MapPro Torch Head

ccaronn · #1 2015-07-09, 1:11pm

What do you use as a torch head on a map pro canister, please?

2xMI · #2 2015-07-09, 2:05pm

The only thing I've ever used with that was a Hot Head many years ago.

Mimi

ccaronn · #3 2015-07-09, 2:30pm

What was it made of, do you recall, Mimi?

2xMI · #4 2015-07-09, 3:12pm

Brass. I still have it, and sometimes use it to give demonstrations. I have one of the original Hot Heads, and a newer version. Not sure why they modified it. But they're both at least 10 years old.

De Anza Art Glass Club · #5 2015-07-09, 8:11pm

I believe there are two differences between the old Hot Head and the new Hot Head. The old Hot Head has a cork gasket and had a valve that was preferred because it was more adjustable.

The newer Hot Head has a rubber gasket.

The following information is disputed by a respected member of LE (who insists that the MT245 and Hot Head are exactly the same because they are identical in appearance), and the only evidence I have is having disassembled old and new Hot Heads:

The Hot Head is based on a common torch known as the MT245 (MT = Mag Torch) which could be found at Auto Zone for $9.99. (I haven't looked for it in a few years, so I do not know if that is still true.) The main modification of the Hot Head seems to be the orifice plate, which has a mesh screen filter that is absent in the MT245. Another possible modification is that the orifice of the Hot Head is not flush with the plate, but is in a machined depression. As far as I could measure, the diameter of the orifice in the MT245 and the Hot Head is the same.

Devardi sells a similar torch for a slightly higher price than the MT245. I have not disassembled the Devardi torch.