Home Forums Explore Media Glass Art Let’s Talk Glass Technical Forum Loud and Proud…Calling all Hot Head users

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  • #983896
    DichroDiva
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        [FONT=Comic Sans MS] I have debated with myself for quite some time about doing this. But, there seems to be lots of misinformation and misunderstanding about this wonderful, NOISY little torch. So, here goes….

        A support thread for Hot Head users. :evil: No embarassment necessary. :p You can proclaim your use of the torch proudly. :cool: Show off your wonderful beads with glee. :clap: No need to apologize here :D

        I have been working with the Hot Head since 1992. I consider myself to be a professional beadmaker since this is what I do, full time. The type of torch used can never make you a professional. Only the quality of work produced on whichever torch is chosen can do that.

        I would love to hear from everyone about your experience, beliefs, problems, questions, upsets, frustrations or anything else you can think of with regard to the Hot Head torch. I also look forward to seeing photos of work produced on the Hot Head torch. Hugs Karen[/FONT]

        www.hotglassbeads.com "The essence of being truly alive comes with falling in love with the pursuit of your dreams, always stretching, always in momentum, always expecting the best." Richard Brooke
        #1022497
        Aleta
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            Here Here! I raise my glass and proudly yell that I am a user of the infamous Hot Head Torch! A few of my beads can be viewed in the Imagelib.

            #1022503
            DichroDiva
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                Here Here! I raise my glass and proudly yell that I am a user of the infamous Hot Head Torch! A few of my beads can be viewed in the Imagelib.

                [FONT=Comic Sans MS]Aleta, great to hear from you. Willing to tell some of your experience??? What glass do you use? How long have you been making beads? Are you using the Hot Head by choice or necessity? Any funny stories….?

                Where do I find the Imagelib? Hugs Karen[/FONT]

                www.hotglassbeads.com "The essence of being truly alive comes with falling in love with the pursuit of your dreams, always stretching, always in momentum, always expecting the best." Richard Brooke
                #1022498
                Aleta
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                    Karen ~

                    My glass stash consists of Moretti, Lauscha, and Bullseye. I will be jumping up to a more advanced torch set up maybe this year some time.. Right now, I seem to be having fun with the HH.

                    The only funny story that I have is when I decided to fire the torch up one day. It started hissing and acting funny. Then all of the sudden this small ball of flame flew out of it and landed in the fireplace in front of me. I quickly turned off the torch and examined the little UFO. After I extinguished the flames, I saw the charred remains of a spider. I learned to make sure that the coast is clear before lighting the torch from that point on. Can be very scarey! :eek:

                    At the top of the page here you will see a line of tabs to click on. There you will see “Imagelib” a.k.a. Image Library. In the second “cornflower blue” devider there is a search box on the right hand side. Just type in my name and it will bring up my images. There are actually 2 pages of pics, but I haven’t figured out how to view the second page with the new WC format.

                    Aleta

                    #1022885
                    Simply Bea
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                        Karen

                        Thanks for starting this thread.

                        I started with a HH and am pretty sure I will continue with it for a long time to come.

                        I am only a hobbyist and have been making beads since July 2003 after a weekend workshop in April that year but I just LOVE being able to turn it on and make something from a rod (or two or more) of glass.

                        I know that many complain about the noise and slow melt but living out (almost in the middle of nowhere) where I am it is a great toy which gives me hours of satisfaction.

                        We have just bought a HP scanner so I hope to be able to post some pics of beads soon.

                        Go Hot Heads !!!!!!

                        Bea :p

                        Simply Bea
                        Addicted to glass.........

                        #1022886
                        Simply Bea
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                            Aleta

                            Good luck with your move. :)

                            Bea

                            Simply Bea
                            Addicted to glass.........

                            #1022960
                            lsking
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                                I’m a convert to the HH! I just started lampworking before Xmas and had purchased a QT, but last week I saw a HH for sale in the swap shop and thought mmmm….another torch might be nice! Well the difference is NIGHT and DAY!!! I love it and my dh loves that I have stopped (for the moment) talking about a oxy/propane setup! :D

                                Yeah for the Hot Head!!!!

