GTT Lynx vs. Cheetah - and oxycon question

[Jenne]

I'm looking to upgrade from my minor to either a Lynx or Cheetah. I currently have an M10 oxycon (5lpm 10psi) and use propane. I mainly make beads (1"+) and "try" some small figures, and the minor doesn't seem to give me enough heat. I also have some boro that I put aside that I just can't work on my minor.

The lynx and cheetah are very close in price and I was curious if anyone has worked with both and could give me their opinions? Even if you only worked with one, I would like your opinions on the torch.

Also, can anyone tell me what my oxy needs would be, if tanked really isn't an option (I have a tank, but to refill it is expensive and far away). I read that if you get 2 oxycons, you want them to put out the same pressure to work efficiently. So a second M10? Or sell my M10 and get an M20? I guess it depends on which torch also.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Jenne

[glassdog]

Jenne,
your problem is the oxy supply not the torch. if you upgrade to the other torches you still will have the problem with not enough heat. your oxy con. does not make pure oxy. i cant remember which gas it takes out, nitrogen or hytorgen, but all a oxy con does is remove this gas from the atmosphere. it leave all the other gasses to be supplied to your torch. tanked oxy has all these other gases removed giving a higher oxy content. the higher the oxy content the hoter the flame.
with tanked oxy, your minor will work just fine. but its always nice to have the cheetah or the lynx too.
i would suggest you go with the tanked oxy. the best deal you can get would be to just rent a tank from AirGas. they are nationally known and are quite resonable. you pay a deposit for a large bottle and get it back when you return the empty. keep going back to the same place to get it and more than likely they will forgo the deopsit for you
best wishes
Mike

[Mike H]

First , I would get the larger of the two which would be the cheetah (not my first pick of torch brands) and then get another concentratror with 5lpm output and that torch will give you plenty of heat. You don't neccesarily have to have the exact same pressure but, it should be close. My 2 cents...

[Jenne]

I abandoned tanked O2 for an oxycon for many reasons. So say we take tanks out of the equation. 2 M10's to run a Lynx or Cheetah? I know the lower I have to set the oxycon, the purer the oxygen gets. Granted I won't get the purity of tanked oxy, but optimally I want to try and run at 95% I guess.

Can I get a wider flame than a Minor with a Lynx and/or Cheetah? For more ambient heat when working on larger pieces?

I did see this: http://www.treycornette.com/category_23/Tutorials.htm . Any one else try this, with whatever oxycon/torch set-up you may have?

Thanks so far for the input, I'm just trying to make a well informed decision before committing large sums of money (well, large sums to me).

Jenne

[shawnette]

Jenne, I have used both and if you're working on a concentrator, I would suggest skipping the Cheetah and going with the Lynx AND setting up the holding tank. The Cheetah is an oxy hog and doesn't perform all that great on a concentrator. It's ok, but the Lynx does much better and anything you can do on the Cheetah, you can do on the Lynx.

ETA: I haven't just used them, I've owned them both, so I'm speaking from my experience. I make fairly large beads and figures and found that the Cheetah just didn't perform all that great on concentrators (I traded it to Pipyr for her Lynx and some cash, lol.) Later I upgraded to a Phantom, which has the Lynx center fire and was very happy. You can turn the outer flame off until needed, so it's not struggling to maintain a good flame, whereas with the Cheetah, it's a big flame all the time. Now that the Scorpion is on the market, that is the torch I would go with since I don't ever plan on using tanked oxy.

[Jenne]

Shawnette, what was your concentrator setup when you ran the lynx?

[Northern Heron]

I run my Lynx very well on a Regalia concentrator.

[shawnette]

Two 5lpm, 10psi machines and a 3rd when needed. (I'm a concentrator whore). I now have a Hurricane generator. The Lynx will run fairly well on 1, but it's not optimum. It's much better with the holding tank and much much better with 2 concentrators and the holding tank.