Cricket vs. Lynx vs. Mega Minor

[Joanne]

I would like to do some small boro sculpture and boro pendants/marbles as well as work with my 104. Right now I am borrowing someone's Mega Minor, and I find it kind of slow for boro. I am using propane and an 8 lpm oxygen concentrator. How do the Cricket and Lynx compare? Do I have to upgrade to an even larger torch and buy another oxgyen concentrator to get what I want? Or can I get away with the Cricket or Lynx and use my existing oxy-con? It would be nice NOT to spend an atrocious amount of $$ as this is a hobby and not my career.......

[shawnette]

The Cricket can handle it and the Lynx can handle it even faster (on your existing oxycon). Both the Lynx and Cricket are very efficient on oxygen and the Cricket is very affordable.

[kbinkster]

I vote Lynx if you can swing it. The Cricket is hotter on limited oxygen than the Mega Minor, and it gets that small pin point flame, but the Lynx can get hotter than both of them on 8 LPM and has a better fine detail flame than the Cricket.

[Joanne]

Thanks for your input ladies! I think I am heading towards the Lynx.........

[Paul Ewing]

The Lynx is a great torch, especially on tanks. If Kimberly says 8 LPM is enough for it and you can swing the extra dollars, it is great. You can do do some pretty large boro on it. We have two Lynx in the shop on tanks now. We also have a Cricket that my daughter uses on an old 5 LPM oxycon that does good on beads and small sculpture in boro.

[shawnette]

Thanks for your input ladies! I think I am heading towards the Lynx.........

If you can afford it, you should definitely go with the Lynx. It's an awesome torch and like Paul said, you can actually work pretty large on it. Beadwise, there's really nothing you can't do on a Lynx.

[Sue H-K]

I use a mini cc with 2 5lpm oxycons....would my 2 5's run a lynx or would I need to upgrade to a larger oxycon?

[kbinkster]

Two 5 LPM oxycons will run a Lynx. In fact, it is a lot more powerful on two 5 LPM machines than the Mini CC is. You're not going to get 100% of what a Lynx can do, but you might not need the full-blast power. Most people use the low to middle range of that torch for bead work and small sculptures.

[Paul Ewing]

I tried my Lynx on a 7 LPM and 5 LPM combo when I first got it and it worked fairly well.

[tgslampwork]

Honest, Sue - I ran my Lynx on a SINGLE 5lpm concentrator for the first few years I was lampworking (actually bought two concentrators, but using them together always blew a circuit, so I used just the one). Switched to the Regalia about a year ago (I think). There's clearly a difference on the Regalia, but I was quite happy for a long time on even one concentrator - I imagine you'd be *thrilled* with it on two.

[Bunyip]

I'm pushing 2" marbles with my lynx w/ two 5 LPM concentrators - but the fine pinpoint flame isn't happening so much for me - Probably need to get the torch cleaned - I got it used and it wasn't of the "gently" variety.

[shawnette]

I'm pushing 2" marbles with my lynx w/ two 5 LPM concentrators - but the fine pinpoint flame isn't happening so much for me - Probably need to get the torch cleaned - I got it used and it wasn't of the "gently" variety.

Hey Chris, has anyone ever shown you how to dial the flame down to a pinpoint on the Lynx?

(BTW - I finally hooked up the Phantom and USED it. I'm in lubs!!! Don't be jealous...)

[kbinkster]

If the injector jets are clogged badly enough, you won' be able to get as good a pinpoint as you normally could get.

If you do a search under my screen name and "torch cleaning", you'll find some helpful instructions for cleaning it yourself. It's possible that you might be able to wrok through some blockage. If it is really, really bad, you should send it in.