What can't I do with my HH?

ccrichard · #1 2006-11-07, 6:16am

I wanted to get some input on what I can't do with my Hot Head. I'm using MAPP 1# canisters. Is there any kind of glass that I should not try? Shards? Bullseye? I see all kinds of beautiful hand pulled cane that I would love to try, I am just not sure if I can melt it with my HH.

Venbead · #2 2006-11-07, 7:02am

I think boro will be a bitch on a hothead

ccrichard · #3 2006-11-07, 7:08am

Thanks Paula,
So I guess that leaves you georgeous frit out of the question. Dang.

Sue in Maine · #4 2006-11-07, 7:14am

The good news is there is a lot of frit out there you CAN use. When I was on my hh, I found the 1# MAPP's to be expensive and a pita with freezing. I went to a bulk tank of fuel. Worked much better. Just food for thought for you.

You can even make your own frit!

Sue

mary1_$ · #5 2006-11-07, 7:34am

Food for thought also. If you have a problem with the tank freezing take a coffie can and put a hole in each side and take a piece of wire from a hanger and make a bale to hang it on the gas bottle.So the gas bottle is inside the coffee can.Fill the can with hot water and the gas wont freeze if you keep the water warm.It works and makes a tank last longer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sue in Maine

The good news is there is a lot of frit out there you CAN use. When I was on my hh, I found the 1# MAPP's to be expensive and a pita with freezing. I went to a bulk tank of fuel. Worked much better. Just food for thought for you.

You can even make your own frit!

Sue

vetropod · #6 2006-11-07, 7:37am

Might be kind of hard to work quartz (0 coe) for scientific over a Hot Head

Wes.

ccrichard · #7 2006-11-07, 7:51am

Ok........no Boro and no Quartz...Hey Wes I checked out your website and your sculptured work is incredible.

cadia · #8 2006-11-07, 8:21am

I went through exactly 2/ 1# cans of Mapp - half way through the first I was already annoyed. When I finished that frist tanks and looked at the silly amount of beads I made vs. how much "waste" ( ie : the empty throw away tank ) I made. Bulk gas is MUCH cheaper, the HH runs better, and you're not sitting with a rocket between your legs !!! Check into the option of a bulk tank and see if it works for you. The safety thread has lots of info. Sally

Emily · #9 2006-11-07, 10:35am

I would stay away from any particularly thick rods. The standard ones are 8mm, and I'd stick with that size if possible. It's not impossible to work with larger rods on a HotHead, but the standard size will be more convenient.

Lauscha clear is stiffer than Effetre (Moretti) or Vetrofond clear and melts more slowly. I'm sure some people on HotHeads do use it, but it will take more patience. It also tends to come in fairly thick rods. I'd suggest trying to find a version of Effetre or Vetrofond clear that you like before trying Lauscha, only because Lauscha clear will be very slow on a HotHead.

Because HotHeads aren't designed to have an adjustable flame, they're not really meant to be used with reduction glass, which is glass that produces a metallic effect when it's exposed to a flame that has more fuel than oxygen. People use reduction glass on HotHeads by closing off the air intake ports (or whatever you call them) by grabbing them and covering them with something damp or heat-resistant or both. This strikes me as braver than I might want to be, so try it at your own risk.

mary1_$ · #10 2006-11-07, 11:24am

Cover the holes?? Not a chanch for me I burn myself looking at my hot head. Why would I touch it. I have scars to prove it. OUCH

Carolyn · #11 2006-11-07, 12:50pm

No - heavens! don't touch the torch head! OUCH. Make a "collar" of alum foil and leave a tab on one side (your dominant side) when you want to "reduce" use your hemostats and pull the collar up.

Or just be careful and jam the bead up against the torch opening (WITHOUT actaully touching it). The closer you get to the ports the more of a reduction flame it will be.

Reenie · #12 2006-11-09, 8:28pm

You can get reduction frit to work on a hh as well as raku and also Kronos and OR....You just need to work it high in the flame. Take out, let it cool...and reheat it again and again till the color comes out.
It's practice, practice, practice but seemed to work for me. I just upgraded and I do miss the simplicity of the hh but gonna try and stick to this and pray I get used to it

Irene

Hayley · #13 2006-11-18, 9:32pm

I just upgraded from a HH to a Bobcat. I was on 1# canister and used the same trick as Mary - warm water in a homemade large yogurt container bucket. I never switched to a bulk tank because when I was doing research on switching, I came across some that mentioned the HH not made for bulk tank. Apparently without a regulator like the regular torch, if something goes wrong, you are talking about a pressurized tank going with a lot of psi exploding. . . not something I want to chance.

If you do decide to switch to a bulk tank, PLEASE leave the tank outdoors.

lunamoonshadow · #14 2006-12-03, 2:59pm

You can melt everything from bullseye (coe 90), all the moretti, & 104 glass, (CIM, ASK, R4, Double Helix, Lauscha, Vetrofond, etc...), all the 96 glass (Uroboros, Phoenix Glass's vintage stuff, Gail's GGGlass, Caliente glass, sure I'm missing loads here...as I've only got some samples of phoenix glass...the other kinds are all on my someday to try list, I drool over the websites & colors all the time!...) on your hothead with no problems...
All the frits in the "soft" category (most are around 94-96 coe & "leaded" furnace glass colors) will melt just fine as well. Gail Joseph @ ggglass.com also offers a line of 104 coe frit blends just for the 104 glass.
Each soft glass just has it's own texture & behavior when you melt it--Bullseye is stiffer, & slower to melt, but much easier to control/shape. Some folks don't like it *because* of the "slower" (but hey, the hothead isn't a fast & furious torch

