It's well within the capabilities of the Minor to make a 1.5" bicone. I have a bead over four inches long that I made on one. (Of course, I wouldn't want to do that every day, on ANY torch.) Many of the beadmakers who make larger beads stayed with the Minor for a long time. If you go with a Minor, Bobcat or Mini CC and one concentrator, you can stay with that for quite a while and when you want more heat, add another concentrator. That will hold you for a good while, and if you go to a bigger torch you'll need two concentrators (or the equivalent) anyway.
Here's another thing I don't think anyone's mentioned: these torches all hold their value very well. If you do decide at some point to move up, you'll be able to sell any of these torches pretty quickly in one of the various Garage Sale/Swap Shop forums, and you can get between 60-75% of your original investment back.
Courtney
__________________
Smiling's my favorite!
|