Since glassblowing is on topic here, especially if one doesn't necessarily mean scientific glassblowing, I have a question about preparing for that activity. There are no glassblowing courses I can take but there is an art course on welding that, among other things, would teach me how to use oxy-acetylene torches safely. So, I'm wondering whether that exposure to the use of oxy-acetylene torches would be sufficient preparation for using an oxy-acetylene torch for glassblowing (apart from the glassblowing techniques themselves). Or is the way one uses an oxy-acetylene torch for glassblowing one of the things they would explicitly tell me not to do in a welding course?
I've seen someone sitting in the middle of a lobby with an oxy-acetylene torch and glass rods and tubing making lots of little sculptures. So, that's why I have this in mind as an added benefit of possibly taking the welding course. The only exposures I've had to glassblowing are: (1) a single class I took once several decades ago in which I used a bunsen burner; (2) the chemists at Tata Institute were nice enough to let me do some glassblowing and to give me some instruction and I did this once or twice a week for a couple of weeks until I stupidly picked up a hot piece of glass and got a big burn on my thumb, which put an end to the activity. This also used a bunsen burner.
There is no way I am qualified or allowed to set up a bunsen burner for myself in any that I have access to, so acquiring the knowledge, under supervision, to provide myself with suitable flame for glassblowing is of interest to me. Once I can do that, I can in principle experiment on my own with simple glassblowing projects, although finding a suitable venue for this would still be a problem.