Ambitious beginner — which torch
 

Hi everyone!

Name is Florian— I am from Austria, and new to lampwork.

Torches and equipment are not easy to get here, since it seems, that the hobby lampworking is „out“…some shops closed, beadmakers are just a curiosity here…

I want to start big, since I have to order everything in UK/US I want to get a good complete package (transport and taxes are a big deal…)

For the start I am looking for a good torch:
—beadmaking ( Even larger beads)
—small hollow works (pipes, small glasses, Christmas stuff)
What would you recommend? As I want to do detail work and larger stuff, I think I have to go with a 2 stage setup, with pedals?

I would use 1 or 2 OxyCons (total 10L/min)

Maybe you have an idea about a suitable kiln too?

Many thanks!
Florian

If by "small glasses" you mean cups, you will want a minimum of a Carlisle CC, GGT Mirage, Bethlehem Champion, etc. Beads and some simple/small pipes you can do with smaller torches. Christmas stuff you can always scale to whatever size you can work on your torch.

You won't be running those on 10 LPM of Oxycons, at least not without a compressor and surge tank system.

For the kiln, the Skutt Mini Scarab is a fantastic kiln for that type work. The Paragon F130 is another option.

Can you order from Germany or Netherlands less expensively? I have ordered tools from Germany, and there are several beadmakers in both countries.

which L/min oxycon would i need for a bigger torch?
oxy tanks would be an option too - easy to get but expensive?

The issue is pressure, bigger torches need higher pressure than oxy-cons can push. You also need a surge tank, because when you turn the outer flame on bigger torches up, it will always use more oxygen than even a whole bank of oxy-cons can output.

There are commercial systems for this, Oxygen Frog and HVO are the two glass-focused companies. You can also DIY it with an oiless air compressor, a thoroughly cleaned 60 gallon air compressor tank (must remove all oils) and some piper fittings, valves, and such if you are technically inclined.

Buying/renting oxygen tanks is much cheaper up-front, but over time the on-site generation options do pay off, compressed tank refills are expensive (and time consuming unless you can get delivery).

Hallo Florian,

auch hier in Deutschland ist es in Bezug auf 'Lampworking' mau geworden.

Fuer Deutschland kann ich dir noch folgende Links geben:

https://www.berlinbeads.de/

http://www.otterbein-glas.de/xtcomme...x.php?cPath=22

https://www.ebay.de/str/farbglaswerkzeug

Der ebay link ist fuer Gunnar Haag. Der verkauft offiziell nur ueber ebay. Aber man kann Gunnar jederzeit anrufen und ihm 'Loecher in den Bauch' fragen. Er ist immer sehr hilfsbereit und hat ein extrem umfangreiches Wissen. Er ist quasi ein deutsches Urgestein im Lampworking.

Gunnar Haag
Rosenhof - Mühlen 31
D-24257 Köhn / Mühlen
Tel. +49 (0)4385 5960444 (Bürozeiten 10:00 bis 16:00 Uhr)

Und dann gibt es noch eine Adresse in Holland.
https://www.artyco.nl/en/

Ich hoffe, das hilft dir ein wenig weiter.

Liebe Gruesse
Margit

Thank you very much for your Input. This helps me a lot.
It seems, that i need 2 Torches: 1 with an oxycon (and smaller flame) for small worksand another one for larger Works with pressurized Oxy-Tanks.

Danke dir!
Ja, schade auch dass der Perlentreff geschloßen ist...
Es schient als sollte ich mit Flaschen arbeiten, aber es wundert mich ein wenig, da in vielen Videos mit Konzentratoren gearbeitet wird...

Some folks with 4 port torches run thier inner fire off oxygen concentrators and just use tanks for the outer fire. This works particularly well if your work only requires the outer fire every now and then in short bursts

interesting idea!

as this hole projekt seems to be very $$$ intense, i thinking about takibg one step back and start with a simpler solitition: 2gas Burner one a 5L oxycon and vermiculite in a pot for annealing.
limits me to pearls and smaller works (pipes, one hitters, no christmas tree balls…).
maybe with a bethlehem bravo?

I've made smaller blown boro Christmas ornaments on a Nortel minor and a GTT Bobcat, definitely viable.

Get one of the little chilipepper kilns or something similar though, those little kilns are incredibly useful for how inexpensive they are.

Yeah, and whatever you are thinking you will spend, it will be more! Vermiculite in a pot does not anneal. It only slows cooling to prevent immediate thermal shock. You still need to find a way to anneal your work, especially pipes or one hitters. You can batch anneal if you find someone with a kiln. You may have more than a normal breakage rate, but definitely when you are starting that is cheaper than a kiln.

I can verify that the GTT Bobcat is an excellent torch. The GTT Lynx is probably the only better 7-port torch available although some love stuff like the Bethlehem Alpha(6-port) and National pre-mix setups.
I found a low-cost pseudo-kiln is a hot comb stove and some 1 inch think ceramic fiber blanket. The blanket is used to protect the dial/controls from heat AND to create a "door" that can be used to cover the opening to hold high temps better. The downside is that this takes a lot of trial and error to control but the stove and fiber blanket only cost $80US (very affordable).

Eventually I upgraded mine to a real kiln, just mini-sized, by purchasing a programmable ramp controller kit from Thermomart. Now it holds temps to +/- 5 deg F. The controller kit was $220US (a little more investment) but it can be used with any analog kiln up to 15A to make it a digital kiln so I can upgrade later.