changing from soft glass to boro - advice requested

[lbjvg]

Hi - I'm considering doing work in boro to make large contemporary syle marbles. Up till now I've been working exclsively with Moretti type soft glass and have made a number of soft glass marbles but mainly lots of beads.

I work in a small second story room in my house with piped in propane and one 5L/min O2 concentrator, a Mini cc torch and I have a small Don McKinney Toolbox annealing kiln that can be programmed to anneal boro glass (I think - need to double check that).

I know I need a bigger torch and probably a second O2 concentrator and most likely a bigger kiln.

I guess my real question is: Does the actual work area need to be bigger? That is, I work on a desktop equipped with a galvinized steel ventilation hood. The set-up is aout 20 inches deep. Actually, I have a photo of it from when I first built it:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res8m1pn/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/studio-hood.jpg

I have this vision of a bigger torch burning a hole thru the back of my my set-up. Is the a realistic concern?

Thanks, Jim

[Cosmo]

You don't need a bigger area as long as you are comfortable there.

A second concentrator or tanked oxygen would be a good thing. I wouldn't upgrade your torch just yet. I think you'll be suprised how big of a piece you can make with enough oxygen.

Your kiln should be fine.

I doubt you'll have to worry about melting through that hood with that torch, but with a bigger torch, you might.

This is a photo of my Tiger Shark running about 1/3 capacity:

[mobility]

you can work boro no problem on a mini cc with a second concentrator. The torch actually works much better on any glass with two. It won't melt huge boro but you can make marbles on it. The bigger torches don't work well on concentrators. You'd need a generator or tanked to run them.

[lbjvg]

Thanks Chad and Robin! All I need is a second O2 concentrator. Awesome!

[Mr. Smiley]

Great advise from those two fine folks... have fun! BORO ROCKS! :D