)
You don't want try boro though...I've heard it's been "done"...but it's really silly--you might manage to melt a teensy spacer but you won't get any sort of real colors out of it--the torch REALLY isn't hot enough for boro!! (or quartz!!)..it's a soft glass torch!

ccrichard · #15 2006-12-04, 4:15am

Lunamoonshadow - Thanks. So really, I can try just about anything, except Boro. How exciting is that? Thanks again for everyone's response.
Chris

lunamoonshadow · #16 2006-12-04, 11:29am

Ooooh, some other things you can melt (maybe even "better" than the bigger torches

) are Kinari (good luck finding that in quantity...) & Satake (Jo/dogmaw carries it!--look for her banner) they're both considerably softer than 104, & melt at really low temps--soupy even...I've not tried the Satake yet (I want to though! it's so pretty!), but I do have a little stash of Kinari hidden away for when I get brave someday...

NLC Beads · #17 2006-12-06, 8:19am

Satake melts like butta...

I think I could lay it on my porch in the summer and tell it to make itself into something and it might - I keep the torch the lowest I ever have for it.

Lisi · #18 2006-12-07, 12:27pm

I used a HH for 18 months before I got the Mini CC and Bobcat. I still love my torch, and there are things I can't do on my oxy/propane torch that I can still do with the HH. My Bobcat washes out some colors and they are rich on the HH, like the Bullseye pinks.

Lara · #19 2006-12-09, 11:04am

Quote:

Originally Posted by lunamoonshadow

You don't want try boro though...I've heard it's been "done"...but it's really silly--you might manage to melt a teensy spacer but you won't get any sort of real colors out of it--the torch REALLY isn't hot enough for boro!! (or quartz!!)..it's a soft glass torch!

Lunamoonshadow is right, I tried boro, it was very slow and I couldn't melt in the glass all the way as it was just taking way too long. However, here are my tiny attempts. I keep them just to show that I did them. It was fun to try.

I also agree with stefanibeads there are some bead that I was able to do much better on the HH than I do on my mini. Sometimes slower and a bit of a reduction flame is what I need.

Lara · #20 2006-12-09, 11:07am

Man those are tiny. They look tiny in person, but next the pencil, sheesh. A lot of work for a tiny tiny thing.

playswithfire104 · #21 2006-12-10, 9:27am

What can't you do with a HH? Hear the phone ring while making beads.

jewelrybypatty · #22 2006-12-10, 5:17pm

When I used the 1# can of mapp gas I used it in a coffee container with sand, it lasted a lot longer and I didn't have to switch cans till it warmed up. I learned this in my first lampworking class.

misfit · #23 2006-12-10, 5:36pm

you can't listen to audio books while working on a hothead. You can't talk on the phone while working on a hothead. You can't even get them to do the dishes for you!!

Mind you the bigger torches don't do the dishes either, but somehow that doesn't bother me as much.

A.

Lisi · #24 2006-12-10, 6:40pm

Look at the difference in the results using the same glass, and HH vs. Bobcat.

Top pic is HH beads, and bottom is Bobcat on my new concentrator. Getting better though, but color is not as washed out as when I used my oxy generator. It just plain got too hot, even with the flame turned down.

I ended up etching them and they look better than before, but I'm still not happy.

kbinkster · #25 2006-12-10, 11:00pm

I would think that you would have an awfully hard time getting a truely oxidizing flame with a HotHead. Silver plum is a great color for oxidizing effects.

ccrichard · #26 2006-12-11, 6:52am

Well, it looks like I will be sticking with my noisy little hot head for a while. As far as an oxidizing flame, I might try the little foil collar to cover the holes on the torch. Does anyone use a creation station with the #1 canisters and the hot head? I think my biggest complaint is getting close enough to the table to be comfortable.

kbinkster · #27 2006-12-11, 12:42pm

Covering the holes will give a reduction (oxygen poor) flame. When there is not enough oxygen (in the case of the HotHead, the oxygen is found in the room air that it uses), the flame will seek out oxygen in the glass. It finds it in the metal oxides used to color the glass and pulls them to the surface. This is why many of the reduction effects you see in glass are metallic.

An oxidizing flame is one where there is an excess of oxygen. It has a different effect on certain glasses.

To get a reduction flame, I made a coil out of brass wire and fitted it around the torch head with a little handle. I lifted the handle and pulled the coil up over the holes to get the reduction flame. You might find something like this to be more sturdy than foil.

Lara · #28 2006-12-11, 11:20pm

I agree, I forgot that I couldn't get an oxidizing flame with my HH. I had to put away the dark silver plumb.

pmoores · #29 2007-01-07, 8:13pm

You probably cant do bigger then these on moretti, though try to prove me wrong.

Paperweight

about 1.75 inches across and almost perfect hemisphere. I think it took 90 mins on my hothead torch.

But now im on a mini cc.

uniqueleigh · #30 2007-01-15, 12:26pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lara

I agree, I forgot that I couldn't get an oxidizing flame with my HH. I had to put away the dark silver plumb.

Lara, I am a newbie for sure but, the first time I put my silver plum rod in the flame the torched end is sliver. I don't seem to have a problem getting the metal look. I think anyway as I am a newbie like I said. But, I do have an issue with burning the glass right up. ugh!!!

But, don't put it away. Play with it. I have heard that many Hot Head users are getting the metallics out of a Hot Head. Once you get it I am sure it will be worth it. Leigh