Lampworking Equipment – The Torch

From The BeadsNest vantage point…

I clearly recall taking my first “beginner” lampworking class with Bobbie Jenkins. After directing us on the importance of taking safety precautions in our glass beadmaking, Bobbie showed us her studio. I was irreversably hooked before we began.

Four Nortel MInor Burner torches with accompanying flamework tools lay neatly before us, awaiting a day of bumbling beginner beaders. My sister, Shirley, and I chose two adjoining stations and listened attentively. Each torch had two hoses attached, one red and one green. My rising curiosity got the best of me, of course, and my eyes followed the trail of hoses back to its source. The green hoses were attached to large tanks of oxygen, while the red led to ordinary propane tanks (such as those used in an outdoor barbeque). Bobbie, meanwhile, was explaining that the torches use a mixture of propane (to produce a flame) and oxygen (to control the temperature) to melt glass rods for making beads.

Needless to say, I was anxious to get past the preliminaries and dig in to the melt-fest. As our lesson progressed, I learned the art of controlling the flame, combining the oxygen and propane levels to accommodate my beadmaking project. We knew within the first hour that we would have to set up our own home studio ASAP.

Shirl and I began pouring through beading magazines and websites to find the most cost-effective way to begin our personal bead-making studio. We decided to begin frugally, each of us ordering pre-made flamework kits from an online supplier. These kits included everything we needed to get started, including a Hot-Head torch. The Hot Head uses an attached canister of MAPP gas rather than the propane/oxygen setup that we’d used with Bobbie, so it would be lots easier for our startup. We purchased some MAPP gas canisters at the local hardware store, and were SO excited, we couldn’t wait to get to work!

With our new Hot Heads securely clamped to the fireproof metal table, and our tools gathered round, we finally fired up our torches. From the start, the Hot Head felt different to us, and we learned its differences to the Minor Burner quickly. The flame wasn’t as hot with the Hot Head, and it wasn’t as manipulable. We decided that the Hot Head would be far preferable for situations where we might need to be mobile for outdoor demonstration purposes, but that the Minor Burner was far better for working in the studio – and it was much quieter. The Hot Head was irritatingly noisy for indoor use. Then we found ourselves using far too many gas canisters for our “frugal” venture.

Within a couple of weeks we stepped up and purchased a couple of Minor Burners and we haven’t regretted it for a moment. The Minor Burner is great for most beadmaking with softer glass. Notice that I said “most”? Moving into the harder glass-making projects requires another step-up in the world of torches. More about that soon. For the majority of lampworking needs, the Minor Burner is ideal. There are other brands, of course, but the Nortel burner is our experience, and we recommend it to first-time buyers. It’s versatile, dependable, and affordable.

What more could any serious beader ask?
Bead Happy!