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  #1  
Old 2012-05-17, 11:34pm
fionac fionac is offline
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Default Cricket vs Hothead - faster?

I have been on a hothead for 3 years now (love it), but am looking at getting a Cricket with a 8lpm oxycon hoping to work faster (is 8lpm enough?). 2" focals are about the biggest things I make.

I am doing a heap of BHB's at the minute and would like to speed things up. How much faster would a cricket be? If i take 10 mins to do a basic one colour BHB on the Hothead, how long on the Cricket?
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Old 2012-05-17, 11:38pm
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Oh, idiot! this should be in the Torch subforum, anyone know how I can move it?
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Old 2012-05-18, 2:36am
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Huge difference!!! I am on a Cricket w/a 5 lpm oxycon....plenty of power!! Geeze...never timed how long it takes to make a BHB using 104 coe glass ....but if I had to guess I would say it takes me under 5 minutes for a single color BHB.
I started on a Hothead...I did love my HH....but it took forever to make a simple bead...I just didn't have the patience...So I went to a minor...but I wanted to melt glass faster...so now I am on the Cricket...and love it!!
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Cricket w/ 5 lpm Oxycon

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  #4  
Old 2012-05-18, 3:37am
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I have a cricket with an 8lpm oxycon & it works great. The cricket is actually designed to run on a 5lpm, I went for the 8lpm in case I want to upgrade in the future because when I bought it, it was only a few dollars more.

I can't compare the cricket to the hothead timewise because I have never used a hothead & I've never made a BHB but I find my cricket plenty fast enough.
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Old 2012-05-18, 4:31am
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I was on a hot head for 3 years before I moved up to a minor and then a year ago I upgraded to a cricket. There is a learning curve -especially with stringer control but you are going to love the extra heat and how quiet the duel fuel torch is compared to the HH.
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Old 2012-05-18, 7:44am
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I love my cricket! I used the HH for a month before upgradng to the cricket and getting a couple of 5lpm oxycons with natural gas. My main reason for switching was that I kept running out of gas mid-bead (and it was always the best bead of the day!).

Cheryl
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Old 2012-05-18, 8:36am
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I used a HH for 2 years and then switched to a Cricket on one 5 lpm oxycon. I find it plenty for the very small round beads I make. You'll find it is a very different animal, with virtually no radiant heat and a laser-beam type of flame, quite hot indeed.
Like others have said, I enjoy the quietness and the fuel economy (which I assume has to do with both the design of the torch and the fact that a regulator makes it much more fuel efficient).
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Old 2012-05-18, 8:38am
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And you can always call GTT for specific questions. Wally was great with information on how to work hotter/faster on my Scorpion.
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Old 2012-05-18, 8:52am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flonche View Post
I used a HH for 2 years and then switched to a Cricket on one 5 lpm oxycon. I find it plenty for the very small round beads I make. You'll find it is a very different animal, with virtually no radiant heat and a laser-beam type of flame, quite hot indeed.
Like others have said, I enjoy the quietness and the fuel economy (which I assume has to do with both the design of the torch and the fact that a regulator makes it much more fuel efficient).
No. It has to do with burning gas with relatively pure oxygen vs. air. Much more efficient.
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Old 2012-05-18, 10:05am
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I see, thanks for the clarification
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Old 2012-05-18, 10:27am
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How much faster is the cricket compared to a minor?
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  #12  
Old 2012-05-18, 12:18pm
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Don't know exact time-wise how much faster it is....a Minor has a more bushy flame...the Cricket has a more concentrated flame...more concentrated heat = faster melting...that is one of the first things I noticed when I switched from my Minor to my Cricket.
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Cricket w/ 5 lpm Oxycon
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Old 2012-05-18, 2:17pm
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A cricket is hotter than a minor, although I can't give a time comparison. I will say that going from a HH to a cricket will likely be a pretty drastic adjustment. The flames are polar opposite. A mini cc would probably be an easier transition, but the mini cc uses a lot more oxy than the cricket.
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Old 2012-05-18, 6:05pm
fionac fionac is offline
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Thanks everyone for the input, 48 days to go 'til the torch and oxy are funded, I quit smoking and the daily cig money goes straight to the oxy fund
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Old 2012-05-18, 9:16pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fionac View Post
Thanks everyone for the input, 48 days to go 'til the torch and oxy are funded, I quit smoking and the daily cig money goes straight to the oxy fund
Congrats. I smoked two packs a day for 10 years and havent touched one in 22 years. One of the best things I ever did for myself.
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Old 2012-05-18, 11:53pm
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Congrats. I smoked two packs a day for 10 years and havent touched one in 22 years. One of the best things I ever did for myself.
Good on you!!! Been 26 years since I quit ...One of the best things I ever did for my health, also!!! But I have a confession...if the earth was ending tomorrow....I would go grab myself a carton of cigs...and smoke every one of them...just because....
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Old 2012-05-19, 12:05am
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Thanks everyone for the input, 48 days to go 'til the torch and oxy are funded, I quit smoking and the daily cig money goes straight to the oxy fund

