Short answer: The GTT Lynx and the GTT Scorpion sit one rung apart in GTT’s surface-mix line, but they are built on different flames. The Lynx is a single-stage 7-jet Triple Mix torch built around a tight, controllable detail flame, listed by GTT at about $525. The standard Scorpion is a two-stage, standard surface-mix bench torch: the 5-jet Cricket as its center fire inside an 8-jet outer fire, so the flame can run small or bush out for larger masses. It is not a Triple Mix torch. GTT sells a Lynx-center Scorpion as a separate product that keeps the Lynx’s Triple Mix flame at the core, and that configuration is what the roughly $945 reference price covers (with one wrinkle, in the Editor’s note below). If your work is beads, color, and boro up to a couple of inches solid, the Lynx is almost certainly enough. The roughly $420 step up to the Scorpion earns itself only when you are regularly heating bigger masses and want a wider flame range without changing torches.
If you are still mapping the whole GTT ladder, the model-by-model GTT lineup puts both torches in context. This article is the head-to-head.
What the Lynx and Scorpion actually are
Both torches are surface mix: fuel and oxygen stay separate until the flame face rather than premixing inside the head. What sits on top of that is the first difference. The Lynx runs GTT’s patented Triple Mix design, which GTT describes as surrounding the fuel with oxygen and then injecting oxygen directly down the fuel stream so the fuel burns more completely, aiming for a hotter, cleaner flame. The two oxygen streams run on independent green and blue valves, which is what gives the Lynx its wide adjustable range and lets you shift the chemistry from reducing to oxidizing without swapping tips or torches. For the full mechanism, see GTT Triple Mix technology explained.
The second difference is stages. The Lynx is a single-stage torch: one 7-jet fire, built for a small, penetrating pinpoint flame. GTT describes it as working both soft glass and borosilicate with finesse, hot enough to run boro up to about 2 inches of solid mass while staying clean enough for delicate soft-glass colors. The same 7-jet unit is trusted enough that GTT uses it as the center fire inside its larger torches, the Phantom and Mirage among them.
The Scorpion is a two-stage bench torch, and GTT’s own page describes the standard version as using “the mighty Cricket as the center fire for this 2-stage standard torch.” That is the 5-jet Cricket, GTT’s standard surface-mix burner, inside an 8-jet outer fire built on GTT’s patent-pending surface-mix jet design. It is not a Triple Mix torch. The way to get the Triple Mix flame into a two-stage Scorpion is the Lynx-center version, which GTT sells as a separate product. GTT sells the Scorpion in 2-stud and 4-stud configurations, so it is not a single fixed SKU; the exact build depends on which Scorpion and stud pattern you order.
Spec by spec
| GTT Lynx | GTT Scorpion | |
|---|---|---|
| Stages | 1 | 2 |
| Mix type | Triple Mix (surface) | Standard surface mix, not Triple Mix |
| Jets | 7 | 13 standard (Lynx-center version 15; see note) |
| Oxygen (estimate) | ~9.5 LPM | ~9.5 LPM |
| Fuel | Propane or natural gas | Propane or natural gas |
| Mount | Bench (hand version sold separately) | Bench (2-stud or 4-stud) |
| Price (reference) | $525 | $945 |
A few of those cells need care.
Scorpion jet count. The catalog total, 13, is the standard version: an 8-jet outer fire around the 5-jet Cricket center. The Lynx-center version GTT sells separately is 15. Which one a listing means changes the detail flame, so check the center fire before comparing numbers.
Oxygen. Both figures are estimates, not hard specs. Every GTT oxygen number in our catalog is derived from GTT’s flow-rate table at the largest usable flame on a propane basis; natural-gas consumption runs meaningfully higher. The Lynx estimate is ~9.5 LPM. GTT’s flow table puts the Scorpion at ~9.5 LPM at the largest usable flame, the same basis as the Lynx figure. GTT’s Scorpion product page states 11 LPM (22 CFH) at maximum flame instead; both are GTT’s own figures, and our catalog keeps the flow-table value so the two torches compare on one basis.
Editor’s note: GTT prices are list prices captured 2026-07-27 (both unchanged on GTT’s store on 2026-10-06) and can change. The $525 Lynx figure is the standard bench version (the hand-torch version is $625), and the $945 Scorpion figure is GTT’s store listing titled Lynx Center Fire. That listing’s description body describes the Cricket-center torch, and GTT shows no separate price for the standard version, so confirm which center fire the price buys. Oxygen numbers are estimates from GTT’s flow table, not manufacturer-stated working specs. Confirm the current price, configuration, and any flow or pressure figure with GTT directly before buying.
What the second stage actually buys you
The whole point of the Scorpion’s second stage is the outer ring. On a single-stage Lynx, you have one fire, and its size is bounded by those 7 jets. Open it up and you get a bigger version of the same tight flame, but there is a ceiling. The Scorpion’s outer ring is a second, larger fire around the center. When you bring it in, the flame widens and bushes out, throwing heat across a broader area so you can bring up a larger mass of glass evenly instead of chasing it with a pinpoint.
Run alone, the center fire is the small flame for detail. So a two-stage torch is not just a bigger torch; it is a torch that can be two different flames: a small center for detail and control, or center-plus-ring for coverage and mass. GTT’s own figures put that range at a 2in pinpoint up to a 1.25in by 16in flame, for solid boro to 3in. That range is what you are paying the roughly $420 for. What the standard Scorpion’s Cricket center does not give you is Triple Mix, the second oxygen stream behind the Lynx’s reducing-to-oxidizing tuning. If that tuning is the reason you like the Lynx, the Lynx-center version is the Scorpion to price.
