GTT Phantom vs Herbert Arnold Zenit: Two Serious Bench Torches

Short answer: The GTT Phantom and the Herbert Arnold Zenit are both serious surface-mix bench torches from different design traditions and price tiers. The Phantom is a US-built, two-stage Triple Mix torch at $1,425 on GTT’s own store, with an oxygen estimate of ~16.5 LPM at the largest usable flame. The Zenit is a German single-stage concentric burner at a US reference of $3,300 (EUR 2,289 to EUR 3,846 on Arnold’s list, excluding VAT), and Arnold publishes a maximum oxygen draw of ~58 LPM for its smallest propane head, rising with head size. If you work pipes, functional boro or soft glass and want a torch you can feed without a bulk oxygen setup, the Phantom is the easier torch to buy and run. If you work boro or quartz tubing in a scientific or production setting and can supply the oxygen, the Zenit is built for that job.

Both torches are surface mix, so gases stay separate until at or just past the burner face. The differences that matter are how each one arranges its fires, what glass each is rated for, how much oxygen each can draw, and what it costs to own.

The two torches at a glance

Figures come from GTT’s and Arnold’s own pages and documents, by way of our catalog. The Phantom’s oxygen figure is our estimate from GTT’s flow chart; the Zenit’s is Arnold’s published maximum. Prices are reference figures, not live quotes.

How each one mixes and shapes the flame

The Phantom is a two-stage torch. It pairs a Lynx 7-jet center fire with a 15-jet outer ring and uses Glass Torch Technologies’ patented Triple Mix approach. GTT’s instruction sheet describes three valves per stage (fuel, main oxygen and secondary oxygen), so you can run the center alone for tight work and bring in the outer ring for body heat, with an optional pedal to switch the outer fire. That suits pipe and functional work, where you move between detail and volume on the same piece. GTT also sells the Phantom as a hand torch with a thumb switch for the outer flame and in 2-stud and 4-stud bench versions, so the configuration you buy affects both handling and price.

The Zenit takes a different path. Its jets sit in concentric rings that fire as one flame, controlled by ball valves and a single twist grip that runs continuously from a needle point to a bushy flame. There is no second stage to bring in: you resize one flame instead of switching rings. Herbert Arnold publishes no jet or ring count for the Zenit, so we do not list one.

Arnold’s marketing copy describes a flame-stabilizing system that lets the Zenit run on a surplus of air for a cooler flame, and calls it noiseless. That is the company’s claim rather than a data-sheet figure. What the data sheet does show is a compressed-air connection on the propane and natural-gas versions, rated 0.5 to 1 bar (about 7 to 14.5 psi), which widens the working range. GTT offers compressed air on the Phantom too, as a separate, higher-priced version.

Oxygen and pressures

This is the sharpest practical difference. The Phantom’s estimate of ~16.5 LPM comes from GTT’s own flow-rate chart at the largest usable flame on propane. For the Zenit, Arnold publishes maximum consumption per version, and the smallest figure, the 40 mm propane head at 3.5 m3/h, works out to ~58 LPM. The larger heads go higher:

Editor’s note: The two oxygen figures have different bases. The Phantom’s is our estimate from GTT’s chart at its largest usable flame; the Zenit’s are Arnold’s own maximums, converted from m3/h at 16.67 LPM each, and neither is what the torch draws at a working flame. Even so, the Zenit’s smallest head can draw several times the Phantom’s figure at full flame. Confirm the current flow figures with the maker before you size an oxygen supply.

In practice the Phantom sits within reach of a stout oxygen setup of the kind many home studios already run for a mid-size bench torch; our Phantom oxygen requirements guide covers the options. The Zenit, at full flame, is tank or bulk-oxygen territory from the smallest head up.

Pressures differ just as much. GTT’s Delta, Mirage and Phantom instruction sheet sets fuel at 10 psi and oxygen at 35 psi, and says 5 psi fuel and 10 psi oxygen gives reduced results. The Zenit runs propane at 50 mbar (about 0.7 psi) and natural gas at 22 mbar (about 0.3 psi), with oxygen at 2.0, 2.5 or 2.8 bar (about 29, 36 or 41 psi) by head on propane. Arnold’s Zenit brochure gives 3.5 bar (about 51 psi) for the 65 mm head where its catalog says 2.8, so the two disagree. Arnold sells a fixed 50 mbar regulator for propane bottles up to 14 kg, so plan the regulator together with the burner. Follow the maker’s instructions for the exact version you buy, and set up the flashback protection your torch and gas supply call for; Arnold recommends protecting its burners against reverse gas flow and flashback.

