Loud and Proud…Calling all Hot Head users

[TanyaPW]

Suzanne – this sounds like a great idea too. My husband isn’t a welder, though, so for now it’s wet rags or aluminum foil for me. I tried the aluminum foil and it seemed to work – the sound changed, the appearance of the flame changed, etc. However, I didn’t get substantially different results on the reduction frit than I got with a regular flame. I’m using a color called bright gold or something like that. The best I can get out of it is some interesting shades of green surrounded by gold. One of my tests actually turned grayish. I wasn’t using a high flame at all. QUESTION: how long does the bead have to stay in the reducing flame? Ok, I know the answer – until it’s reduced. But how long does that take, typically? 1 second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds? I’ll go search the tech forum, but I thought this might be a good place to check since it’s specifically about HHs.

I absolutely love the “affairs of dragons” warning! My 10 year old can’t stop saying it….

Wow, Jen. Sounds like you’re doing great with the HH.

Tanya

Regarding getting a reducing flame – i use my hisbands welding gloves. just keep the righ hand one nearby and slip it o when i am ready to reduce – then i can just grasp the torch with no heat problems at all – works a treat!

Suzanne

[Beadsomine]

Tanya,
I noticed that you said you got a hose from Arrow Springs, did you also get your tank there? If not, where did you get your tank?
Kristen

[FONT=Georgia]The dark liquid in the cup transcends simply being water poured over ground-up beans. Coffee is far more than a beverage. It is an invitation to life, disguised as a cup of warm liquid....Coffee is an experience, an offer, a rite of passage, a good excuse to get together."~Nicole Johnson, Fresh-Brewed Life

[Daisy103]

I forgot to list my website before with a few pics of my “hothead” beads! It is http://www.meandmybrightideas.com.
Jen

[Glassygal]

Jen…

Your work is beautiful! I hope it wasnt my post that got you going about your hot head. I never said that I didnt like my trusty little torch. I really do love the hothead and even though I am getting my husband a larger mix torch, I will still keep and use my hothead. He is going into Marble making and everyone told me that although the hot head will work for marbles, if he wants to make larger ones he really needs something that burns just a bit hotter. Dont worry…my hothead wont go into the corner and be ignored…LOL ~Holly

~ Holly Young River Horse Studio My eBay

...grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.....

[Daisy103]

Hi Holly and thanks for the compliment!! No, I think I just get tired of reading over and over (on other posts) people putting down the hothead in one form or another and I probably had read another of those posts somewhere about someone saying they wanted to get a “real” torch or “bigger” torch. They aren’t always like that but there are quite a few. I think what happens is one person starts something and everyone jumps on the bandwagon and think they, too, need a different torch now. Like giving in to peer pressure. They forget that unless you are doing something that requires a hotter torch, that you can do everything with a hothead. I think it’s fine and great to prefer a certain torch, ANY torch…just don’t do it b/c it seems that everyone else is doing it.
Also, I wanted to share my story of the stained glass artist putting me down at the show and how I am more determined than ever to always use it now.
This thread had been brought to the top and I wanted to chime in. I don’t post often b/c I do about 20 shows between June and November so barely have time to breathe until winter! Now is my time to get new pieces made for new jury slides and stock up on new designs for next year.
Jen

[CarlaAlexander]

OK I avoided this thread forever because of the stigma attached to my poor little torch, but I am going to say it. My name is Carla, and I use a Hot Head.

Carla

If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

CarlaAlexander Ebay

[[email protected]]Email Carla[/email]

CarlaAlexander Art Glass

[Glassygal]

Hi Jen… I think your story about the Stained glass artist was great! I have also been snubbed before for using a hot head. Although I would like to try lots of diffrent torches, Hothead is always going to be the torch that I hold dear to my heart becuase its my first~ ~Holly

~ Holly Young River Horse Studio My eBay

...grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.....

[Moth]

Hi Jen… I think your story about the Stained glass artist was great! I have also been snubbed before for using a hot head. Although I would like to try lots of diffrent torches, Hothead is always going to be the torch that I hold dear to my heart becuase its my first~ ~Holly

I feel this way too! Oh where would I be without the torch that taught me so much???

