periwinkle
2009-08-07, 10:12am
I've read plenty of messages about how you must find the sweet spot depending on the gas used when working with a hothead, but I can't seem to find it with the new MAP gas.
I was using MAPP gas up until recently, but then the formula changed and now it's still called MAP gas, but I understand that it's propylene.
I've read a lot on this forum about how it's necessary to find the sweet spot, but no one seems to say about how far out that is...
When I used the old MAPP gas, I found that about 4 inches from the tip of the torch was perfect.
Now, I find that the propylene burns so much hotter that I keep getting nasty soot marks in all my beads. What I keep hearing people say is to work further out, well that's what I'm doing! And, it seems like I just can't find that sweet spot. I'm working 6-8 inches out and I get terrible soot.
For instance, I was making a bead with a transparent base, and I could see the soot marks on the bead even while it was molten. I continued working on it anyway. I placed my white dots and noticed that they got sooty and that was further out in the flame (about 6-8 inches). Then I covered these dots with a colored transparent and put smaller white dots on top of the previous dots. This time, I worked in much closer - around 4 inches from the tip of the torch and this second round of white dots did not get sooty. Now, it would seem that I've found the sweet spot, but I was also melting the base of the bead in this are, and it got sooty here, as well. This sweet spot seems to be very hard to locate!
I've read that I need to turn my torch down, well, I do. But what I find is that if I go too much, it just goes out. So, it seems that I have it turned down about as low as it will go without blowing out, but I still have sooty beads and it seems like I keep hearing that I need to work out further in the flame, but that just dirties up my beads.
Could someone who uses propylene successfully tell me approximately how far out their sweet spot is?
Also, I've been thinking about switching to propane so that I can use the bulk tanks as these 14.1 oz containers just go way too fast, so I'm wondering where the sweet spot is with propane?
I just hate wasting so much glass trying to find the sweet spot. Normally, I use a minor burner at the glass studio where I make beads (Mesa Art Center in Mesa, Arizona), but it's between sessions right now and I'm having serious withdrawals.
I was using MAPP gas up until recently, but then the formula changed and now it's still called MAP gas, but I understand that it's propylene.
I've read a lot on this forum about how it's necessary to find the sweet spot, but no one seems to say about how far out that is...
When I used the old MAPP gas, I found that about 4 inches from the tip of the torch was perfect.
Now, I find that the propylene burns so much hotter that I keep getting nasty soot marks in all my beads. What I keep hearing people say is to work further out, well that's what I'm doing! And, it seems like I just can't find that sweet spot. I'm working 6-8 inches out and I get terrible soot.
For instance, I was making a bead with a transparent base, and I could see the soot marks on the bead even while it was molten. I continued working on it anyway. I placed my white dots and noticed that they got sooty and that was further out in the flame (about 6-8 inches). Then I covered these dots with a colored transparent and put smaller white dots on top of the previous dots. This time, I worked in much closer - around 4 inches from the tip of the torch and this second round of white dots did not get sooty. Now, it would seem that I've found the sweet spot, but I was also melting the base of the bead in this are, and it got sooty here, as well. This sweet spot seems to be very hard to locate!
I've read that I need to turn my torch down, well, I do. But what I find is that if I go too much, it just goes out. So, it seems that I have it turned down about as low as it will go without blowing out, but I still have sooty beads and it seems like I keep hearing that I need to work out further in the flame, but that just dirties up my beads.
Could someone who uses propylene successfully tell me approximately how far out their sweet spot is?
Also, I've been thinking about switching to propane so that I can use the bulk tanks as these 14.1 oz containers just go way too fast, so I'm wondering where the sweet spot is with propane?
I just hate wasting so much glass trying to find the sweet spot. Normally, I use a minor burner at the glass studio where I make beads (Mesa Art Center in Mesa, Arizona), but it's between sessions right now and I'm having serious withdrawals.