Short answer: The Carlisle CC (about $1,934) and the GTT Mirage (about $1,975) are both production-tier bench torches, priced within about $40 of each other, and both sit in the same oxygen class in our catalog. Price is not the decision here; flame architecture is. The CC is a hybrid design, a premixed center fire seated inside a surface-mix outer fire, which gives you a hot, defined premix pilot and a bushy soaking outer flame as two distinct systems. The Mirage is fully surface mix, a 40-jet, two-stage torch built on GTT’s patented Triple Mix technology, which delivers one continuously adjustable flame with a wide chemistry range from reducing to over-oxidizing. Choose the CC if you want the traditional two-flame cannon-burner feel and do not mind its premix-center character (more noise, a backfire pop if shut down out of sequence). Choose the Mirage if you want a single tip-free flame you dial across the whole reduction-to-oxidation range.
Both torches run propane or natural gas, and both are past the point where a beginner should be shopping. This comparison is for someone who already knows they want a large bench burner and is deciding between two very different ideas of how a big flame should be built. For the broader “what suits my work” question, see our guide to the most versatile glass torch.
Specs at a glance
Everything in this table is drawn from our catalog (torches.json), which is the single source of truth for the site. Where a value is an estimate rather than a published spec, it is labelled that way.
| Carlisle CC | GTT Mirage | |
|---|---|---|
| Mix type | Hybrid (premix center fire inside surface-mix outer) | Surface mix (Triple Mix) |
| Jets / ports | Not published in our catalog | 40 jets (7-jet Lynx center plus two outer rings, 33 jets) |
| Stages | Combination centerfire plus outer fire | 2 |
| Price | About $1,934 (reference, starting price) | About $1,975 (reference) |
| Oxygen at max flame | About 26 LPM (estimate) | About 26 LPM (estimate) |
| Fuels | Propane or natural gas | Propane or natural gas |
| Mount | Bench | Bench |
Editor’s note: both oxygen figures are owner-placed estimates at the largest usable flame, not published specifications, and the two torches sit in the same class in our catalog, so oxygen demand is a wash rather than a differentiator. The CC price is a starting (“from”) reference harvested from the maker’s own web store and not re-confirmed at source, so treat it as approximate; options and added tips cost more. Figures come from the manufacturer’s own pages and manuals where we have them, and are labelled as estimates where they are ours; confirm the current spec with the maker before you buy.
Two different flame philosophies
The core contrast is not size or price, it is how each torch mixes gas.
The CC is a hybrid. Its center fire is genuinely premixed: fuel and oxygen are combined upstream and burn from a single piloted orifice, which behaves much like a Carlisle premix hand torch, hot and tightly defined. Around that sits a surface-mix outer fire, where fuel and oxygen stay separate until they meet at the torch face, giving a broader, softer soaking flame you bring in when you need mass heat. You are effectively running two flames with different personalities from one head.
The Mirage is fully surface mix across its entire face. GTT describes it as a completely surface-mix torch built on Triple Mix technology: the system surrounds the fuel stream with oxygen and then injects oxygen directly down the center of that stream, with the two oxygen streams independently controlled by separate valves. GTT’s own framing is that this produces one wide, tip-free adjustable flame rather than distinct inner and outer fires. For the mechanism in depth, see our Triple Mix technology guide.
That single design choice, hybrid premix center versus all-surface Triple Mix, drives almost every practical difference below.
The Carlisle CC in detail
The CC is a combination torch. Its premixed centerfire runs from interchangeable tips, and the tip you choose is part of the setup:
- The #5 tip has the larger orifice and more BTU output, and is the natural gas standard.
- The #3 tip gives a more defined flame and suits propane.
- A dedicated hydrogen tip exists, but hydrogen work requires the separate CC-H variant with a non-piloted tip. The standard CC is not a hydrogen torch.
The surface-mix outer fire is there to boost heat when the center flame alone is not enough, so the CC’s working style is to add the outer ring for mass and pull it back for detail. Community documentation (the Hive13 hackerspace wiki) describes the full CC as a single-port premix center inside a multi-port surface-mix outer and cites output in the neighborhood of 276,100 BTU/hr at 5 psi natural gas and 10 psi oxygen. Treat both the port description and that BTU figure as community-sourced knowledge, not measured spec; our catalog deliberately does not publish a CC port count.
The CC’s trade-offs are traditional and worth stating plainly. It is documented as loud, and like the big premix Carlisles it is known to backfire and pop if shut down out of sequence. Its manual prescribes a specific shutdown order: outer fire first, oxygen before fuel, then the inner fire’s oxygen before its fuel. Follow the manual’s sequence and pressures exactly; the manufacturer’s manual takes precedence over anything written here.