                                Sue

                                Sue

                                [FONT=Palatino Linotype]Age is not important unless you are a cheese. ~ Helen Hayes Angelfire Art Glass (e)baying at the moon!..
                                #1022934
                                goof ball
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                                    I’m too am on an HH and love every minute I can spend on that noisy creature!! Of course, I love every minute I can spend on glass in any form as I am hopelessly addicted. With the move to the new studio, I’m not able to work with hot glass til everything is hooked up so I’m missing it terribly these days. I can’t wait to don my headphones, and mix it up again. In total solitude!!!!!!! Just me and my glass and some good tuneage.

                                    I don’t have anything as funny as the *spider story* to share but I do have an embarrassing one…. I was being interviewed by the local paper. The article was going to be featured on the front page complete with pictures. When the reporter and I were in the studio, we thought that a torch pic would be a good idea so I fired it up. FLAMES!!!! Massive ones were shooting out of the HH like never before, probably 2-3′ long. I shut it down real fast and saw the look of sheer horror on the reporter’s face as she cowered in the corner. Oops! Needless to say, we didn’t do a torch pic. It’s never happened again so I guess the glass gods are camera shy. But when I think back…omg! All that could have happened!

                                    Some days I dream of moving onto a hotter torch but for now, I’m happy with my HH. Besides, if I move to a different torch, then it’s a whole new learning curve and I have barely been able to master this one. 1 step foward, 48 steps backwards….not something I’m interested in just yet. I have a feeling that if and when I do move to a hotter torch, I’ll just be that much more addicted and that would NOT be a good thing right now. I still have kids to raise…. ;)

                                    Thanks for the thread and the spider story….I’ll be looking out for those!
                                    Mary

                                    #1022830
                                    Moth
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                                        Hail the Mighty Hot Head. LOL

                                        I started out on the HH out of price necessity. Then I instantly wanted a Lynx because I didn’t want to learn how to make beads on a HH and then have to learn all over again on a new torch, basically starting over. Well, the more I researched about the oxygen tanks, and realizing that the Lynx won’t work on a concentrator, I decided a bobcat would be better. Then I found out that concentrators won’t work under 50 degrees, which poses a major problem for about 5 months out of the year for me in my unheated studio. LOL

                                        So, for now, I am on my HH. I actually resigned myself to it several months ago and as soon as my attitude changed to the little guy, things just started working! I haven’t run across anything yet that I wanted to try that the HH kept me from doing. Yes, it is slow, but I have never even seen any other torch in person, so I don’t really have anything to compare it to. You don’t miss what you have never had.

                                        As far as the noisiness…it has turned into a type of ‘white noise’ for me and I don’t even hear it. It is almost like it helps me ‘get in the zone’.

                                        I can pull canes and stringers, I can make encased beads so far up to an inch and a half around. (Haven’t tried bigger yet!) I get good silver reactions and yes I can too get reductions to work. I have done some simple sculpturals. Basically I am having a blast and making good friends with my HotHead.

                                        Switching to bulk fuel made a world of difference to me and how I work. Things are about twice as fast now even though I was using 1# cylinders of mapp and now am using regular old propane it is still hotter. No pressure fluctuations or petering out. The key to happiness with a HotHead is bulk fuel!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

                                        What helped most of all was looking around at all the gorgeous beads here at WC and later on finding out that particular artist works on a HotHead and I never would have known it.

                                        Long live the Hot Head! LOL

                                        Here are some pictures of beads I have made using this torch. So far I have only used effetre glass.

                                        Ruby gold and silver a la Allison:

                                        A funky encased stripey:

                                        And ‘Finley’, my one and only fishie:

                                        Can’t wait to see more replies to this thread!

                                        ~~Mary

                                        My Website- Last Update 5/14/06
                                        My Etsy Shop
                                        "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
                                        --Winston Churchill

                                        #1022687

                                        I’ve been using my trusty HH for 6 years now and have absolutely no intention of switching to anything else. I like my life to stay as uncomplicated as possible.
                                        I use Moretti and don’t mind the slowness, it suits me. I also don’t have a problem listening to tunes while torching.
                                        Sorry, no pics – no digi.

