Wale Firebird

pastafarian · #1 2009-03-19, 6:47pm

There isn't much on the forums about the firebird and most of the posts are very old. While surfing wale site tonight i noticed that they have dropped the price on the firebird. I am really leaning toward it but would like to know what those using think about it. I will be using it for softglass beads as well as boro.

thanks

merigypsy · #2 2009-03-19, 6:56pm

I have one. I found that it can work soft galss and Boro. But it is really best for smaller beads. I couldn't get a real big strong flame for larger Boro pieces. That was fine because I mainly made smaller Boro beads.

Part of the reason that it was so small may have been me - my set up was propane tank and oxy cons just a 5, then a 10 only. You may get more out of it with pure oxy tank and bigger oxy concentrators.

I did love it ( I upgraded to a linx to do bigger Boro stuff). I kept my Linx. I was able to do great surface design etc in the smaller flame and some pretty good size beads as well.

The one flaw with it is it has been know to have a problem of a fluctuating flame. the flame would slowly shrink down and I'd have to turn up both oxy and prop. But The people at Wale are great to talk to and offered to fix it (for free? I think) But I just never got around to sending it out to them.

So it depends on what your plans and goals are for what you want to do. But it is a good little torch.
Merilee

pastafarian · #3 2009-03-19, 7:05pm

thank you for your fast reply.

kbinkster · #4 2009-03-19, 7:47pm

Why buy a poorly-made knock-off (I won't say cheap, beause they are not inexpensive)when you can buy the original (higher quality torch) for less money? Seriously, Wale swiped the look and the cooling system from GTT. According to a well-respected forum owner, a Wale sales rep told her that they intentionally made it look that way so people would think they were buying a GTT. I'm sure if you read the old posts on other forums about the Firebird, you would have seen that.

If you buy one, be sure to never run it without flashback arrestors. Also, be prepared to test the torch yourself for leaks both before you run it for the first time and periodically after that. When a torch company instructs the user to dunk the torch in a bucket of water to test for leaks before it is first run, I get nervous. A torch company should thoroughly test every torch they make for leaks before it ever leaves the shop.

pastafarian · #5 2009-03-19, 7:53pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by kbinkster

Why buy a poorly-made knock-off (I won't say cheap, beause they are not inexpensive)when you can buy the original (higher quality torch) for less money? Seriously, Wale swiped the look and the cooling system from GTT. According to a well-respected forum owner, a Wale sales rep told her that they intentionally made it look that way so people would think they were buying a GTT. I'm sure if you read the old posts on other forums about the Firebird, you would have seen that.

If you buy one, be sure to never run it without flashback arrestors. Also, be prepared to test the torch yourself for leaks both before you run it for the first time and periodically after that. When a torch company instructs the user to dunk the torch in a bucket of water to test for leaks before it is first run, I get nervous. A torch company should thoroughly test every torch they make for leaks before it ever leaves the shop.

Thank you for your information. I will keep digging around to find more details. The more i look at them, i may get a GTT cricket and spend the $100ish i save on glass. and when i'm ready to move up the lynx, i will give my cricket to my wife and see if i can get her as hooked on glass as i am.

Paul Ewing · #6 2009-03-19, 9:04pm

The Cricket is a great little torch and I like it better than the Minor or other torchs in that range. At the price it is unbeatable. Our daughter uses our Cricket even though we have two Lynxes and a minor.

Cosmo · #7 2009-03-20, 8:13am

I used the Firebird for teaching at BeadFest last year. I thought it had plenty of flame for a torch that size. We made blown beads (from borosilicate) and pendants on it with no problem. I only used it 4 days so I don't know much about it, but one thing I did notice is that you have to be careful turning the torch off. We had a problem with a lot of the torches that if you closed the propane knob down too tightly, it would start leaking where the valve is threaded into the torch body. We ended up having to switch several of the torches out over the four days.

neagle · #8 2009-03-20, 9:20am

I have used a Firebird for years. Never had a problem with it. I love it, and mine works fine. I haven't had a propane leak, so that's good. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this torch-jmo.

Kris Schaible · #9 2009-03-20, 9:25am

Cricket is my vote,if you want to do boro or large soft glass beads. I have been torching on it mostly and I have a Lynx and Bobcat