Skip to content
← All guides

GTT Compressed Air Option: 4-Way Mix, Prices and Air Setup

What GTT's compressed-air option does, what it adds to each torch's price, and the clean, dry air GTT specifies: 60 psi or lower, under 1 CFM.

By Joe Blanchard, sixteen years on the distribution side of the glass industry · Updated

On this page

Short answer: GTT’s compressed-air option feeds a regulated stream of air into the torch’s fuel system. In GTT’s words, controlling the ratio of fuel to air lets you control the flame’s temperature “while maintaining flame chemistry and flame type.” GTT discusses this option alongside its Triple Mix and 4-Way Mix designs; the Triple Mix guide explains the documented distinctions. On 2026-10-06 the option added $175 to the Lynx and Cheetah and $475 to the Phantom, Mirage and Delta Elite, with more on the three-stage torches. GTT asks for clean, dry air regulated to 60 psi or lower, and says its largest air-equipped torches use less than 1 CFM of it.

What the air actually changes

On an ordinary oxy-fuel torch you have two hands on the flame: fuel and oxygen. Turn either one and you change more than the heat. The flame grows or shrinks, and it swings toward reducing or oxidizing. If you want the same flame a little cooler, neither knob gives it to you cleanly.

GTT’s answer is a third input. Its compressed-air page says the option “injects compressed air directly into the fuel system of the torch, and by precisely controlling the ratio of fuel and compressed air, the temperature of the flame can be controlled while maintaining flame chemistry and flame type.” You set the flame you want with the gas valves, then use the air to pull temperature without reshaping it.

Two practical details from GTT’s own guidance:

  • The air goes into the fuel, not the oxygen. That is why GTT talks about the fuel-to-air ratio.
  • Each air stage can run on a foot pedal. On a multi-stage torch you can bring air in and out of a fire without taking your hands off the work.

Where the name 4-Way Mix comes from

GTT distinguishes standard surface mix from Triple Mix, whose fuel, main oxygen and secondary oxygen have separate controls. Its compressed-air page discusses Triple Mix and 4-Way Mix alongside air injection. The documented function of the option is air entering the fuel system. That description does not supply a complete internal diagram or establish that adding air is the definition of every 4-Way Mix head. Keep the head design, number of independently controlled stages and air option separate when comparing configurations.

What the option costs on each torch

GTT sells the air version as its own listing for each model. Prices below are as GTT’s pages showed them on 2026-10-06.

TorchStandard torchWith compressed air optionDifference
Lynx$525$700 with compressed air$175
Cheetah$645$820 with compressed air$175
Phantom$1,425$1,900 with compressed air$475
Mirage$1,975$2,450 with compressed air$475
Delta Elite$2,575$3,050 with compressed air$475
Kobuki$3,550$4,125 with compressed air$575
Ninja$4,000$4,575 with compressed air$575
Samurai$4,000$4,575 with compressed air$575
Delta Mag$4,250$4,925 with compressed air$675
Cobra$5,500$6,750 with compressed air on GTT’s store, $6,175 on its Cobra page$1,250 or $675
Viper$7,000$8,250 with compressed air on GTT’s store, $7,675 on its Viper page$1,250 or $675

The steps follow torch size: $175 on the single-stage torches, $475 on the two-stage 4-stud torches, $575 to $675 on the three-stage 6-stud torches. GTT’s own pages disagree on the Cobra and Viper. The store and the compressed-air index give the higher figure, and the model pages give the lower one, which would match the Delta Mag’s $675 step. Ask GTT which applies before you budget. The Quadzilla takes compressed air on request, with no listed price.

The air listings use the same head as the standard torch. The Mirage air version has the same 40 jets, the Delta Elite the same 57, and the two-stage air listings offer the regular or Snub Nose barrel. The Samurai air listing is the odd one out: its description copies the Ninja’s name and Phantom-middle layout, so GTT’s pages contradict each other on what that listing describes.

The air supply GTT asks for

Here GTT is specific, and it is the part buyers most often get wrong.

  • Clean and dry. GTT’s compressed-air flowchart shows a 40 micron pre-filter and water separator, then a 0.05 micron coalescing filter, then a desiccant or refrigerated dryer, then an adjustable regulator.
  • 60 psi or lower at the regulator.
  • Small volume. GTT says its largest air-equipped torches consume less than 1 CFM.

That last figure changes how you shop for a compressor. You are not feeding a sandblaster. Most of the work in GTT’s flowchart happens in the filters and the dryer, so spend there before you spend on a bigger tank. Air compressors for compressed-air torches covers how to size and plumb one.

GTT’s air listings give no separate fuel or oxygen settings for the air versions. The instruction sheet for the standard model is the one linked, and GTT’s pages show no lighting procedure written for air. Ask GTT how it wants you to bring the air in on your model before your first session.

The Variable Switch

GTT sells a second control that often comes up alongside air: the Variable Switch, which it describes as working “both as an On/Off switch and as an adjustable flame control for the outer fire.” On the two-stage bench torches it is its own listing, and it costs $425 over the standard torch on each:

  • Phantom with Variable Switch: $1,850, against $1,425 standard
  • Mirage with Variable Switch: $2,400, against $1,975 standard
  • Delta Elite with Variable Switch: $3,000, against $2,575 standard

Those three listings say little beyond the name. The Ninja and Samurai come as Snub Nose versions with what GTT calls its “New Variable Switch” at $4,625 each, and GTT says those are ready to ship. The hand torches carry a different part, a simple on/off switch between the inner and outer fire; GTT hand torches covers those.

Who should pay for it

If you make beads, marbles or small soft-glass work, the three gas valves already give you plenty of control, and the air option adds a compressor, filters, a dryer and a regulator to your bench for little return. The case gets stronger with borosilicate, larger pieces and long production sessions, where holding one flame character while trimming its heat saves you from constantly rebalancing fuel and oxygen.

Editor’s note: prices, the air specification and the Variable Switch details come from GTT’s own pages and its compressed-air flowchart as read on 2026-10-06. Where GTT’s pages disagree, both figures are shown. Confirm the current price and the air requirements for your exact torch with GTT before you buy a compressor or the option.

Sources

About the author

Written and edited by Joe Blanchard, who spent 2007 to 2023 on the distribution side of the glass industry in Asheville, North Carolina. GlassTorches.com is his independent, manufacturer-first buyer's guide. More about the editor.

How this guide was sourced: figures come from the manufacturer's own pages and manuals where we have them and are labelled as estimates where they are ours; the catalog on this site is the source of truth, and where sources disagree the guide says so. Confirm the current spec with the maker before you buy. How we work.