Will acetyline cause problems?

[Jenny Y]

Help! I am (very) new to this craft and took an introductory class. Of course, I loved it and was looking forward to starting out with my little canister of MAPP and a hothead. But no, my DH who by no coincidence is a welder, hooked me up with $400 of tanks and fuel. I have no idea what is on the fire end, it looks more like a nozzle than a torch. I have been trained in safety considerations.

I have a few questions...

Are there any modifications I need to make with acetyline?

How do I know what mixture of fuel to oxygen to use? Will too hot a flame make the colors turn muddy?

Anything else I don't have enough experience to know I don't know?

DH supplied me with two nozzles, one with a very small opening, one larger. Does it matter which one I use, or will the small one just need cleaning more often?


I am almost afraid to ask such basic questions, but you all seem very helpful and informative, and you never seem to eat your young. Thanks in advance for your help.

[DesertDreamer]

You absolutely DO NOT want to use acetylene!!! It burns way too dirty to work with glass. You need propane or natural gas, depending on your torch. A welder's torch generally isn't the right design for beadmaking, either, although many boro folks do use some of the Nationals, but I think they're specifically designed for glasswork, not welding.

Hold on to the oxygen, but grab a BBQ size tank of propane and see if a used Minor is available, OR go back to plan A with the HH and Mapp gas.

Men, always on overkill! LOL

Oh, wanted to add that you could put him to work on good ventilation, though.

[Jenny Y]

Thanks, I was afraid of that. He was so sweet and so excited to be helping me, I hate to break the news, but with all the money he spent, I could have gotten a kiln! If only he'd asked....

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I hope to pick your collective brains at length in the future.

[bhhco]

This is really much better than it might initially seem.

You are very lucky to have a welder for a DH because safety is paramount and nearly everything we have learned about safety in lampwork has come directly from the welding world.

And also, you quite possibly have the absolute best equipment (tanks, regulators, safety devices, etc) for lampwork (except just the torch) that few in lampwork are fortunate enough to have - and what they wish they could have had when they first started, or even today!

Here's what he needs to know: Tell him you need a flame temperature of between 3500 degrees (minimum) and 4500 degrees (maximum). Glass begins to "melt" at 1200 degrees, and "drips" all over the place at 2200 degrees. (He knows how hot acetylene burns - 5800+ degrees - it heats (melts) glass way too fast to control the flow - say that to him... "heats too fast to control the flow".).

Good news is... you have almost everything you need... the only thing you need to swap out is the torch and fuel hose, which were probably the lesser expensive items. A two-gas, surface mix, lampwork torch will be $160-$190, and sometimes less in the LE Garage Sale area. The T-grade propane hose is about $15. And use a BBQ for propane fuel.

Ditto the ventilation... he will know about that too and how very important it is. Tell him melting glass is similar to welding stainless steel, fume-wise (not temperature-wise).

Finally. Eye Protection. You could use welders glasses (and would have to if acetylene was used) to protect your eyes (I'd balk at the helmet though), but far better are glasses called Didymiums. All torch flames when working soft glass create a yellow flare that blocks your ability to clearly see what is happeing to the glass inside the flame. Didymiums erase the yellow flare and let you clearly see what is happening to the glass. And will also protect your eyes from glass when it sometimes "pops" - which it will. Even to the best of us.

I'll stay away from recommending a specfic torch, but three that immediately come to mind, in alphabetical order, are: Carlisle Mini-CC, GTT Bobcat, and Nortel Minor Burner.

Bill

p.s. Acetylene is a VERY expensive fuel. You will save enough in just a few tanks of fuel (using propane), that you will very quickly payback the cost of the lampwork torch.

[Jenny Y]

Great info, Hubby will definitely appreciate speaking in his language. I have the glasses, he seemed okay with getting me propane (and keeping the extra acetyline for himself). So all I need now is the torch, and a kiln of course. He's already invested this much, we don't want the little beauties to crack now do we. I'll have to check out the garage sale. Thanks!

[MikeAurelius]

One correction: Didymium filters are no longer available from most, if not all suppliers. The basic filter is now ACE/AUR-92/AV2000 (all the same material).