[Toni Lutman]

Hey Holly. You've probably already gotten all the information you'll ever need to make a decision, but I'll chime in anyway.

I used a Hot Head with the small Mapp gass canisters for about 6 months, and got tired of it freezing up on me. I bought a Bobcat and absolutely loved it. I initially used it with one concentrator, but I make big beads, so had gotten a second one after about a year. I used my Bobcat for several years and then took a class from Kim Osibin. She uses an Italian torch that is absolutely silent and has the softest flame I've ever seen. I'd kill for a torch like that, but I seem to remember her saying they weren't available anymore and if it ever went out on her, she didn't know what she'd do. Dang, it was a pretty flame!

Anyway, she highly recommended a Carlisle Mini CC as it was closest she had found to the type of flame she had on her torch. I was hesitant to make a change because I was so happy with my Bobcat, so she loaned me a Mini CC and I did eventully purchase it from her.

There were a couple of major differences that I noticed between the Bobcat and the Mini CC. One is that while the body of the Bobcat will stay cool, the Mini CC body can get pretty hot, so you can't rest your hands on it to steady them. I've also noticed that the Mini CC's knobs can get extremely hot if I don't have the oxygen turned up enough. This may not be an issue with tanked oxy, but with the concentrators, if I don't have the oxygen valve open completely, the knobs get hot. If I open them a bit more (no noticable change to the flame), the knobs stay cool.

The Mini CC also puts out much more radiant heat, so with it, I noticed that I could make my big beads much, much faster. It also makes it easier to work long beads. I will say this is kind of a drawback in the hot summer, so I made sure I had an extra fan blowing on me, but in the winter, it sure will be nice.

The other thing I've noticed is that there were some reduction effects I could get more easily with my Bobcat. I purchased y-connectors for both my concentrators and propane, so I'm going to have them both hooked up and available. It could be that I used the Bobcat long enough to know the flame chemistry I needed, and haven't found the right setting on my Mini CC yet, but ?

Hope something in here helps.

BTW, didn't get a chance to try your color suggestions yet, but I will soon. Thanks!

Toni