Purpose: This tutorial should cover glass torches and the specific gases you can use in them.
Making a glass bead requires a few things: glass, a kiln and a torch. Glass is pretty self explanatory. It's the material the beads are made from. The kiln is a piece of equipment that I consider mandatory. It will cool down the beads so that the internal structures can form correctly, reducing the stress that is inherently in glass. People will debate me that they have created beads with no annealing, with fiber blanket annealing or using vermiculite to anneal the bead. I am a firm believer that if you want to create beads professionally, you need a kiln that can anneal the beads over a period of time. Then comes the most personal piece of equipment available, the torch. Torches are similar to clothing. Once you find your torch, you will swear up and down about the glories of the torch. You will say that your torch is better than other torches because of XYZ. This tutorial should help you along your beadmaking career or hobby.
I'll start where I started. I bought my first torch, the Hot Head, and was extremely happy with it. The Hot Head torch is a single gas torch. It can use propane, MAPP gas or propylene to create it's flame. This torch is cooler than a two-gas torch, but for a beginner, the price is right around $40. If you purchase this torch to begin your bead making career, make sure to get a bulk gas hose/adapter. This will allow you to hook the torch up to a BBQ propane tank or a tank of propylene found at your local gas supplier. The flame is fairly large and cool, so you can create small beads and other pieces of glass. Warning: This torch should be used for fairly basic work. I've heard that if you use propane to power this torch you'll often have beads that reduced. I used propylene from day one, so my torch was a little warmer and burned much cleaner.
Once I got the basic bead work down, I moved up to a two-gas set-up. After about six months, I had two torches, the GTT Lynx (around $435) and the Carlisle MiniCC (around $229). These torches are known to be on the smaller size of the torch world. They are perfect for the basic bead, marble and small sculpture. Another torch around this size is the Nortel Minor Burner (around $169). The Minor Burner is a decent torch and is the budget beginner torch. There are many other torches from manufacturers such as Bethlehem and others. I would suggest you find a place that will allow you to try out the different torches or go to a friends house to test out their torch. When purchasing, some people will tell you to buy up with torches, but I think that can be costly and a bit irresponsible. You are beginning your bead/small sculpture career, so why not start with equipment that is around your level.
I purchased two torches. The reason behind that is I wanted a torch with a small diameter flame and a bushy flame. For the small diamter flame, I was debating between the GTT Lynx or a Bethlehem torch. The decision was made because a friend of mine offered me her old Lynx (for a discounted price). This torch is excellent if you are looking for a tight flame which makes really nice soft-glass beads. The second torch was the Mini CC. It is known to have a wider, bushier flame and is the perfect torch for small scuplture. Both of these torches burn oxygen and propane.
The two-gas set-up can use either an oxygen/propane or an oxygen/natural gas to power the torch. Before buying a torch, verify the gases the torch is meant to burn. I've been asked if you can use other gases (MAPP gas, acetylene, etc) to power the two-gas set-up. The answer is a simple, "NO!" It's good to stay with the gases the manufacturer suggests and the torches are manufactured so they can best mix propane/natural gas and oxygen. (There are other reasons, but I'd rather hush up right now.)
My set-up is currently in the side of my garage and that impacts what I can burn in my torches. Most states have safety guidelines in place to restrict the use of bottled oxygen or propane within an enclosed area. For oxygen, there are additional option other than a bottle. You can purchase an oxygen concentrator or generator. Which one should you get? That's a bit of a preference. Bottled oxygen is wonderful, but will run out and you must either purchase the oxygen tank or rent one. The oxygen concentrators or generators offer unlimited oxygen and cost more than the bottled alternative. If you are just beginning, it would probably be a smart idea to start out with the bottle, then move up to either a concentrator or generator. These machines are retired medical oxygen sources. They may not be good enough to provide oxygen to people, but they work fine as a source for torches.
Which is better, an oxygen concentrator or generator? When I started looking for information on this, the definition was fairly ambiguous and used as a sign of bead status. Now, the term is used interchangably and it means the same type of device. When looking for these devices, you need to look at how much LPM it generates. LPM (Liters per Minute) is the measurement of the volume of air generated by the device. Theversions currently available can generate volumes between 5 - 2o LPM. I currently use a pair of 5 LPM generators. They were low cost and supply my torches more than enough oxygen.
Should I run propane or natural gas? This is a personal preference and the decision is made due to the availability of the gases. Most bead makers use propane because they can easily grab a tank from their local hardware store or gas station. These tanks are refillable or can be traded in. The options of torches that run on propane are numerous. Individuals who use natural gas often are in areas that have an ample gas source (e.g Italy). Verify that your torch can run on the low pressure that natural gas is distributed at. In the United States, this is often between 2-3 lps. This is an extremely low gas source.
As you can tell, purchasing a torch for working glass is more complicated than originally thought. I hope that this blog tutorial has helped dispell some of the information.
