Propane & oxycon question

[Blue Box Studio]

I'm thinking of upgrading from my HH.  At the moment my gas tank sits under the work top near me - the units in my shedio are in an L shape with under cupboards so limited space for things including me.  If I move onto dual fuel, the oxycon would have to go where the gas tank is - does the gas have to go outside or can they sit side by side?  Limited access for tanks outside, the only place it could go is outside the shedio wall backing onto the oxycon so not much further away. 

Have suggested a new larger house to DH, with larger garden.  He suggested knocking down my 2nd shedio if I wanted more space for gas tanks.  Silly man.

[Off to turn big shedio into an arts space for open studios so will check back for your handy hints this evening].

[stuwaudby]

Sue,

It is safer to keep your gas bottle outside. If the worst happens then you can turn off the gas without risking yourself. I suggest you put a bag or bucket over the top to protect the regulator though.

Placing the bottle next to the oxycon is also not a problem.

[sarah t]

i dont think there is a problem keeping them side by side but someone else with more knowledge may say different ....the oxycon has wheels so i trundle mine out from under the bench a fair bit if that helps ? ...you need easy acses to both ..i am sure you will find a solution ...nessecity is the mother of invention!

[Blue Box Studio]

It's a space thing really.  In an ideal world I would have it outside.  I was just concerned inside together was a total no-no. Inside and I'd keep to the smaller cylinders, simply because of getting them under the worktop and accessible.

I wondered about the regulator, outside the shedio can get very cold and damp, bit of a frost pocket around there.  Is a bucket enough, or do I now need more carpentry skills to build it a shedio of its own?  

Space wise the shedio is 7 x6 (or is it 7x5?) outside diameter, so smaller inside, not even got the depth to add a Creation Station so moving the oxycon wouldn't be easy, it'd have to go on my lap I think.

[helbels]

Hiya

I have the smallest space in the world to work in.  My propane has to sit by my feet where I work, but after use it gets disconnected and goes downstairs by the front door (we live in a first floor maisonette).  If we are away at all, then I put it outside. Ultimately, yes it's much safer to have it outside, and Calor Gas say that on no account should propane ever be in the house.  But myself and others on here who have no other choice, do have it inside.  In some rural areas of the country, propane is used to cook with so people have it in their kitchens permanently - I guess it depends on how comfortable you are with taking that risk.

Whatever you do, don't browse the internet too much reading about it - there are some incredibly scaremongering articles out there and they will literally terrify you.   Instead, I'd recommend doing a sensible risk assessment of your area.  Look at it and ask yourself, if the worst were to happen, what would your escape route be?  Can you get to your fire extinguisher?  Can anything fall on your work area that might ignite? etc

Remember, propane in the bottle is NOT inherently dangerous.  If it leaks, it will pool low down as it's heavier than air, so you need to consider that (that's why my tank goes to the lowest point in the flat after each use).  If you have a house fire, then yes, it may well blow the place sky high, but tanks can take a lot of heat before they blow.

Ultimately, there's risk in everything we do in life.  You take a massive risk every time you get in a car and drive.  So keep a sense of proportion, take some sensible precautions, and you will be fine.

H

[Blue Box Studio]

Thanks H, my old shedio has plenty of air flow through cracks and badly fitting doors, the fire extinguisher (which I think we worked out in a previous post was about as much use in a real fire as a chocolate fireguard) is by the door, the door is behind me about 1' away so I can make a very quick escape. I agree it is down to how much risk will I take on and being sensible, which I always am with a flame near me.  I always bleed the pipe when I finish for the day and am generally a tidy person anyway.  I even turn my mobi off when I go into a petrol station because there apparently is a risk of a spark from it ringing (or so they say at my Tesco f/s).  So, if a working oxycon isn't going to make a propane tank explode or the propane tank won't set the oxycon on fire then it's a riskI shall consider worth taking until I can find  a better way. 

That was the easy bit .... which torch .... depends how much I take during arts week I guess! [Probably a Minor or a Cricket from what I've read about 1 oxycon - certainly no room for 2 of them!!].   My shedio needs an extension.

[MadelineBunyan]

hmmm..bucket, good suggestion! I now have two tanks that live outside and was concerned about the regulators getting wet/cold(not at the moment!)/whatever.they're currently wearing a fetching blue second hand postal bag! Dad was going to build them a sort of hutch.

on the subject of torches...a bobcat is fab on one oxycon, personally I don't much like the cricket. Minors also good. both bobcat and minor could take two oxycons later on if you felt the need/had the space (not that I've felt the need to hook up bobcat to oxy number two...yet!) don't think a cricket would see much improvement for having two, being as its so small anyway. also depends what sort of beads you like to make. I've been finding the minors slightly bushier flame good for sculptural (not that the bobcat doesn't, its all I had until recently) and the bobcat good for colour and stringer work. I'm biased,having had a bobcat for years but if I could only have one...bobcat for sure!

if you fancy trying out the minor and the bobcat here, you'd be welcome!