The GTT Mirage in detail
The Mirage is a two-stage surface-mix bench torch. Its center fire is a 7-jet Lynx, surrounded by two outer rings totaling 33 jets, for 40 jets total. Because it is all surface mix, the flame is one continuous system rather than a pilot-plus-outer pairing.
What Triple Mix buys you on the Mirage is range. GTT’s green and blue valves independently control the two oxygen streams, so the flame chemistry spans a fuel-rich reduction flame, a neutral flame, an oxygen-rich oxidizing flame, and an over-oxidizing flame, all without changing tips. For color work and boro sculpture that adjustability across the whole reduction-to-oxidation range is the headline feature; our guide to the best torch for borosilicate covers why that matters for silver-bearing and reactive glass.
The standard Mirage ships with a 4-stud manifold, a raw silver manifold finish, red, blue, and green valve caps, a powder-coated base, hose adapters with filter screens, instructions, and a cleaning kit. GTT prices the standard bench configuration at about $1,975; variable-switch and compressed-air versions are separate products priced on their own.
Oxygen and gas supply
In our catalog both torches carry the same owner-placed oxygen estimate, about 26 LPM at the largest usable flame, so oxygen appetite is not a real differentiator between them. Either figure is well beyond a single small concentrator at full flame, so plan the supply for the size of work you actually do, not the maximum the torch can draw. Our guide on how many LPM your torch needs walks through sizing a supply honestly, and both numbers are estimates rather than published specs, so treat them as rough.
One CC-specific caveat on the gas side. Per Carlisle’s manual, the CC runs natural gas at 5 psi gas with 10 psi oxygen, and propane at 5 psi gas with 25 psi oxygen, notably higher oxygen pressure on propane than on natural gas. The manual also lists a maximum oxygen capacity of about 180 CFH (roughly 85 LPM) on natural gas; that is a plumbing capacity ceiling, not a working-flame consumption number, so never size an oxygen supply from it. As always, follow the manufacturer’s manual for your exact model and fuel; it overrides any general figure here.
Editor’s note: the CC’s 5 psi gas requirement means unboosted household natural gas (roughly 7 inches of water column, about 0.25 psi) will not feed it; that is booster territory. The Mirage’s supply needs are its own; confirm current pressure guidance with GTT for your configuration rather than assuming it matches the CC.
On safety hardware, use the flashback protection your torch and gas supply actually call for. The CC is a hybrid with a genuine premix element, and premix torches may call for arrestor protection subject to your local regulations and the manufacturer’s guidance; do not apply blanket rules. Our flashback arrestors guide explains how placement and torch type change what you need.
Who each torch suits
Both are excellent production torches; neither is a mistake. The decision is about flame character and working feel.
Lean toward the Carlisle CC if: you want the classic two-flame cannon-burner experience, a hot defined premix centerfire for detail work seated inside a bushy soaking outer fire for mass, you are comfortable running boosted gas at the manual’s 5 psi, and you do not mind a louder torch that demands a disciplined shutdown sequence. The interchangeable centerfire tips let you tune the center flame to your fuel, and the design has decades of production glass behind it.
Lean toward the GTT Mirage if: you want a single, tip-free flame you can dial continuously from deep reduction to over-oxidation, you value the wide independent oxygen control that Triple Mix gives for color and reactive-glass work, and you prefer one integrated flame system over managing two separate fires. The 40-jet surface-mix face is built for exactly that kind of adjustable, even-heat working.
If you are cross-shopping other big GTT and Carlisle bench torches, the same hybrid-versus-surface logic applies up and down both lines, and our comparison of the CC against the GTT Phantom covers the infrastructure angle in more depth.
Related guides
- GTT Triple Mix technology explained
- How many LPM does my torch need?
- Flashback arrestors explained
- The most versatile glass torch
- Best torch for borosilicate
Sources
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Mirage”: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/mirage
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Triple Mix Torches”: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/triple-mix-torches
- Glass Torch Technologies (company site): https://www.glasstorchtech.com/
- Carlisle Machine Works, “CC Bench Burner”: http://carlislemachine.com/as_benchburners/cc.php
- Carlisle Machine Works, “CC Burner” catalog PDF: http://carlislemachine.com/webcatalog/cc_burner.pdf
- Hive13 hackerspace wiki, “Carlisle CC Torch” (community documentation): https://wiki.hive13.org/view/Carlisle_CC_Torch