                                        Ellen Altamore, Allegan, MI
                                        Find it - Fix it - Move on!!!
                                        Ellen Alive Blog

                                        #1023004
                                        Diane S.
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                                            I am very new to lampworking & am loving it with my Hot head. This whole community of lampworkers is awesome with your help & incredible talents.I have been torching for a week now & have been practicing encasing with poor results.I am using Moretti rods clear & they keep coming out amber or dirty looking,the swirls of black threads.I have tried working high in the flame so it is cooler & am hoping one of you can give me some pointers,I don’t usually crank my torch all the way open could that be the problem? Thanks in advance.
                                            Diane

                                            "Imagination is more important then knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
                                            Albert Einstein
                                            #1022491
                                            Dale_M
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                                                I have been using a Hot Head for almost 2 years now and it is a wonderful little torch. Kind of reminds me of the “little engine that could”, children’s story.

                                                I have been working on a borrowed National 8M for a while and with all the heat it produces, makes the processes go terribly fast and it’s easier to loose control of what the glass is doing. Constantly hear a voice in my brain saying ” if you were on the HotHead, you would not be in the trouble you are having now”…

                                                Dale

                                                Who will teach the young?
                                                Only the old that have survived!
                                                And only if the young will listen.

                                                #1022900
                                                valerie_folly
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                                                    I am also new to lampworking – since 9/03 and use a HH. I don’t get alot of time to play as I have a full-time job and 3 children.
                                                    I had the exact thing happen to me with a spider shooting out of my torch like Aleta had ..lol..after the spuddering & fear !!
                                                    I like the ease of a HH and am currently using 1 lb. bottles tho I have all the stuff to switch to bulk tank except a secure container to hold it outside my studio (if you could call it that – I have a local contractor working on a ‘real’ studio – I can’t wait :clap: ) and know I have to wait for that. I like the price as my intentions at this time are to only make beads for myself and for gifts.
                                                    I am going to try to attach my first WC pictures. I have no idea how or what they will look like but soon I shall see I hope!
                                                    Valerie
                                                    Edit to say:Boy, that took me a while!

                                                    Life is not a dress rehearsal

                                                    #1022502
                                                    Barrie
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                                                        I started on a hot head 3 1/2 years ago and still love it. Although I have to admit I am on a minor now (just switched from a mid range cause the cost of O2 was killing me!). And the biggest reason I had to make the switch to oxy/propane was speed due to big production orders. My dh is using the hot head, and loves it. He has no intentions of upgrading for the foreseeable future. I also teach beadmaking to beginners and I always start them on the hot head. It gives them the chance to learn to control the glass, as they are working slower. I can still make any bead on the hot head that I make on the other torches, including sculptural, encased florals, tiny intricate stinger details, etc. Reduction, no problem, Val’s frits, no problem!
                                                        Hooray for the Hot Head!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

                                                        (I’m actually using the hot head this weekend as I ran out of O2 too late to order more! :) )

                                                        #1022726
                                                        StefaniBeads
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                                                            Of course I just HAD to reply to this thread! :D

                                                            I’m so proud of my HH, see, it’s in my tinyhead! Compared to the Fireworks torch I had for my first 4 1/2 months of beadmaking, the HH is MUCH better! I was afraid to light it up the first time, so I had my boyfriend do it. He did, I freaked and I rolled my chair back to get away from it! Like a “fire breathing dragon”, I thought, and much hotter so I had a little “learning curve” for a few weeks. No kidding.

                                                            I’ve made some good size bicones on it, plenty of heat for that. I’m very happy and I am content to stick with this torch for quite a while. The only reason I want to get a hotter torch is to work with borosilicate. But I will still use my HH for the tiny beads I make, because as it is, even this torch can be a little too hot for making the teeny things. I have finally learned to work on the side of the flame when making those little bitty ones. :)

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