Upgrade from a minor to a cricket?
 

I would like to do some boro beads and can't get the colors on my minor. I was thinking a Cricket might do the trick?
I don't really want to have to change my oxygen, it's a 5 LPM and can't afford to add another concentrator right now.

Any thoughts?

Janet

I don't think changing torches will do what you want. You need more oxygen. If you look around you can probably find a second concentrator for not much more than you would spend on a torch.

The Cricket is more efficient than a Minor, but not that much. Plus the flame is small.

I'm in Canada, I have an extra "broken' oxycon and it's impossible to find anyone that will fix it...sigh. A used one is around 800 bucks here.

Janet

Have you considered building a holding tank for the one you have?

I don't know what a holding tank is. Or should I get tanked oxygen?

Janet

If you can get tanked oxygen, that's the best. But that's not practical for some people. I was on tanked oxygen for years, but because of my day job I can't get tanks any more. The oxygen company is 30 minutes from my house and is only open the same hours that I work, so I can't make it out there. I bought a homefill system and that has solved the problem for me.

What some people do is run the output of their concentrator into a holding tank that will build up pressure and then the torch is run off of that. There is more to it than that. I'll look up the details.

Here's some good info on holding tanks...

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=245866

Thanks for the info! I'm going to check it all out!

Janet

I know someone who makes great beads and hearts on a cricket and oxycon. But it seems to be the world's hottest cricket.

Nitadee uses a minor and does fab boro, as well. But not with a 5 lpm oxycon. I think she is running an M-15, if I remember right. The oxycon just isn't big enough to generate the heat needed to make the colors bloom.

I am on an Alpha and M-20 and have seriously considered getting a second M-20 to help with the boro colors. I agree that a different torch won't make that much of a difference if you don't have the oxygen. Sorry that is so expensive there, yikes!

I like Available Oxygen and I'm sure they do ship there...I don't know how the handling or customs or taxes would work out but the starting price is low, one like yours might be $350-$400 brand new. You would have to check as they don't have a price list on site.

I hope you work it out, as boro is calling you.....

Kristen the holding tank should help you out as well we run our m20's into an 11 gal holding tank to feed the alpha center fire on our bravo and champ torches works great on boro.

a note about the minor and boro color vs other torches, I started on a mega minor and have uses minors in classes, I have noticed the nortel torches tend to run to a reducing flame even when run on tanked oxy. the GTT and Beth torches both run more neutral flames and I found easier too strike boro colors even with oxycons. personally I would say alpha over cricket pretty similar torches but Beth is much better at customer service and more readily available

I don't know about GTT customer service as I have never had to use them, but their smaller torches like the Cricket and Bobcat are almost always available at every vendor. It's the larger triple mix torches that are made to order and can be hard to get.

I had a cricket when I first started. I felt like it wasn't enough and I'm too impatient to wait around when I know there are torches around that operate at my speed! I got a Bethlehem Barracuda, a floor model. I love it!

sent from my Samsung Galaxy S6

More O2 will really help. I would choose an Alpha over a cricket! I have worked on both, and the Alpha is a little larger a flame. Either way the best way to get better boro color is more O2!!!

Thanks! Yes...oxycons are ridiculous here, I wish I was "handy" and knew what was wrong with my broken one...I think it might be the compressor.

$350-$450 US is about $460-594 CDN plus the shipping which kills me so I guess I can see why they are that expensive here.

I'll try the cricket, it would be nice to have a backup torch anyways.

Janet

I am going to buy a used torch as I don't have a whole lot of money to spend on my upgrade. It's always nice to have a backup torch other than a hothead...LOL

Janet

Nice...I wish I had that kind of cash but not yet, I have to work on that...LOL

Janet

i really think you should look into the holding tank as well. It will make a big difference. They don't work so well on large torches unless you have a huge tank and huge concentrator, but for smaller ones they do very well.

That wasn't my experience. It gave me about 40 seconds of boost over what I'd normally get out of my concentrators, and during that 40 seconds the oxygen was constantly dwindling, so that my flame grew more reducing every second. Not only that, but I'd have to wait 40 seconds to figure out where the oxygen was actually going to end up after I set it, as the tank took that long to build or release pressure.

Now, a compressor and a tank - that's awesome. Just a tank, though? Garbage.

If you're working small, a Cricket actually will give you a more useful flame than a Minor. The Cricket packs the same amount of heat into a tighter, more focused flame. I'm not a big fan of the Cricket or the Minor, but if I was working on a single 5lpm concentrator, then a Cricket or a National 3a premix wit a 31-hole or 55-hole Shelbo tip would be my choice.

Hmm. Good to know. I've never actually tried one myself.


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I just got my "used" cricket torch and I love it...so much more powerful of a flame than my minor. I hardly have to turn the knob to get much gas and oxygen. So far I've just melted soft glass and it melts it alot quicker. I'm just trying to get used to finding my "sweet spot" as the torch is so much smaller than my minor and the flame is longer if that makes sense.

I don't know when I'll try the boro out, I have to get some boro glasses, probably see if I can find some used ones out there.

You can pickup welders shade 5 lens at most hardware stores for something like $6 and hold it with one hand while you melt some broken widow glass or a broken drinking glass or anything like that to get some idea of the differences about boro.

It will hotter, stiffer, whiter in the flame and it even radiates infrared heat back at you and that can be a little unexpected.

I have heard that some boro folks come away from the torch with something like a sun burn but they are raging a monster torch and heating marbles slightly smaller than baseballs.

I managed to get a "sunburn" on my pointer finger last weekend making boro pendants trying to use the last bits of stringer that I could. My hands were definitely feeling the heat hahaha

Yeah it's funny how glass doesn't conduct heat .....


Until it does conduct heat .....


And then it conducts a great deal of heat in a great big hurry right into your dominant hand while you are just about finished with a really nice piece that you refuse to drop even if it is causing the skin on your fingers to smoke like bacon.....


:lol:

GTT torches run excellent on concentrators.

Iv ran a Bobcat,Cheetah,Phantom and a Mirage all of them on an oxygen concentrator or up to 4 oxygen concentrators.

I have an Alpha too, its realy slow doing boro even on tanked oxygen. 1.25" marble is about it limit, it gets way too slow after that.

Yes they do, and the cricket was made for working on a smaller oxy.

I'm glad you did get one, I worked for so long on a cricket and a 5lpm, big pendants and beads, boro marbles. They're suprisingly hot!
I now have two oxys because my marbles were getting bigger haha.

Buy a pair of boro clip ons, they're inexpensive if you're just looking to see if you like boro. I will say that you more than likely won't get a sunburn if you're just making beads and small marbles. I never have anyways and I burn easy. That's for the ones that use the huge flames like Phill said.

I'm curious if a holding tank would give me better oxygen with my setup? I'm running a Scorpion with 2 10 lpm Regalia's. Thanks!

It will help very nominal, I would not bother with it. If you had one more 10lpm oxycon you have enough to build a high volume low pressure system that will run 2 torches.