Short answer: For dedicated beadmaking, buy the Nortel Minor (about $325). It is a near-indestructible surface-mix bench burner, and it runs soft glass on a single oxygen concentrator. If you want a gentler, more forgiving flame, the Carlisle Mini CC (about $340) is the classic soft-glass favorite. If you want concentrator-friendly headroom for the occasional boro piece, the GTT Bobcat (about $275) is the flexible pick. And if you aren’t ready to set up oxygen at all, the Hot Head is a sub-$100 torch that burns MAPP or propane straight from a canister, and it remains the long-standing way to make your first beads before you upgrade.
Of everything in lampworking, beadmaking asks the least of a torch. You work soft glass at a small scale, and a modest burner suits that. This guide sticks to what matters for beads; if you plan to work across a wider range, start with the complete glass torch buyer’s guide.
What beadmaking asks of a torch
Most lampwork beads are soft glass, a soda-lime glass that typically runs COE 104, with Effetre/Moretti and similar Italian-style rods as the standard. Soft glass melts at lower temperatures than borosilicate, and that tilts the torch decision in your favor (Liz Bowden Beads, The Crucible). Four things matter:
- A gentle, controllable flame. Beads are small and full of detail, and many soft-glass colors are chemically fussy: a harsh flame scorches or “boils” them. You want a flame that turns down to a small, quiet cone you can hold a bead in without a fight. A big, high-output flame works against you here.
- Modest oxygen appetite. Bead torches are small enough that one home oxygen concentrator feeds most of them, which spares you tank refills and bulk oxygen. Oxygen is the biggest cost lever in a bead studio, so a concentrator-friendly torch earns its place. The trade-offs are laid out in oxygen concentrator vs tanks for lampworking.
- Bench mounting for solo work. You make a bead with both hands busy, one turning the mandrel and one feeding the rod, so you want a bench-mounted torch on a stable, comfortable small table. Every oxygen/fuel pick in this guide is a bench burner.
- A price that leaves room for the rest. The concentrator, propane, regulators, the flashback protection your torch and supply call for, eyewear rated for your glass, ventilation and an annealing kiln all cost money, so the torch is the wrong place to overspend. Read the glass torch safety setup guide before you light anything.
The no-oxygen starting point: the Hot Head
Before any oxygen/fuel torch comes the Hot Head, the torch a large share of beadmakers started on. It screws onto a disposable MAPP or propane canister from the hardware store and needs no oxygen supply, because the head draws in room air instead. It typically sells for well under $100, which makes it the cheapest legitimate way to find out whether beadmaking is for you.
You pay for that low price in time and noise. Glass melts more slowly than it does in an oxygen/fuel flame, so you wait longer at the torch, and the Hot Head is loud. It handles soft glass only. Most people who stay with the hobby upgrade within a year or two, often to a Nortel Minor (Harley J. Sanders). As a low-risk first step it has earned its reputation, and our full Hot Head guide linked above covers what it does well, where it falls short, and when to move on. The Hot Head isn’t in our torch catalog, so it has no spec page; the picks below are the oxygen/fuel torches you would graduate to.
The oxygen/fuel picks for beadmakers
Prices below are catalog figures from each maker’s own list; confirm current pricing with the maker.
Nortel Minor, the beadmaker default (about $325)
Ask beadmakers which torch to buy for beads and the Nortel Minor is the answer you hear most, though at Nortel’s current US-dollar price the GTT Bobcat now undercuts it by about $50. It is a 7-port surface-mix bench burner that Nortel pitches primarily for soft glass: beads, small sculpture and marbles up to 3 inches. The build is a reliable classic with a reputation for being close to indestructible. It runs propane or natural gas with bottled oxygen or a concentrator, and Nortel specifies one 5 LPM concentrator for it; community testers report a usable, focused soft-glass flame on exactly that (Nortel, Lampwork Etc.). If you make beads and mostly beads, start here. To see how it compares with its closest rival, read Nortel Minor vs Carlisle Mini CC.
Carlisle Mini CC, the gentle-flame favorite (about $340)
The Carlisle Mini CC is a 7-jet surface-mix burner known for a hot but bushy, gentle flame. That flame forgives uneven rotation, which helps when you spend minutes at a time turning a mandrel. Its stand sets the head at 45 degrees on a ball joint, a comfortable angle for bead work. Plan your oxygen before you buy: Carlisle states consumption of about 1.5 LPM propane and 7 LPM oxygen at 2 psi gas and 5 psi oxygen, more than a single 5 LPM concentrator delivers, so budget for a larger or second concentrator, or tanks, if you want to run it at full flame (Carlisle). It costs a little more than the Minor, and the extra money buys flame character.
GTT Bobcat, the concentrator-friendly all-rounder (about $275)
The GTT Bobcat is a 7-jet standard surface-mix torch that GTT builds around a concentrator: by GTT’s account it runs well on a 5 LPM, 5 psi concentrator, is optimal on 8 LPM, and scales up on 10 LPM or tanks. GTT rates its flame from a 2” pinpoint up to one sized for 1.5” solid boro (GTT). For a beadmaker, that means a flame gentle enough for soft glass on day one that won’t cap you if small-to-medium borosilicate tempts you later. If you want one torch that covers beads now and experiments later, pick this one.
Nortel Mega Minor, the hotter Minor (about $349)
The Nortel Mega Minor is the Minor’s 7-port surface-mix sibling with slightly larger ports, which Nortel says give a larger, hotter flame than the Minor at the same oxygen pressure. Nortel lists it for soft glass and some borosilicate, beads, small sculpture and marbles up to 3 inches; one concentrator runs it, and its product sheet calls for two for borosilicate. If you already know you’ll push into bigger or harder work, it buys headroom for a small premium over the Minor; the site’s editor Joe Blanchard calls it well worth a highlight for exactly that reason, because in his experience it packs more power than the Minor (Nortel product sheet).
