what is right????

[schroeder6210]

OK this is going to sound stupid but I wanted to ask the experts about this so I was educated before I put to much money into this. I have o2 bottle and acydelen with guages and cutting torch with brassing tips and hose for the whole thing my question is do I have to us propain also if not is there a torch out there that used this gas for blowing? were is a good place to get supplies and tubes things of thatnature. thanks for your help.

[Emily]

Acetylene is too dirty to use for glass. You won't be happy with the results. People who have tried to use brazing torches for beadmaking have also not been happy. I'm sorry -- I'm not technologically savvy enough to explain the differences. I just know that every so often we get someone who has tried it, and they always end up switching to a torch designed for glassworking.

Whether you can use your oxygen bottle depends on how big it is. Glassworking uses up a lot of oxygen, and generally you want the biggest oxygen tank you can handle, which usually means one of the tanks almost as big as a person. If you have a small tank, it may not hold enough oxygen to be useful with a glassworking torch, particularly if you want to work boro glass (hard glass).

What sort of things do you think you want to make with glass? You mention tubes -- if you're interested in working with tubing, that makes me think you want to work with hard glass (boro), which would be a factor in your choice of equipment.

[Dale M.]

The oxygen cylinder and oxygen regulator is very much useable, the acetylene regulator is very much useable, in fact that is same regulator used with propane.

The hoses are useable IF they are "T" grade or "LPG approved" if they are grade "R" hoses the propane will eventually break down hose and causing it to self destruct and clog torch tips and eventually leak.

Brazing tips/torch may be useable to some extent for borosilicate glass work as it a premix torch ( fuel/oxygen mixed in torch body) and causes more oxidising flame. Soft glass artists prefer a surface mix torch where the fuel/oxygen are mixed on front face of torch after fuel/oxygen leaves torch face. This produces a more neutral and softer flame.

Acetylene is extremely dirty fuel. It will leave grey soot and carbon spots in your glass.... Propane has more than enough heat when combined oxygen to produces enough heat to do almost any glass melting. Propane is the preferred fuel of glass artists. And its cheaper than acetylene.

Natural gas is also a acceptable fuel for glass work.



Dale

[smutboy420]

If its like a cutting or brazing torch You'll also more then likly have to get a difrent mixer for your torch to use propane.
You can take it to a local welding supply house and if it needs a difrent mixer for propane they will be able to set you up with the right mixer for it.