again, the rule of thumb is 12".
So, for what you are describing, the Mirage is more than you need. The Phantom will do just fine. |
If you are looking at doing hollow forms and not solid work, the width of the flame is more important than the ability to penetrate heat deep into the piece quickly. Can you do this work on a Phantom, sure... would it be easier with a CC or other wide flame? Yeperz, it would... especially for a beginner. Just my .02
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Can you adjust your flame (on a Phantom) and work where it feathers out and is wider? Absolutely. Can a beginner do this? Of course. Is it easier for a beginner to not have to encase colors or worry about easily scumming glass? Yes.
The notion that GTTs are only good for hard thrusting flames is a misconception. Does this discount anyone else's opinion? Opinions are opinions, and everyone is entitled to one. |
Nobody said a hard driving flame is all they are good for... but the hard driving flame they are better at than a CC is not necessary when working most tubing applications. The wider flame of the CC would be better suited for this type work in my opinion... and a CC isn't as hard on colors if you are working with the wider flame further out. Once you get out from the face, the premix centerfire isn't that harsh. Working on it in Mickelsen's studio really gave me some perspective on the CC. I just think the wider flame of the CC is going to give a more even heat base for this situation. That just makes it easier to heat the whole piece evenly to blow it out, with a lot less hassle. Best of luck, whatever torch you get. Hollow forms are fun, but tricky to master. Reading the heat base in the glass is most important. You want even glow all over. Get a case of 20-30 mil scalloped tubing. The lines will help you read the glass. ;)
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Thanks, mods, for cleaning up this thread and restoring it to usefulness!
My only input is that while I adore my Barracuda, if money was no object and I was up to making the switch to tanked oxy I would get a Phantom. I still want to look into the Knight Bullet, too. |
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I have worked one every Carlisle,GTT (except phantom) Nortel,Knight whatevers (same as carlisle) and Herbert Arnold Zenit burners.......Carlisle is a great entry level torch for the money and for what it does. GTT's are (to me ) cute torches that have dinky little knobs.....and the bigger the torch gets ~add more knobs sounds like a great idea untill you put glass in your hands and need to adjust 5 or 6 of them. Nortel works great for what they are an I tried one out similar to the CC before they had been released and for the money you cannot knock that!
After I purchase my 40mm H.A Zenit burner I decided to get the 50mm and the 65mm to add to my arsenal of equipment. ~The are noiseless, efficiant, precise, and in my opinion indestructible in design and simple to adjust, ergonomically correct....however they are not easy for some people to understand and why that is I don't know or really want to. I sat down with a scientific lab glassblower whom has also done glass art since the 70's his opinion was "Carlisle's are great! GTT's are overpriced and found them to be flawed in design for the user not to mention the "touchy head syndrome" said nothing about Nortel or the Knight bullet/carlisle repro .....when he looked at my H.A's he immedietly produced an antique model with brass head and fittings with the one knob adjustment. We never discussed prices since it doesn't really matter in scheme of things we did discuss the flame produced and that of Carlise and HA with the HA being a far hotter flame with much more refinement and more importantly ~Its simply years ahead of its time when they started production in the 50's What would I buy? The torch the best suits my needs as well as the one that is simple to use because I want to work the glass ~not the 6-10 knobs! |
gtt all the way
they will recondition them for free for life i have 2 deltas 2 mirages 2 phantoms 1 lynx in my shop. |
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I have had mine for over 2 years and wouldn't trade it for a car lode of GTT or any other torch.It's like a little tank. G. |
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PM me for my ph#. G. |
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You can pm if you want. I never tried a HA, but was almost closed to trading for a 50mm once. I like the idea of a 1 knob telescoping flame. Robert |
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The centerfire is the same as a Mini CC, so if you know that torch, the HellCat will be very easy to work with as only the addition of the outerfire will be new to you. As for soft glass, we did have Brad Pearson come and work with the torch quite a bit. He brought turquoise, black and white in morretti to test the torch. His findings were that the torch ran cool in the body the whole time, he made a large over 2" diameter marble in very short order, found more heat than he expected (even burning through a stainless steel punti by accident), but the nicest part is even with all that heat, the white and black did not bleed into each other and the turquoise stayed true with no reduction or pitting. Hope that helps. The torch is similar to the Cuda and the Bullet Burner in size , but everyone that has tried the HellCat and uses either the Cuda or the Bullet has told me that they did prefer the HellCat's soft flame as compared to other models. Price wise, the HellCat has an MSRP of $845, which I think is a little more than the Bullet and a little less than the Cuda. |
William, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. Of course, I find it rather interesting that you would wait over a year to express it (this thread was well over a year old when you resurrected it). But, at any rate, your opinion is your opinion and differing views are always enlightening.