Bethlehem Alpha, the household-gas option (about $350)
The Bethlehem Alpha is Bethlehem Burners’ entry bench burner, a six-jet, single-stage surface-mix torch that Bethlehem says melts both soft and borosilicate glass. It is the most expensive torch in this roundup by a few dollars, and what sets it apart for a beadmaker is the supply side: Bethlehem calls it ideal for household gas at 1/4 psi with a 7 psi oxygen concentrator, so a home with a natural gas line can skip the propane tank (Bethlehem). The Bobcat vs Alpha comparison weighs it against the cheapest pick here.
Comparison: bead torches at a glance
| Torch | Mix type | Oxygen notes | Glass | Approx. price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Head | Fuel-only (ambient air) | None needed, MAPP/propane canister | Soft glass only | Under $100 |
| GTT Bobcat | Surface mix | Runs well on a 5 LPM concentrator; optimal on 8 | Soft + boro | $275 |
| Nortel Minor | Surface mix | One 5 LPM concentrator, per Nortel | Soft + small boro | $325 |
| Carlisle Mini CC | Surface mix | ~7 LPM oxygen consumption, plan supply accordingly | Soft + small boro | $340 |
| Nortel Mega Minor | Surface mix | One concentrator; two for boro, per Nortel | Soft + boro | $349 |
| Bethlehem Alpha | Surface mix | ~10 LPM tanked at full flame; runs on a 7 psi concentrator | Soft + boro | $350 |
Read the table this way. The Hot Head is the cheapest way in, and the Minor is the proven oxygen/fuel default for beads. The Bobcat fits a single 5 LPM concentrator best while leaving room to grow. The Mini CC buys the gentlest flame, on a smaller oxygen estimate than the Bobcat’s in our catalog (~7 LPM against ~8.5 LPM). The Mega Minor and Alpha make sense when their particular strengths or availability suit your situation.
Budget for the whole bench, not just the torch
The torch is one line in a bead station budget. Beyond it you’ll need an oxygen source (a used or refurbished medical concentrator is the common route for beadmakers, Oxygen Plus Medical), a propane supply and regulator, the flashback protection your torch and supply call for, and eyewear whose maker specifies it for your glass: sodium-flare filtering for soft glass, and lenses the maker rates for UV, infrared and sodium flare if you move to borosilicate. A lens family name is not a protection rating, so read the lens maker’s specification (didymium vs ACE glasses explains the difference). Add ventilation, mandrels in the diameters your bead holes need with bead release, and a kiln to anneal your beads so they don’t crack later.
If the torch-plus-oxygen math is new to you, the buyer’s guide walks through the full budget, and the safety setup guide covers the non-negotiables. If you’re brand new to the flame, our best beginner glass torch roundup overlaps heavily with this list, because beadmaking torches and beginner torches are largely the same animals.
Key takeaways
- Beadmaking means COE 104 soft glass, small work, and gentle flames, so you don’t need a big or expensive torch.
- The Hot Head (under $100, MAPP or propane, no oxygen) is the classic low-risk first step; most people move to an oxygen/fuel bench torch once they’re hooked.
- The Nortel Minor (about $325) is the beadmaker default: tough, concentrator-friendly, and sized for bead work.
- The GTT Bobcat (about $275) is the best single-concentrator pick with boro headroom. The Carlisle Mini CC (about $340) has the gentlest flame but consumes about 7 LPM of oxygen.
- The Nortel Mega Minor (about $349) and Bethlehem Alpha (about $350) are situational alternatives: more boro room, or household gas.
- Budget for oxygen, safety gear, and an annealing kiln alongside the torch, because the flame is only part of the bench.
Related guides
- Hot Head torch guide
- Best beginner glass torch
- Nortel Minor vs Carlisle Mini CC
- Oxygen concentrator vs tanks for lampworking
- Glass torch safety setup
- How to choose a glass torch
Sources
- Harley J. Sanders, “Hothead or Minor Burner Torch for Lampwork Beads?”: https://hjsanders.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/hothead-or-minor-burner-torch-for-lampwork-beads/
- Lampwork Etc., “Torch Comparisons on 5 LPM Oxygen Concentrator”: https://www.lampworketc.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-107834.html
- The Crucible, “Lampworking 101”: https://www.thecrucible.org/guides/lampworking-flameworking/
- Liz Bowden Beads, “What Glass Should I Use For Beads?”: https://www.lizbowdenbeads.com/glass-for-making-beads.html
- Oxygen Plus Medical, “Oxygen Concentrators and Glass Blowing/Beadmaking”: https://www.oxygenplusmedical.com/blogs/news/oxygen-concentrators-and-glass-blowing-beadmaking
- Nortel Manufacturing, “Minor Bench Burner”: https://www.nortelglass.com/product/minor-bench-burner/
- Nortel Manufacturing, “Mega Minor Bench Burner” product sheet: https://www.nortelglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/mega_minor_bench_burner.pdf
- Carlisle Machine Works, “Mini CC”: https://carlislemachine.com/as_benchburners/minicc.php
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Bobcat”: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/bobcat
- Bethlehem Burners, “Alpha”: https://www.bethlehemburners.com/torches/alpha/
Editor’s note: specs and prices come from the makers’ own pages where we have them; flame-feel notes are community knowledge. Nortel’s US-dollar prices are conversions of its Canadian list and move with the exchange rate. Verify current lineups, specs, and prices with the maker before purchase.