Short answer: a lampworking torch is a stationary gas burner, almost always fed by a fuel gas and oxygen, that you melt glass in front of while you shape it in your hands. Most people searching for a glass blowing torch mean this kind of torch, not a furnace or a handheld canister torch. If you are buying your first one, a single-stage surface-mix bench torch such as the Nortel Minor or the GTT Bobcat covers beads, small sculpture, and small borosilicate for around $224 to $275. If you already know you want thick borosilicate or production work, budget for a two-stage torch such as the GTT Phantom or the Nortel Red Max, and for the oxygen supply to feed it. The rest of this page explains the vocabulary, the types, and which catalog models make sense at each budget.
What a lampworking torch actually is
The word comes from the oil lamps early glassworkers used as a heat source. The Corning Museum of Glass defines lampworking as forming glass by heating rods and tubes in a flame, and today that flame comes from a bench-mounted torch running propane or natural gas with oxygen. The same craft is also called flameworking, and plenty of people simply say glass blowing, even though most torch work is solid sculpture and beads rather than blown vessels. The torch you want is the same regardless of the label: a bench burner with separate fuel and oxygen valves, a face with a set of gas ports or jets, and a mount that bolts to the bench.
Two things separate it from every hardware-store torch. First, it runs on oxygen, not air. An air-fed flame is fine for soldering and for the small soft-glass beads a Hot Head canister torch can manage, but it does not have the heat density to move borosilicate or to keep a large gather of soft glass workable. Second, it is built for hours of continuous running, with valves that hold a setting and a body that does not overheat. If you are wondering whether a butane micro torch can substitute, the honest answer lives in our butane torch for glass guide, and it is mostly no.
The three decisions that matter
Surface mix or premix
A surface-mix torch keeps the fuel and oxygen in separate passages until they meet at the face of the torch. That makes it quiet, calm to light, forgiving of technique, and safe to run at low pressures, which is why nearly every bench torch in our catalog is surface mix. A premix torch combines the gases inside the body and burns a sharper, hotter, louder flame. In our catalog, premix is mostly the domain of hand torches for scientific and lathe work, such as the Nortel Unitorch, plus the one premix bench torch, the National 6B. The Carlisle CC family is the special case: a premixed center fire inside a surface-mix outer. Our surface mix vs premix guide covers the flame and safety differences in depth.
For a first lampworking torch, choose surface mix unless a teacher or a specific scientific job tells you otherwise.
Bench or hand
A bench torch is fixed to the table and you bring the glass to it, which frees both hands for the work and is how beads, sculpture, and most pipe and functional work are made. A hand torch is held in one hand and brought to the glass, which suits large tubing on a lathe, glass-to-metal seals, and assembly work where the piece cannot come to the flame. Some catalog models are sold either way, such as the GTT Sidewinder and the GTT Delta Elite. Our bench vs hand torch guide walks through the choice; for a first torch, bench is the answer for almost everyone.
One stage or two
A single-stage torch has one flame you adjust with one pair of valves. A two-stage torch adds a second fire, either a separately valved center fire inside the same head or, on the Nortel bench line, a smaller burner mounted on top of a larger one, so you can run a pinpoint flame for detail and a wide bushy flame for mass without changing torches. Two stages cost more, burn more oxygen, and take a season of use to exploit. Beginners rarely need them; boro sculptors and production workers rarely go without.
Best lampworking torch by budget
Prices below are catalog reference figures and change with the maker’s list; confirm the current price and configuration with the manufacturer before you buy.
Entry: beads, soft glass, and small boro
- Nortel Minor, about $224. A 7-port surface-mix burner with a flame from a needle point to about three quarters of an inch. It is the torch most teaching studios bolt to the bench, it resells easily, and it runs on a modest concentrator. Its limit is heat: large boro is not its job.
- GTT Cricket, about $255. GTT’s most economical burner, a 5-jet standard surface-mix torch designed around a small 5 LPM concentrator, aimed at soft glass and first classes. It is not a Triple Mix torch; that starts at the Lynx.
- GTT Bobcat, about $275. Two more jets than the Cricket and a wider flame envelope while staying standard surface mix. GTT says it runs well on a 5 LPM concentrator and is optimal on 8, which is why it is the usual first serious torch for someone heading toward boro.
- Nortel Mega Minor, about $268. The Minor’s face with slightly larger ports, which Nortel says runs hotter and uses oxygen more efficiently; the pick if you already know borosilicate is where you are going.
Our best beginner glass torch guide compares these head to head, and the Hot Head guide covers the canister torch that sits below all of them.
Mid: the first real upgrade
- GTT Lynx, about $525. Where GTT’s patented Triple Mix begins: a 7-jet pinpoint flame that the rest of the line is measured against, and the center fire inside GTT’s larger multi-stage torches. Detail and color work first, small boro second.
- Carlisle Mini CC, about $330. A fully surface-mix Carlisle with the CC family’s manners in a small body, and the standard comparison point for the Minor; see Nortel Minor vs Carlisle Mini CC.
- Nortel Red Max, about $712. Nortel’s 45-port lower head with an optional Minor, Mega Minor, or premix top fire, which is what makes it a two-stage torch. The step up for someone who wants both a broad flame and a fine one on one bench.
Our top intermediate glass torches guide covers this band in detail.
Production: thick boro and long sessions
- GTT Phantom, about $1,425. A two-stage Triple Mix torch with the Lynx as its center fire and a wider outer ring, the default recommendation for pipes, functional work, and medium boro.
- GTT Mirage, about $1,975. The Phantom’s bigger sibling for large boro and production, with the oxygen appetite to match.
- The Carlisle CC, Bethlehem Champion, and the big GTT and Herbert Arnold burners above these are covered in the best bench burner for thick glass sculpture guide, because at that size the oxygen supply, not the torch, is the purchase decision.
What else the torch needs
A lampworking torch is the middle of a system. You also need an oxygen supply (a concentrator or tanks), a fuel supply with the correct regulator, hoses and fittings rated for the gases, the flashback protection your torch and gas supply call for, eyewear matched to your glass, ventilation, and a kiln to anneal what you make. Our lampworking torch setup guide takes an empty bench to a first flame step by step, and how many LPM does my torch need sizes the oxygen. The beginner setup cost guide puts a number on the whole kit, torch included.
How to read the catalog
Every model on this site has its own page with specs, price, and the maker’s own documentation where we have it, and the torch finder narrows the 65 current models by mount, mix, budget, and the work you do. The compare page puts them all in one table. For a longer treatment of the decision itself, start with the how to choose a glass torch pillar.
Editor’s note: prices on this page are catalog reference figures bound to the model records at build time, so they update when the catalog does; they are still reference figures rather than a maker’s live list price. Oxygen figures anywhere on the site are estimates at the largest usable flame, not manufacturer specs, unless a torch page says otherwise. Confirm the current spec and price with the maker before you buy.
Related guides
- How to choose a glass torch
- Best beginner glass torch
- Surface mix vs premix torches
- Bench vs hand torch
- Lampworking torch setup guide
- Can you use a butane torch for glass?
Sources
- Corning Museum of Glass, glass dictionary: lampworking. https://www.cmog.org/glass-dictionary/lampworking
- The Crucible, lampworking and flameworking guide. https://www.thecrucible.org/guides/lampworking-flameworking/
- Glass Torch Technologies, product pages. https://www.glasstorchtech.com/
- Nortel Manufacturing, product pages. https://www.nortelglass.com/
- Carlisle Machine Works, product pages. https://www.carlislemachine.com/
- Bethlehem Burners, product pages. https://www.bethlehemburners.com/