What to expect when expecting

[Pogo]

Very soon (a week or so) a brand spankin' new Mirage will be staring at me.
What should i expect? What do people have trouble adapting to going from standard mix to triple mix? How 'bout premix to surface mix? I know the redmax handles MUCH differently than a GTT.... I'm curious to hear your first experiences. Drop some wisdom.

[justiceglass]

i had to relearn how to fume when i got mine
didnt take more than a few minutes but the surface mix was definitely different with fuming than my major minor..

the flame characteristics are much different too but itll be no time till you call your mirage your other penis... :D

[Riley]

expect to burn both your arms right off. i hope you like your's extra crispy.

you really are an eager beaver aren't ya ? its going to be hotter than what you had and you will be going through more oxy. if you run it high you will burn a k-tank in roughly 10-14 hours. my delta would drink down k-tanks in about 8 hours. liquid is going to be the way to go if you don't like hauling multiple tanks to the oxy place weekly.

[Pogo]

^already rockin LOX at the studio...

My other penis, huh? Likin' the sound of that... I could DP a prosti all by myself. :D

[Albino Sasquatch]

nice lucky bastards lol there is no way i can get the lox i need for the mirage i want so i have to go with a holding tank, just sux living in one of the largest lox producing states and not being able to get my hands on any of it:bangHead: i hate living on a rock. oh and move your bench bak and a few other things out of the way because its going to melt some stuff maybe a wall or two.:D

[rockstar glassworks]

it's so quiet...you'll wonder if it's on.

it's so f'ing hot... you'll need sunscreen like never before.

it runs so cool...you'll keep touching the barrel to make sure it's not a dream.

Watch the video!!

it's got more knobs... you'll want a footswitch next.

you'll be amazed because your life will just be better.

[melter skelter]

you'll bubble clear, and won't be able to fume...
lt'll feel like your first day melting glass

...and get a blast shield for your new penis if you don't like wearing sunscreen...

[hashmasta-kut]

i dont know why people say you cant fume, my gtt fumes fine it seems.

[Uriel]

Its as quiet and hell,, its as hot as hell,, the triple mix is amazing although I 'learnt' using my Lynx. slightly open the outer oxy to sharpen up the center more,,

Woot Woot LOVE mine, custom painted in sparkley pink with rainbows and love hearts!

[hashmasta-kut]

who painted it like that, lets see a pic :)

[Din]

The valves take a bit to wear in, so for a few months, the flame will fluctuate on you (candles will grow or shrink). It's normal, and it goes away.
When it's cold in your shop, the valves will seem loose and very sensitive, the force you're used to will way overturn them. That's also normal.
The tip will discolor slightly once you get it hot. That's no big deal, so long as you don't allow the ports to glow. W&W will include a video, which show the flames that will mess the torch up. You probably wont use this flame, but it's good to see (I'm the only person in this area with a GTT who hasn't messed up the ports. I have no idea how they've all managed to do it, but they have).
Oh, clean it after you fume. Just hit it with a wire brush when you turn it off. This is a good thing to make a habit, as metal build up in the ports can affect their function. Also, you'll want to work farther out in the flame than you're used to. Move around in the flame to get accustomed to how it changes, how it treats the glass, and how it treats color, but you'll find that the nicest working spots are further out that you might at first think (I like "fluffy" flames with a lot of centerfire for push for this reason, once colors are encased). It helps to have the torch mounted low for this reason.
Aside from "you're going to love it" and "you're going to blow glass for like 20 hours straight, sleep thinking about glass, and then run back to the torch", that's about all I can think of for details. Have fun, and treat it well, it's a hell of a torch.

[hashmasta-kut]

a caveat, one time i didnt turn off my secondary propane all the way. its actually blameable on the knob; it doesnt close nicely, it needs to be given an extra nudge of force to make sure its off. anyway when it was on very slightly for awhile, while i was working and didnt notice, it carboned up the secondary fires ports pretty bad, and i had to use the cleaning wires thoroughly to clean em up. so make sure all your knobs are either in the off or on position.

[Shatner]

Pretty much what everyone's said. Just take your time with it and make sure to watch the video that comes with it. You'll experience a learning curve just like when you first started getting glass hot.

Fuming is a little tricky, especially when compared to pre-mix flames. Just be patient and turn off all your outter oxy. Play with the blue valve more for gold.

Get a pedal.

[Shatner]

a caveat, one time i didnt turn off my secondary propane all the way. its actually blameable on the knob; it doesnt close nicely, it needs to be given an extra nudge of force to make sure its off. anyway when it was on very slightly for awhile, while i was working and didnt notice, it carboned up the secondary fires ports pretty bad, and i had to use the cleaning wires thoroughly to clean em up. so make sure all your knobs are either in the off or on position.

Seems like you (or someone else) cranked that valve down pretty tight. The valves are precision needle valves. They should close all the way without being 'finger tight'.

[CheeseNip]

yep. sounds like shatner's got it. the valves are easy to mess up from over tightening. just make sure not to crank em down and youll be fine.. have fun! as all have already said.. youll love it!

[naughty pirate wench]

Congrats on your new bundle of joy, Pogo!

You should expect to get better gas mileage in your car, the Gulf of Mexico oil gusher will magically heal itself and the oceans, and the ozone hole in the atmosphere will get smaller too...:evilLaugh

so does this mean I'm now the only one with Mirage envy?!? and once I get mine, since I'm a naughty pirate wench, will that be equivalent to another vagina? another boob? or will it be a penis, so I can be a bi-glassual transgendered glass artist? I'm so confused...

[hashmasta-kut]

yep. sounds like shatner's got it. the valves are easy to mess up from over tightening. just make sure not to crank em down and youll be fine.. have fun! as all have already said.. youll love it!

it came from the factory like that. it was like that right out of the box, unfortunately. a few knobs were different from each other. two are super loose, and two are stiffer.

[hashmasta-kut]

so does this mean I'm now the only one with Mirage envy?!? and once I get mine, since I'm a naughty pirate wench, will that be equivalent to another vagina? another boob? or will it be a penis, so I can be a bi-glassual transgendered glass artist? I'm so confused...


its the equivalent of a strap on, in your case i think :)

[naughty pirate wench]

Uh...OK...I think I can live with that. I guess. Maybe. But shouldn't it be a "bolt-on"?