That's awesome, fionac!! Good luck!! You will feel so much better...and food tastes so much better..that is one of the first changes I noticed...I can't even believe what cigs cost these days...just think of all the glassy stuffs you will have the extra money for, now..lol!!! One addiction to another
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Old 2012-05-19, 12:29am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fionac View Post
I have been on a hothead for 3 years now (love it), but am looking at getting a Cricket with a 8lpm oxycon hoping to work faster (is 8lpm enough?). 2" focals are about the biggest things I make.

I am doing a heap of BHB's at the minute and would like to speed things up. How much faster would a cricket be? If i take 10 mins to do a basic one colour BHB on the Hothead, how long on the Cricket?
I just got my cricket and oxycon and have only used it once but already I noticed how quiet and melty it was.

Much much quicker too, than the HH.

I was on the HH for 5 years to so I gave it a good go.
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  #19  
Old 2012-05-19, 1:24am
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The Cricket works well with a concentrator. However, by adding a 2nd machine the Cricket really comes to life. Have upgraded to a Scorpion which uses the Cricket as the center fire.

If using the Scorpion on NG then only two concentrators are needed. If propane then three is my recommendation.

The advantage of the Scorpion is that the outer flame is much bushier. The down side is the cost deferential in the range of 4 plus times greater.
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  #20  
Old 2012-05-19, 2:55am
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Hm if you are doing stringer work is the cricket too concentrated of a flame? Would a minor be better? I am still on a HH and I am just getting to the point where I feel I am getting much better at heat control and my stringer work is improving because of that. I am afraid to go to a big torch because I think I will lose that.
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Old 2012-05-19, 6:22am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carolinesbeads View Post
Hm if you are doing stringer work is the cricket too concentrated of a flame? Would a minor be better? I am still on a HH and I am just getting to the point where I feel I am getting much better at heat control and my stringer work is improving because of that. I am afraid to go to a big torch because I think I will lose that.
As long as you take the time to learn how to adjust the torch I dont think that is an issue. The cricket will have a learning curve but it is much more adjustable and versatile than the HH.
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  #22  
Old 2012-05-21, 4:22am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carolinesbeads View Post
Hm if you are doing stringer work is the cricket too concentrated of a flame? Would a minor be better? I am still on a HH and I am just getting to the point where I feel I am getting much better at heat control and my stringer work is improving because of that. I am afraid to go to a big torch because I think I will lose that.
Having tried all of these small torches out there, I think you would like the Minor more than the Cricket for stringer control, because of your HH experience. The Minor has a lot more radiant heat than the sharp focused flame of the Cricket. This is what makes the GTT torches excellent for melting boro. But if you are after a gentler heat for soft glass, then the Minor or Mini CC are great choices. The Mini is hotter than the Minor and has even more radiant heat.

I'm in need of a second torch, because I think my Bobcat is too hot for some of the things I want to do. I'll be getting a Minor or another Mini CC. My Mini was stolen out of my second studio after my family home burned down. Idiot thief got a torch with a badly clogged port, in need of factory repair. Too bad, and they probably wouldn't know what to do with it anyway. lol
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Last edited by Lisi; 2012-05-21 at 4:24am.
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  #23  
Old 2012-05-28, 12:31am
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You can definitely do stringer work with a cricket. You can adjust the flame size (smaller) or work farther out in the flame. It'll take some experimenting and practice to find the sweet spot and figure out what method works best for you, but it's completely do-able.
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  #24  
Old 2012-06-16, 6:34pm
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Thanks for the input guys! I am hoping to try out a few torches with my glassy friends before I decide.
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