Carlisle GR vs GTT Mirage: Lathe Combination Head vs Triple Mix Bench Torch

Short answer: Pick the Carlisle GR if you want a lathe-capable combination head with a hot premixed center fire and a soaking surface-mixed outer fire, run from a separate remote valve block, in a short, light body that fits places a full bench burner will not. Pick the GTT Mirage if you want a self-contained, high-power surface-mix bench torch with one continuously adjustable Triple Mix flame and, importantly for planning, a published price and oxygen figure. The GR is built around versatility and mounting flexibility; the Mirage is built around a single wide flame you dial across the whole chemistry range. Carlisle does not publish a price or an oxygen number for the GR that we can cite, so this is not a number-versus-number contest on the Carlisle side; it is a decision about how you mount, control, and mix a big flame.

Both of these are large, production-grade burners well past the point where a beginner should be shopping. This comparison is for someone who already runs serious boro or scientific work and is choosing between a modular lathe-and-bench combination head and GTT’s flagship two-stage surface torch.

How each torch mixes its gases

The core difference is the flame architecture.

Carlisle describes the GR as a combination burner set up with a pre-mixed center fire and a surface-mixed outer fire, the two independently controlled, producing flame characteristics similar to the Carlisle CC Plus burner. On the CC Plus, that means two distinct flames: a premixed centerfire, where fuel and oxygen are combined upstream and burn hot and tightly defined, seated inside a surface-mix outer fire, where the gases stay separate until they meet at the face and give a broader, softer soaking flame. You run them as two systems: the center for detail and definition, the outer ring brought in for mass heat.

One catalog note to be straight about: our catalog stores the GR’s mix as Surface mix, because that is how the field is recorded today, while Carlisle’s own page and our flame notes describe the combination premixed-centerfire-plus-surface-outer arrangement above. If those two readings look like they disagree, trust Carlisle’s description of the flame and treat the catalog label as a simplification we may tighten later.

The Mirage takes the opposite approach: it is a completely surface-mix torch. GTT builds it on patented Triple Mix technology, which surrounds the fuel stream with oxygen and then injects oxygen directly down the center of that stream so the fuel burns completely for a hotter, cleaner flame. The two oxygen streams are independently controllable by separate valves (GTT’s green and blue), so rather than a pilot-plus-outer pairing you get one wide, tip-free flame. Its center fire is the 7-jet Lynx, the first Triple Mix surface torch GTT developed, surrounded by two rings totaling 33 jets, for 40 jets total. For the mechanism in depth, see our Triple Mix technology guide.

Power, glass range, and flame chemistry

Both are high-output torches suited to heavy work, and neither is the limiting factor for most studios. The practical difference is how you shape the flame.

GTT calls the Mirage one of its most popular two-stage Triple Mix torches, suited to soft or hard glass, producing flames from a soft bushy flame to a hard driving flame. Because the oxygen streams are independent, GTT states the flame chemistry spans a fuel-rich reduction flame, a neutral flame, an oxygen-rich oxidizing flame, and an over-oxidizing flame, all adjustable without changing tips or torches. For silver-bearing color and reactive glass, that continuous reduction-to-oxidation range is the headline feature.

The GR reaches its range differently. Its premixed centerfire gives you a hot, defined flame for detail and pointwork, and the surface-mixed outer fire adds bulk heat for mass. You shift character by balancing the two fires against each other rather than by dialing one flame through a chemistry sweep. That combination flame is a long-proven idea for lathe and production glass, which is exactly the tradition the CC Plus flame it mimics comes from.

Bench versus lathe: mounting, weight, and where each fits

This is where the two torches genuinely diverge, and it may settle the decision on its own.

The GR is described by Carlisle as a more versatile head than the CC Plus: it can be used as a bench burner or a lathe burner, and it has a shorter body with no valves or mixing chamber onboard, which makes it a lighter burner that fits areas other bench burners cannot. Our catalog also records that the GR’s base removes to adapt it to a lathe-burner assembly and that it takes any CC-series base, so the same head moves between a bench stand and a lathe carriage as your work demands. An optional water-cooled head is available for the heat loads that lathe production can put on a burner. If a lathe is in your plans, that flexibility is the whole point; our guide to the best lathe torch for glassblowing and our overview of glass lathes cover how a combination head fits that setup.

