Torch Question

fourpawsglass · #1 2010-08-17, 11:30am

I am thinking about getting a larger torch to do boro pendants with. I'm relatively new to making them and they are not real big - maybe an inch in diameter but I would like to make some bigger. Does anyone have an opinion on the Nortel Major/Minor Bench Burner with surface mix top burner? Or, what torch do you like? I need to stay in the $400 to $500 range.

Wonker · #2 2010-08-17, 12:02pm

hehehe Tracey...now you gone and opened up a can of worms.... I don't think you can do better than a Lynx and it's in your price range. You also need to think about your oxygen supply too though. A Lynx is going to use more oxygen than you can probably get out of a concentrator to run its best. There are a lot of great torches out there and I've owned a bunch of them. Lynx has my vote.

Crazy Woman · #3 2010-08-17, 12:44pm

Lynx was what I was going to suggest as well.

Mr. Meker · #4 2010-08-17, 12:50pm

I would go with a national 3a. If you have tanked or 2 concentrators, a OX-3 tip is great. You might also look at some of the multi hole tips. If you only have one concentrator, an OX-2 will treat you nicely.

Here is an OX-3 on 7lpm

Cosmo · #5 2010-08-17, 2:04pm

What torch do you use now? I make pendants larger than that all the time using just the center fire on my CC. I have taught pendant classes on Minors and large pendants are no problem on them.

torchgirl · #6 2010-08-17, 7:54pm

Some day I want to upgrade to a Scorpion because it is GGT and runs on a concentrator. Didn't see one at AGI. I'm gonna hook up my mini CC this weekend and give it a try.

Hangs Well · #7 2010-08-18, 9:02am

I have a GTT Cricket, Cheetah and a Mirage. I use the center fire on the Mirage (which is a Lynx) for most everything in small to medium boro. You can get tiny pinpoint flames to quite large flames. My vote would also be for the Lynx.

fourpawsglass · #8 2010-08-18, 9:39am

I use either a Nortel minor surface mix or a Wale Apparatus Firebird minor.

Cosmo · #9 2010-08-18, 9:49am

Large pendants should be no problem on either of those torches.

Bunyip · #10 2010-08-18, 10:15am

GTT Lynx is an EXCELLENT torch in that price range. I'd whole-heartedly recommend it, in fact.

It also runs well enough to do boro on 2 5 LPM concentrators, although you may have some difficulty getting some of the colors to come out right unless you turn down the output on the concentrators a bit and run a smaller flame (and thus by necessity working smaller as well.)

As Cosmo noted however, the Nortel Minor burner is given much less credit than it deserves, particularly on tanked oxy. Don't underrate it

fourpawsglass · #11 2010-08-20, 11:24am

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, pictures, and comments. I've settled on the Nortel Red Max. The fact that it was on sale at Wale Apparatus made the decision easier. It should arrive in a week! BTW - my DH got it for my birthday. Luv him.

sangell · #12 2010-08-20, 11:29am

On this same topic which would you recommend?

Bunyip · #13 2010-08-21, 6:39pm

Tracey: Hope the torch is everything you dream for it to be. I'm much more partial to torches with a center fire and an outer fire, rather than an upper and a lower, but I'm sure the red max will get the job done with ease!

Sangell, if it's in your budget, always go with the bigger torch. Some of that is macho talking, but it's also fairly practical advice. I don't know how far DOWN a cheetah can adjust, but I do know that it can put out a good bit more heat than a lynx. Never a bad thing when you get one of those runaway marbles that insists on being 3" in diameter...