For a fuller treatment of how to feed either torch, see oxygen concentrators vs tanks for lampworking.

Price, availability and lead time

The Phantom’s reference price is $1,425, recorded from GTT’s own store for the standard bench configuration; the variable-switch and compressed-air versions are priced separately and cost more. The Zenit is in a different tier. Arnold’s 02/2025 list, excluding VAT, runs EUR 2,794, 2,999 and 3,846 for the 40, 50 and 65 mm propane heads, EUR 2,562 to 3,452 on natural gas, and EUR 2,289 to 3,386 on hydrogen, against our US reference of $3,300. In Joe Blanchard’s sixteen years on the distribution side of the glass industry, the Zenits people bought and ran were the 40 mm and the 65 mm, so those are the two prices to compare. The gap widens once oxygen is counted, because the Zenit’s appetite means a bigger and more expensive supply over the life of the torch.

Availability is the other quiet factor. The Phantom is US-made and sold from GTT’s own store, though GTT notes that material availability can delay torches. A Zenit is an order from Germany: international shipping, import charges, and a US adapter set for 9/16 inch fittings that Arnold sells separately. The burner itself sits on a heavy cast-iron base with a ball joint. Plan for the longer path rather than discovering it after you commit.

Confirm the current price and the exact configuration with the maker before buying, and factor in the oxygen supply each torch will require.

Which glass and which work each suits

Glass is where the two stop overlapping. GTT says the Phantom works soft or hard glass, and the catalog’s use cases for it are pipes, functional work and medium boro. Arnold rates the Zenit for borosilicate only, plus quartz on the hydrogen version, so a soft-glass worker should cross it off.

The Phantom’s two-stage flame and moderate oxygen demand make it a strong all-around bench torch for a studio doing a range of boro work that wants to keep its oxygen setup sane. If most of your work is functional and you value versatility per dollar, it is the natural pick. Our guide to the best torch for borosilicate puts it in context against the rest of the boro field.

The Zenit’s catalog use cases are boro, quartz, scientific and production work. Arnold rates the 40 mm head for boro tubing of about 80 mm, the 50 mm up to 100 mm and the 65 mm over 100 mm, with quartz tubing of about 50, 60 and 80 mm on the hydrogen version. It fits a shop doing long runs or precise scientific tubing work, where the oxygen cost is justified by the tubing sizes and by the control of one continuously variable flame. Our Herbert Arnold concentric ring burners guide has the full head, fuel and price tables.

How to choose

• Pick the Phantom if you want a versatile US-made bench torch, you work pipes, functional boro or soft glass, you value a manageable oxygen supply, and $1,425 fits better than the Zenit’s tier.
• Pick the Zenit if you work boro or quartz tubing in a production or scientific setting, you want one continuously variable flame and published pressure and gas data, you can feed a much larger oxygen ceiling, and you can absorb the pro-band price and the import path. Choose the head first: in Joe Blanchard’s years on the distribution side, the Zenits that went onto benches were almost always the 40 mm or the 65 mm, rarely the 50 mm.
• Either way, size your oxygen supply to the torch, not the other way around. Both are surface-mix torches, so if you are still deciding between mix types, start with surface mix vs premix torches.

If you are earlier in the decision and not yet committed to this pair, the complete glass torch buyer’s guide walks the whole field.

Related guides

• Herbert Arnold concentric ring burners
• GTT Phantom oxygen requirements
• Surface mix vs premix torches
• Best torch for borosilicate
• Oxygen concentrators vs tanks for lampworking
• Propane vs natural gas for torchwork
• How to choose a glass torch

Sources

• Glass Torch Technologies: Phantom
• Glass Torch Technologies: Triple Mix torches
• Glass Torch Technologies: Delta, Mirage and Phantom instruction sheet (PDF)
• Glass Torch Technologies: Flow Rate Chart (PDF)
• Herbert Arnold: Burners
• Arnold burner catalog (PDF)
• Arnold Zenit brochure (PDF)
• Arnold burner price list 02/2025 (PDF)
• Talk Glass Melting Pot Wiki: Phantom