Hot Head on propane in the UK

There was a discussion a while ago here about lampworking in small premises such as a boat in the UK.

I'd like to offer our recent experiences here. We live on a narrowboat, and have Calor propane tanks aboard for use in our cooker. As MAPP is expensive in the UK and not available in bulk it was rapidly becoming very costly to make beads using the small tanks. We did a lot of research on the topic of propane tanks and the necessary equipment to hook up a propane tank to the Calor tank of propane and found a company that provides a complete set-up that will take you from tank to torch without needing anything else. The company is an Australian one called Ozziebuddy, and we found them very helpful, careful to make sure the setup is a safe and complete one. They shipped to us promptly and we're now able to use our 13kg tanks of propane with the Hot Head torch with no trouble at all. It does take a bit of getting used to as the propane burns differently to MAPP but a bit of research online showed that putting the beads higher in the flame reduced the problem of burning the glass or getting scummy glass or altered colours.

Ozziebuddy has a website at

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They shipped us theconversion set without the torch for a decent price, it ended up costing usa total of USD 103 for a conversion kit, a marver we ordered that was USD33, shipping and insurance. They were quick, helpful and knowledgeable.-Su Poole (just a customer, not a shareholder... yadda yadda...) Anyone who wants to ask questions can email us at the addy on this post, we don't munge our email addys... or post here as I check this group daily.

Reply to
Su/Cutworks
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That is interesting, I've always heard that Propane and Oxygen were needed together to do lampwork. Glad things are working out for you.

Reply to
C Ryman

The Hot Head gets sufficient oxygen from the surrounding air, it's not as high in demand as the dual-hose torches, it was designed to run on a single fuel source. We can tell a significant difference in the flame depending on the amount of ventilation in the shed. At the moment it seems to be significantly affected if our fan heater is running in the shed while the torch is on, unless the door is fairly wide open (which cuts down on the effect of the heater...)

It's working out very well, thanks. We're very pleased as it's a huge savings in fuel costs, at the moment we're not really able to upgrade as we want to wait till we can use an oxy concentrator rather than oxygen tanks. We're looking at all the info out there and all the comments about torches, and are thinking of either a Minor or a Barracuda, depending on availability, price and the ability to use it with a single oxygen source such as a concentrator.

Thanks for the kind comments.

-Su

Reply to
Su/Cutworks

Having used the Hot Head in a variety of glass and non-glass situations, if you are getting your gas from the same line as the heater, I would expect that the variation in flame is more due to the change in pressure in the gas line than the change in atmosphere. In fact, I feel a bit of panic about your statement because IF the atmosphere is changing that much (to affect the flame) you are at risk for CO poisoning which would result from burning in low oxygen. Please check it out.

Reply to
Mike Firth

It's an electric space fan heater that sits near the door of the shed.

The torch is in a shed outdoors with very adequate ventilation, I think it's more a case of the draft from the fan being enough to disturb the torch flame more than anything else. Mike (the other Mike) works with the door of the shed partly open to allow a run of fresh air all the time and the roof is vented, but in a Yorkshire winter cold snap, the fan heater was on simply to keep his feet from freezing. We're looking into a different heat source, like a sealed oil radiator, no fan, no worries, and just a higher electric bill but warm feet and no extra air currents.

Thanks for the concern, though. We're very conscious of gas and the problems with it as we live on a boat that uses propane for the cooker, and until last year had a gas-powered fridge too.

-Su

Reply to
Su/Cutworks

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