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Old 2008-01-21, 11:10am
glass pixie glass pixie is offline
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Join Date: Jan 21, 2008
Posts: 3
Default starter setup, and National 8M

ok, so i'm pretty much entirely new to glass work (unless you count my college chemistry lab, which included a good bit of soda-lime tubing and making small fixtures) and i've decided that i want to make this my next hobby. i've done a good bit of jewelery (fabrication and casting), and as mentioned, a bit of glass work. basically at this point, i want to be able to try just about everything, and see what really appeals to me. i have a pretty good theoretical understanding of how glass works, but little practical expirence. currently i'm going to be using bottled propane and oxy to run my setup.

so now, here's the question. currently i'm considering getting a National 8M mainly because of flexibility. like i said, i want to be able to try everything. now i know i'm not going to be doing anything huge simply because of space concerns, but the 8M looks to be about the best starter setup i can find. i'm currently considering getting it with two tips. my question is, which two. i've been looking around, and from what i can tell, the SM-7 on the national should be comparable with a nortel minor or similar, the SM-21 seems to be a good comparison for some of the larger torches, and the premix adapter sounds like it's the best bet for clear boro, and maybe the colors too. so now, if i go with the SM-7 and the HTC-1, i would have a nice minor type flame for doing softer stuff, and the premix for doing the boro work, but i would be limited to small pieces due to size of flame. if i go with the SM-7 and SM-21, i could work with both smaller and larger pieces, but only surface mix, and it sounds like premix is better for boro. if i go for the SM-21 and the HTC-1, i can do the big stuff in softer glass no problem, and small stuff in the boro, but bigger stuff in boro might not go so well.

with all that said, is there anyone who could tell me the following things? ideally someone who's used an 8M...

how does the SM-7/SM-21 work with boro?
is the advantage of a premix tip worth being stuck with a smaller flame size?
how important is overall flame diameter to size of work?

or, maybe i've got it all wrong, is there another torch i should be using? i'd like to be able to work bead/marble, scientific/tubing, sculpture(tube and rod), maybe some small glassware like flasks bottles or glasses...
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