I just got a minor, but it wasn’t out of necessity for beadmaking. It was because I would like to start writing articles about certain techniques and thought it would be a good idea to have experience on an oxy/propane torch so that I know if the techniques I am writing about are relevant to both types of setups.

You can do just about anything on a HH! Only two things I can think of that you won’t have success with are boro and fuming!

I just got my minor/oxycon all set up and still have my HH and the hose sitting on the desk on the other side of the studio. I don’t have the heart to pack it away. I just hope it isn’t too much of a temptation to fire it up when I have troubles with the minor! LOL

Rock on you guys! A HH IS a BIG GIRL TORCH if you are a big girl when you use it!

~~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

[TanyaPW]

Kristen –

I haven’t checked the forum for a few days. I got my tank at the “fuel store.” This is a welder’s supply place. They do propane, acetylene, oxygen, etc. I had done business with them to get my acetylene tank for soldering. Bummed me right out I couldn’t use my acetylene for glass since that whole setup including the tank deposit was around $300! No, I have to go out and buy a completely different setup… I don’t actually own the propylene tank, I lease it. A year’s lease cost $30. In any case, you could get a tank and fuel from a similar store, or perhaps a propane and natural gas supplier.

Tanya

Tanya,
I noticed that you said you got a hose from Arrow Springs, did you also get your tank there? If not, where did you get your tank?
Kristen

[pmoores]

Carla? you made all those eyes on a hothead? Must say their very nice. Whats the diameter of those eyes?

Just lighted my own torch for the first time.. all i got was a pile of goo using that quiettorch haha.

[littlecrow1]

That eye is awesome! I gotta ask what kind of plant that is you used for a background…I love the texture.

* I love my HH Torch! *
https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=198469&stc=1

Many Blessings,
Deb/Littlecrow
http://www.littlecrowglass.com
My Ebay

[topher]

I took interest in making beads alittle over a year ago , after watching a bead artist in bloomington Indiana. She told me what I needed to get if I would like to do it ” the corrrect way” but told me I could get started on a smaller scale using a hot head. I returned home and purchased a hot head and started reading and experimenting. no classses taken. I recently returned to Indiana , and dropped in to see her purchase materials to finish up braclets while on vacation. when I showed her the beads , she wanted to know what torch I was using. I told her a hot head and havent even racked up a hundred hours of torch time being I only get to use the torch on good windless days outside on the weekends and only in the summer. She could not believe it. Her quote to me was ” your good !!! ” This ment a lot to me being a beginner, and made me see that if you have only the basic tools needed and the knack on how to uses them , you can turn out some awsome gems .learning on the least and pushing for the max out of what you have will only help you later on when you decide to step up . So have fun with what you can aford and try everything

[glassgirllisa]

I am making beads as a hobby, no plans to sell them, yet. I rent torch time at a studio, but at home I use my Hot Head. I have no studio space inside, have to work on a patio. This makes seeing the flame almost impossible during the day. I was glad to read that this is not unusual; for a while I was wondering if I was losing my sight, since I could not, for the life of me, see a flame!

I want to go buy a bulk tank now!! Too bad it is Christmas Eve, and I will have to wait for at least a few days. After reading this thread I am anxious to hook up a bigger tank and see what I can make.

Lisa

[tasminann]

I have to say that if it weren’t for the HH, I would never have tried making beads in the first place. It is a neat torch! Although I have a Bobcat now (I am interested in boro), I still have my HH set up for my DH, who is getting interested in making soft glass beads.

Also, the HH is still useful when I just have maybe 45 minutes to sneak some soft glass beads in — easier than lugging out the concentrators (I work on the patio and so can’t leave my concentrators outside). So, my HH still gets use. And it will always have a special place in my heart!

(And I will agree what everyone else says — ouside of boro, there really isn’t anything that you can’t do with a HH that you can do with an oxy/propane setup.)

[FONT=Trebuchet MS]Gail
my ebay!
http://blog.losing-weight-over-40.com

[Linda FL]

Lisa, I also sometimes have a problem of seeing the flame so I now have a black mat board on my work surface between my eyes and the flame. That helps me to see the flame. Hope it works for you.

Linda

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