Glass torch buying checklist
A torch is one purchase you live with for years, and you rarely get to work on one before you buy. Each step below gives the short answer and links the guide, finder preset or comparison that settles it. Confirm the requirements for your exact torch with its maker and qualified local help.
9 steps. Check them off as you settle each one.
Your checks stay in this browser tab. We do not collect your answers. The printout fits on one page and keeps every link readable.
1 The work you want to make
The glass sets how much heat, oxygen and eyewear you need. Match the torch to the glass, not the other way around.
Soft glass COE 104, beads and pendants
A modest entry surface-mix bench torch is enough, on a modest oxygen supply.
Borosilicate COE 33, pipes, sculpture, marbles
Wants more torch and more oxygen. The size of your work sets how much.
Quartz scientific, lathe and seals
Softens far above boro. Scientific work on it often uses a hydrogen and oxygen flame.
Beginners want a bench torch; most torchworkers never need anything else. A hand torch is for lathe work and spot heating. For most buyers surface mix is the more versatile flame; premix today lives mostly in hand torches and scientific blowpipes.
2 Oxygen and fuel
A concentrator means no refills but a hard ceiling on flow. Tanks give high flow on demand and an ongoing bill. Small bench torches sip oxygen; big boro torches can need two or more concentrators, or tanks. Our oxygen figures are rough estimates, so confirm the requirement with the maker.
Propane is portable and needs no plumbing, but it is heavier than air and pools low. Natural gas is piped in, and the fuel pressure your torch needs decides whether house gas is enough or you need a booster. Fit the flashback protection your torch and gas supply call for.
3 The space and your eyes
Ventilation is four parts designed together: hood, fan, ducting and make-up air. Ask your landlord, insurer and local fire code about open flame and fuel storage before you install, and add CO monitoring, since a code-minimum home alarm is built not to sound at low levels.
Plain didymium cuts sodium flare but does not block infrared, and it is not enough once you touch borosilicate. Boro lenses come in several shades, darker for larger work.
4 Budget and the decision
The torch is often the smaller line item: oxygen, an annealing kiln and eyewear can outweigh it. You need a controller-equipped kiln; fiber blanket cannot hold glass at its anneal point.
Tick up to four torches in the catalog table to see them side by side. Each torch page shows its reference price and where every spec came from. Confirm the current spec and price with the maker before you buy.
A used burner can be a bargain: confirm the model and whether it is still made, inspect it, test it lit in person or on video, and price it against the current catalog. Keep the current manual and ask the maker about parts and servicing.