New kid on the torch.

[Joemama666]

Hey guys and girls, im new and willing to learn. Im 17 gonna be 18 in a couple weeks, i know it ways 18 but i put 1991 instead of 1992 on accident. So im a senior in high school and im taking glass workshop (stain glass, bead making, and jewelry making). Which i could care less about the jewelry and stain glass part but its cool to have the knowledge. I've been doing the bead making and I'm really enjoying it. In class all we have is a 4 hot head torch's on map gas. I think im getting the hang of it pretty quickly. Bead making isn't the only thing that i would like to get good at id also like to get into marble and pipe making(18 here i come). I don't have a torch at the moment but im trying to get one going. I'm looking for a good torch that will be good for bead/marble/and pipe making. I guess if its good for one it should be fine for the others. I have been looking at a GTT cricket or GTT bobcat but im open for suggestions. $200-250 is price range im looking in just because im jobless at the moment and am gonna try to get it for Xmas from grandparents or just money i get from my bday and Xmas. Also i really don't have anything right now no torch, kiln, tanks, etc... I just figured i can get the torch now and get everything else later. Another thing is that in class we use the vermiculite method to cool the beads, i haven't had any beads break doing this, so could you use the same method to cool pipes or do you need a kiln?
Thanks for readin sorry if its kinda long
Joemama666:chilling:

[Joemama666]

Also sense im 17 will i get in trouble by posting in the pipe making section?

[mer]

yeah, since you said you're 17 we can't have you posting in the pipe section right away but it'll be more than a few weeks before you're ready to tackle pipes anyway, so no worries. there are a ton of good threads on choosing a torch in the torch room. welcome!

[Joemama666]

Thanks mer

[sertaiz]

id go even cheaper, and get regulators, some tools, make some tools, buy t grade hoses and maybe buy a 100 dollar national w/shelbo so you can put money towards other stuff and then get a bigger one sooner, for around 4- 500.

and make some pendants, they were easy to start with because they taught me the most while still letting me make money because it only takes 15-45 minutes to make one and its not a huge waste of materials.

edit---vermiculite is good stuff if you flame anneal everything when your done

have fun

[Riley]

welcome youngin!

i hear you on the lack of interest in stained glass but don't discount the value or joy of making jewelry. the more well rounded you become in glass the greater your success. as well you will be energized by the sight of the ladies who proudly wear your work. better word of mouth than any pipe you can make.

so welcome to the forum, and good luck rounding up the equipment. it may seem like a long road, and well, it is, and even when you have multiple torches, lathes, kilns, saws, lapidary equipment, etc... you will always be wanting something else. its just how it is.

[Uriel]

Selling my jewelrey to ladies had paid my rent fed a family of 4 for the last 2 years, bought a Mirage, several kilns,, oxy & prop, glass.. dont knock what you dont know... there's an awsome market out there for anyone to make a decent living providing you know how to market your work & your target market...
thing is it aint just a torch you need.. gas/oxy/ kiln etc etc.. I wouldnt be happy selling my work to anyone when its hasnt been annealed overnight..

[Joemama666]

welcome youngin!

i hear you on the lack of interest in stained glass but don't discount the value or joy of making jewelry. the more well rounded you become in glass the greater your success. as well you will be energized by the sight of the ladies who proudly wear your work. better word of mouth than any pipe you can make.

so welcome to the forum, and good luck rounding up the equipment. it may seem like a long road, and well, it is, and even when you have multiple torches, lathes, kilns, saws, lapidary equipment, etc... you will always be wanting something else. its just how it is.

He hasn't started the jewelry making yet and i will be happy to have the experience.

[Joemama666]

Selling my jewelrey to ladies had paid my rent fed a family of 4 for the last 2 years, bought a Mirage, several kilns,, oxy & prop, glass.. dont knock what you dont know... there's an awsome market out there for anyone to make a decent living providing you know how to market your work & your target market...
thing is it aint just a torch you need.. gas/oxy/ kiln etc etc.. I wouldnt be happy selling my work to anyone when its hasnt been annealed overnight..