[Blue Box Studio]

Might take you up on that offer Madeline.  I think I've tried a Monor and Cricket at Fireworks when I had classes there.  The Cricket has coloured 'ears'?  I can't see me making sculptural work so it would be mainly beads but the option to later have 2 oxys for a hotter flame and perhaps do a bit of boro in years to come would give me somewhere else to go I guess.

Do you disconnect your propane hoses when not in use or are you permanently plumbed in?  I had thought a bit of carpentry could make a propane hutch, good word.  Looked at a caravan site and metal ones are as much as torches, so it'd have to be wood 'cos I have a saw.

[MadelineBunyan]

bobcats have coloured ears too.but crickets flame is smaller, they've only got 5 jets instead of 7 I think it is.
and when I said sculptural I was meaning sculptural beads really.

no, they just come through the wall, if I disconnected it, I'd still have to cover the regulators etc somehow, because the hole in the wall is only big enough for the pipe.

incidentally, the calor gas people wouldn't sell me more than 3m of the 6mm ID hose I needed, because its a trip hazard...er...right? and the risk other than the trip is? you trip over it and yank out the connection? doesn't that make it only as good as your connection anyway? oh and the one they would sell me the 'armoured' one, is covered in metal and therefore grey versus bright orange so more difficult to see anyway? also they said if it goes through wall anywhere it has to be armoured, cause it wears the pipe where it goes through the wall.er yeah, in about a hundred years maybe, given that I change my tank maybe every 6 months, other than that it doesn't move! so I have armoured pipe, cable clipped to the underneath of desk and wall.

[stuwaudby]

My tank and regulator sit outside under an BBQ cover bag (which didnt fit the bbq). There should be no issues with cold so long as the regulator is kept dry.

You should think about a Mega Minor for future boro work. The flame on a mega is less defined and harder to control though,  I am not sure it makes that much difference. You really need a midrange for boro.

I have a spare Minor for sale if you want to save some money!

[MadelineBunyan]

I'm told a bobcat with 2 oxys will handle smaller boro fine. I did some small (teeny) boro work on it with mine on one. I will get around to hooking up oxy number two to it (or the midrange) at some point, want to do something clever but have nasty feeling it won't work. also need to improve ventilation by boxing it in before I do more boro.

can you tell I reeeealllyy like my bobcat!? and all the more now that I've missed it for a bit!! I do like the minor (partly cause its attached to the creation station) the midrange seems weedy on one oxy, but probably works fine, havn't given it much of a chance to be honest, was trying to make friends with the minor cause I hated the one at college, really hated it. (but loved the midrange there! I'm sure it helped that it was on tanked oxy!)

[helbels]

As a matter of interest, why dontcha like the Cricket Madeline?  I love mine, and when I used a Bobcat at Di East's I didn't really notice much of a difference between the two...

[MadelineBunyan]

its not that I dislike the cricket as such,trying to explain this better, I think, I don't dislike it, I just don't actively like it, if you see what I mean?

and yes, its very similar to a bobcat most of the time, I think you'd notice more if you were doing something bigger or that takes lots of time.

I tried one at Mandas, I think I just found it a bit small, didn't have lots of oomph. I made a midnight shores bead, and I felt it would have been quicker on the bobcat. however, I do work fast and hot and I know (I've seen it) that people going onto them from hotheads find them plenty hot enough, if not too hot!

I've seen 2 peoples first impressions of it, coming from a hothead, and the other from a mini cc, both hated it straight away
I'm sure, given time, you'd get used to it and get to like it, know what it can and can't do.

I Haven't played on one for any great length of time, so, not sure my opinions entirely count on that. however I do have both a bobcat, and a midrange plus minor, so I feel I can have opinions on those just fine!

I just think with the bobcat, if you can afford it, is a fab all-round torch, not only does it do everything, it does it well.and has capacity to do more, with 2nd oxy, and therefore is a better investment, its kind of the only one you'll ever need to buy kind of thing. am I making sense?

oh and the reason I have since bought a midrange plus is cause I want to teach at some point, logic told me that lots of people have minors, or would consider a minor as a torch to buy, so I figured it would be good to have. I could have just bought a second bobcat, and I was tempted, but I thought that having a different torch would have other benefits to me as well, and I did so love the midrange at college, I happily made small beads, big beads and boro on it. I also wanted to get over my negativity surrounding minors, because of the one of those at college, that I hated.

[Hotglass28]

Reading with interest 

Helen, your advice is sound. I likey

But, I too don't like the cricket much.  sorry!  Even with tanked oxy I thought the flame was a bit low.

I like the lynx   but I need to wait a tad to offord that... maybe in 10 years. lol

[Blue Box Studio]

My shortlist is bobcat and minor at the moment.  Which will depend how well arts week goes!