A beginners torch

[griffenspade]

Hi everyone, Iv been intrested in glasswork for a very long time, particularly lampworking. I find art glass to be some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, better than most works in a metropolitan art museam.

Anyways, Iv done alot of home work on the subject, and realized its a very expensive hobby to get into. I will need to acquire things piece by piece. And I think the first piece ill need is a torch

I mostly want to work in small sculpture, and pipemaking. So I will be working with boro. Id like something that can work both small pipes and somewhat larger scupltures, (perhaps no larger than the average beer bottle)

Id like a torch thats hot enough for boro, with a large enough flame for somewhat larger pieces. Also it should be decently fuel efficent, but most importantly under or around 200 dollars.

The hot head is out of the question. From what Iv herd the nortel minor is not really that hot, the cc mini is supposed to be a bit better, the ss minnow perhaps?

I was really considering an National 8M, but id love to hear your opinions.

[ArtcoInc]

Unless you get a deal on a used torch, you're not going to get a torch that can do large boro sculpture for $200.

IMHO, the best $200 torches are the Mini CC ($230), Little Dragon 7 ($205), and Bobcat ($195).

The 8M is modular, so you can add to it as you go. It is another option.

Malcolm

[Lisi]

I have both the Bobcat and the Mini CC. For boro, I feel the Bobcat has a more focused flame and melts it faster. I run mine with an oxy generator.

Oh, just remembered: I tried a friend's 8M (with a surface mix 7-port tip) on my generator, and the Bobcat blew it out of the water.