I'm not knocking jewelry making i just don't have as much interest as working with glass. I know that i need more then just the torch I just see it as the first step.

[Riley]

i sent you a pm (private message) i'm in tucson. check your message and get back to me if you like.

[Joemama666]

i sent you a pm (private message) i'm in tucson. check your message and get back to me if you like.

i haven't received any PM

[Riley]

whoops. you are right. i was trying to reach skippy another new person who just arrived. sorry about that :D

[Joemama666]

whoops. you are right. i was trying to reach skippy another new person who just arrived. sorry about that :D

Lol its all good.

[hwcglass]

enjoy yourself.

it's the key to everything.

[Joemama666]

i plan to do that :D

[The Lorax]

you came to the right place... i pretty much found this place at 17 or 18

[Joemama666]

I just can't wait to start.

[tay_ste_5000]

i started at 15, it's awesome to get an early start, even though i haven't gone too far due to having too many hobbies. i'm still waiting for 18 as well, got 4 months yet. My advice is two things, get what tools you can at harbor freight, they have a good assortment of tweezers at a super low price and also(you might already know this), use effetre if you can, the colors are way cheaper, save the boro for pipes and sculpture, the only reason i see the need to use boro for pendants and beads are if you need a specific color that you can only get in boro, and someone already said it, but ive spent 200 dollars on an oxygen concentrator (10 lpm) and have probably used the equivalant of at least 500 dollars (probably closer to 1000) worth of oxygen including rentals and regulators, and i know there are benefits to tanked oxygen, but they aren't that important when your starting out/doing it as a hobby

[tay_ste_5000]

also marble molds are pretty easy to make

[Joemama666]

i started at 15, it's awesome to get an early start, even though i haven't gone too far due to having too many hobbies. i'm still waiting for 18 as well, got 4 months yet. My advice is two things, get what tools you can at harbor freight, they have a good assortment of tweezers at a super low price and also(you might already know this), use effetre if you can, the colors are way cheaper, save the boro for pipes and sculpture, the only reason i see the need to use boro for pendants and beads are if you need a specific color that you can only get in boro, and someone already said it, but ive spent 200 dollars on an oxygen concentrator (10 lpm) and have probably used the equivalent of at least 500 dollars (probably closer to 1000) worth of oxygen including rentals and regulators, and i know there are benefits to tanked oxygen, but they aren't that important when your starting out/doing it as a hobby

wow i thought a concentrator would cost more but i never really looked at the prices. Where did you get it from?
Also what do you want more of Psi or Lpm? Because ive been looking around and people are using concentrators with air compressors. If this is a cheaper route i might take it. What im thinking is that the bobcat can will work great on 5 lpm (as ive read), then if you want more pressure for a hotter burn then i could head to harbor freight and get a compressor. But for the time being ill just run tanked oxy.

[Chris Vargas]

i just want to be the start to the second page... good luck joemama... I just got my torch yesterday, and im finishing my shop, ready to roll any time soon... its a great feeling. read as much here as you can. I have hardly had to post anything here about any questions that I have, due to the fact that tons has already been covered. search tool is awesome, if you dont find it right away, try to rephrase. best of luck to you

[Joemama666]

thanks man have fun with the torch

[tay_ste_5000]

craigslist is the way to go for oxygen concentrators,with all the people getting on oxygen prior to dying, there are a lot of oxygen concentrators left over, and after a certain amount of use they have to be tuned up to get recertified for medical use, which is expensive, so there are some people that just hoard them. The fastest way to find these people is to posted a wanted add on craigslist for an oxygen concentrator and specify that it is for non medical use. As far as lpm and psi, if you go the path of craigslist, 5 lpm will be by far the easiest to get, and a good price is no more than 150, i got one for 100. More psi means (i may stand corrected on this) more oxy per liter because it is more compressed. What is important about psi when it comes to oxygen concentrators is mixing and matching, because you can get backflow issues if they're not the same psi. I don't know if using an compressor solves this but i dont think it does. There are people on here that know more about this than i. I'm just fine with my 10 lpm, i use it on a redmax, the redmax cannot run full power with 10 lpms, but it's a hog.