However, I do take exception to some of what you are saying, especially your characterization of the GTT torches and the claims that you are making regarding the Herbert Arnolds. Quote:
While you may not personally care for a torch with sleek, yet purposeful, design and smaller sized knobs (and that is certainly your prerogative!), there are many other people who prefer them to clunky, imprecise, inefficient “heat sinks.” As for the number of valves, there is purpose behind that, too. The valves allow for the user to adjust the torch to whatever flame size and flame chemistry they want. Naturally, the more valves there are, the better you can dial in the flame you want. However, most of the guys I know who use the bigger torches with lots of valves never have to worry about adjusting them while their hands are full – they use foot pedals! They simply preset the flame to whatever characteristics they want and use a foot pedal to kick it on or off. Interesting side note: GTT was the first torch manufacturer to offer the four post option on their torches. This was expressly for the purpose of using a foot pedal. Later, the separate feeds proved to be very useful for running the fires from separate fuel or oxygen sources (e.g. oxygen concentrator for the innerfire and tanked for the outerfire). Going back to the number of valves... I think that I should point out that HAs have many, many valves. They are, however, not intended for the user to adjust and the user should never attempt to adjust them, lest they be prepared to send the torch overseas to be recalibrated. To get around this, many people incorporate the use of in-line regulators to control the amount of gas that gets to the torch in order to adjust the flame to a setting other than the factory pre-set for the torch. The HA is pretty much a one-trick pony without the use of cumbersome in-line regulators. I fail to see how having to adjust in-line regulators while your hands are full is any easier than adjusting some knobs, much less simply kicking on a foot pedal (which does not require a free hand). Quote:
HAs are NOT efficient. As an example, an 18mm GTT Phantom uses between 35 and 40 cubic feet of oxygen per hour for its maximum full blast flame setting. Due to the Phantom’s triple mix design, it puts out more heat than a 40mm HA. According to the manufacturer, the HA 40mm burner uses 3.5 cubic meters of oxygen per hour for its maximum flame (which, again, is not as hot as the Phantom’s). That is 123.55 cubic feet of oxygen per hour! That means that the HA 40 uses 3 to 3.5 times the amount of oxygen as a Phantom for a flame that is not even as hot. How is that efficient? You claim that they are noiseless. HAs are hardly noiseless. How can you say that they are quiet to operate when they require an air compressor to run them? You claim that they are precise. Please define what you mean by “precise.” Would that precision be attainable without the use of in-line regulators if it were not dialed in for a tight flame at the factory? How small of a detail flame is possible on a larger HA? I doubt that you can get as small a detail flame on a HA as you could on the centerfire of a GTT. Indestructible in design? I had the opportunity to check out a little Arni. I was shocked at the fragile external plumbing. I have not examined a larger one to see if they are plumbed the exact same way, but if so, then I would hardly consider them indestructible. Yes, the bulky heat shield around the barrel makes the torch look tough, but it does not make the torch indestructible. External construction aside, they are still as vulnerable to damage as any other torch out there. They carbon heavily and you had better hope that you don’t have to send it back in to the factory for repair. The last time I heard about a HA repair, it was around $800. That does not include the lost income from the downtime (it takes a very long time and costs quite a bit to send a torch to Germany to get repaired, btw). Ease of use... Yes, a single knob control sounds very appealing.... until you realize that you are limited to the flame characteristics pre-set by the manufacturer. When you add in-line regulators to further adjust the flame to your own preferences, there goes that whole notion of simplicity. And again, the use of foot pedals eliminates the need to adjust knobs. Oh, and how simple is a HA to operate if you deviate from the specific pressure settings prescribed for each torch (like if you set it up in a studio other than your own)? You mention that you feel they are ergonomically correct. The whole reason for ergonomic design is the comfort of the worker – so they don’t injure themselves unnecessarily. The comfort of your whole body should be taken into consideration. For starters, how about the heat generated by the torch body itself? Are you able to steady you hands on the torch for detail work? How close in to the face can you get when working a small flame? And, how about the comfort of your eyes? HAs have more candle glare than other torch out there. That candle glare is very uncomfortable for lots of people. They report that they see spots after working on a HA and often have headaches afterwards. How good is having a well rested wrist (that is, if you only make crude adjustments using the single knob control and forego any fine tuning) when you are suffering from torch burn, ringing ears, spots before your eyes, and a headache? Quote:
As for being overpriced, I would argue that GTT torches are not overpriced – and are in fact underpriced when you consider the amount of work and high quality materials that go into them and what you can accomplish with them. But, it is funny that he would not consider HAs or Carlisles to be overpriced – especially when you factor in how much they cost to operate (oxygen usage and an additional air compressor for a Herbie). Quote:
I’m not trying to bash HAs. But, if anyone is interested in one, I would suggest that they do a lot of research to see if they are a practical choice for their application and budget. Some of your claims regarding both GTTs and HAs are a little exaggerated if not untrue. |
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