The Mirage is a bench torch. It is a fixed two-stage surface-mix head that mounts on its base and stays there; it is not sold as a lathe burner. If your work is entirely at the bench, that is not a drawback, it is simply a different tool built for a different station.

Controls and setup

The two torches also differ in where the valves live.

The GR keeps almost nothing on the head. Because the body carries no valves or mixing chamber, the torch is controlled by a set of remote valves such as a Carlisle VMB-4 valve metering block, which has its own mixing chamber with four valves creating three separate outputs. So a GR installation is really a head plus a remote control block plumbed to it, which is part of why the head can be so short and light and why it adapts cleanly between bench and lathe. Carlisle supplies the GR with three 72-inch stainless-braided hoses, which suits that remote-block plumbing.

The Mirage carries its controls onboard and ships standard with a 4-stud manifold, which lets you feed different oxygen sources to the two fires, for example a concentrator on the center fire and tanked oxygen on the outer fire. You adjust the flame from the torch’s own valves rather than from a separate block. It is the more plug-and-play of the two: fewer external parts to plumb, at the cost of the GR’s mounting flexibility.

Fuel, oxygen, and what the makers publish

Fuel options are broad on both, but they are not identical.

Our catalog lists the GR for oxygen with either natural gas or propane. The wider CC family does include a documented hydrogen path (the CC-H variant runs an unpiloted, non-piloted hydrogen tip), but we do not list hydrogen for the GR itself, so do not assume this head runs it; if hydrogen is part of your plan, confirm the exact tip and configuration with Carlisle for your head before ordering. The Mirage’s catalog fuel support is propane and natural gas.

On the numbers, the two torches sit in very different disclosure positions, and this is the honest crux of the comparison:

Editor’s note: Carlisle does not publish a price or an oxygen figure for the GR that we can cite, so both are shown as not published rather than estimated; do not read a dollar amount or an LPM number into those blanks. The Mirage’s price comes from GTT’s own page and its oxygen figure is an estimate at the largest usable flame on propane, not a hard specification. Figures come from the manufacturers’ own pages where we have them and are labelled as estimates where they are ours; confirm current price, pressures, and configuration with the maker before you buy, and follow the manufacturer’s manual for your exact model, which overrides anything here.

On safety hardware, use the flashback protection your torch and gas supply actually call for rather than a blanket rule. The GR’s combination flame includes a premixed centerfire on Carlisle’s description, and torches with that kind of premix element may call for arrestor protection subject to your local regulations and the manufacturer’s guidance. Our flashback arrestors guide explains how placement and torch type change what you need, and our guide on how many LPM your torch needs covers sizing an oxygen supply honestly for work at this scale.

Which buyer each one is for

Both are excellent, serious burners; neither is a mistake for the work they are built for.

Lean toward the Carlisle GR if: you run or plan to run a lathe, or you want one head that moves between a bench stand and a lathe carriage; you want the traditional two-flame combination character, a hot premixed centerfire seated in a soaking surface-mix outer; you are comfortable plumbing a remote valve block and its three 72-inch hoses; and you want the option of a water-cooled head for heavy production. You will need to confirm price and supply figures with Carlisle directly, since those are not published in our catalog.

Lean toward the GTT Mirage if: your work is at the bench, you want a single tip-free flame you can dial continuously from deep reduction to over-oxidation, you value the wide independent oxygen control Triple Mix gives for color and reactive-glass work, and you prefer a self-contained torch with a published price and a clear oxygen estimate to plan around. The 40-jet surface-mix face is built for exactly that kind of adjustable, even-heat bench working.

If you are cross-shopping the wider Carlisle and GTT lines, the same combination-head-versus-surface-mix logic runs up and down both ranges, and the mounting question (bench only, or bench and lathe) is usually what decides it.

Related guides

• GTT Triple Mix technology explained
• Best lathe torch for glassblowing
• Glass lathes
• How many LPM does my torch need?
• Flashback arrestors explained

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, “Lynx”: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/lynx
• Carlisle Machine Works, “GR Bench Burner”: http://carlislemachine.com/as_benchburners/gr.php
• Carlisle Machine Works, “CC Plus Bench Burner”: http://carlislemachine.com/as_benchburners/ccplus.php