When the Lynx is enough
For a large share of lampworkers, the Lynx is the right answer and the Scorpion is more torch than the work needs. Reach for the Lynx if:
- Your work is beads, small sculpture, and color work, where a gentle, precise flame matters more than raw coverage.
- You run soft glass and want a flame clean enough not to scorch reactive colors.
- Your boro work stays at or below roughly 2 inches of solid mass, which is inside what GTT says the Lynx handles.
- Your oxygen supply is modest, such as a single concentrator. GTT’s flow chart puts the Lynx and the Scorpion at the same full-flame oxygen figure, so the Scorpion’s extra price buys flame shape rather than a supply you cannot feed; still, a torch you can actually fuel beats a bigger one you cannot. See the oxygen concentrator LPM guide for matching supply to torch.
Buying more torch than you can feed is the classic mistake; it leaves you running a large torch on a small, choked flame and getting none of the benefit you paid for.
When the Scorpion’s second stage earns the jump
Step up to the Scorpion when the Lynx is visibly working too hard and the limitation is flame size, not flame quality. Concretely:
- You have moved into larger boro work, bigger sculpture, or thicker masses where the Lynx’s single fire cannot bring the whole piece up to temperature at once.
- You want the versatility of a detail center fire and a wide bushy flame in one torch, without keeping two torches on the bench.
- You want a foot pedal on the outer fire. GTT’s 4-stud Scorpion allows one, and it also lets you feed the two stages from separate oxygen sources; the 2-stud version runs from a single supply.
- Your oxygen is concentrators. GTT says the Scorpion was designed with concentrators, low pressure and low consumption in mind, and lists one 10 LPM concentrator or two 5 LPM units, with two 8 LPM units or tanked oxygen as optimal.
For a Lynx owner, the Lynx-center Scorpion is the natural upgrade path, because it keeps the flame you already know at its core and adds an outer stage around it. The standard Scorpion is a different proposition: a Cricket center built for concentrator economy, so its detail flame is a simpler standard surface-mix flame rather than the Lynx you are used to. If your work is specifically pipes and functional boro, the best torch for borosilicate guide covers where the extra coverage starts to matter.
Oxygen and fuel supply
Both torches run on propane or natural gas with oxygen, but they sit at different points on GTT’s flow chart. The Scorpion is one of GTT’s 1/4 psi torches: the chart (PDF) lists it at 1/4 to 5 psi of fuel, which is why it can work on unboosted household natural gas. The Lynx is not in that group: GTT’s chart lists it at 5 to 8 psi of fuel at its largest usable flame, and its instruction sheet sets propane to the same range, so whether a Lynx gives its full flame on an unboosted house line is a question to settle with GTT for your setup. If a natural-gas line without a booster is your plan, that difference is worth weighing. For the trade-offs between fuels, see propane vs natural gas for torchwork.
The real supply question is oxygen. On GTT’s flow chart the two torches land at the same largest-usable-flame figure, ~9.5 LPM, which is light enough for a single concentrator in many setups; GTT’s Scorpion page quotes a slightly higher 11 LPM at maximum flame. Treat the chart as a ceiling, not a working average, and size the supply to the flame you actually intend to run, not to the torch’s smallest flame. Any specific pressure or flow number you rely on should come from GTT’s manual, not from an article; where manufacturer figures and community reports disagree, the manufacturer manual takes precedence.
Where each sits in the GTT lineup
Both torches live in the middle of GTT’s range. Below the Lynx sit the single-stage GTT Bobcat and the GTT Cricket, tuned for starter budgets and modest oxygen, while the 13-port single-stage GTT Cheetah sits just above the Lynx on price as the heavier-hitting single-stage option. The Lynx is the detail specialist of that single-stage group. The Scorpion opens the two-stage tier, alongside the GTT Phantom; the 22-jet GTT Sidewinder sits between them on price, and above them sit larger two-stage torches like the GTT Mirage and the GTT Delta Elite. Read that way, the Lynx-to-Scorpion move is the first real step from a single-stage detail torch into a two-stage bench torch that can both do detail and heat mass.
Triple Mix does not run through the whole line: it starts at the Lynx, while the Bobcat, the Cricket and the standard Scorpion are standard surface mix. The skills carry over as you climb; what changes is the number of fires, the oxygen you need to feed them, and whether the center fire gives you Triple Mix tuning. If you are deciding between surface mix and the premix alternatives on the wider market first, start with surface mix vs premix torches.
Bottom line
Pick the Lynx if your work is detail, color, and boro up to about 2 inches solid, and if your oxygen supply is modest. It is the top single-stage detail torch in the Triple Mix family and, for many artists, all the torch they will ever need.
Pick the Scorpion when you are regularly heating larger masses, when you want one torch that can be both a small center flame and a wide bushy one, and when your oxygen supply can feed a two-stage torch. The roughly $420 difference buys the outer ring and the range that comes with it, not a better version of the same flame. If the Lynx’s Triple Mix center is what you want to keep, price the Lynx-center version rather than the standard Cricket-center Scorpion.
One practical note before you order: GTT gives no dated delivery commitment and warns that material availability can delay torches, and both the Scorpion’s stud pattern and whether you buy the standard or the Lynx-center version are choices you make at purchase. Confirm the current price, the exact configuration, and any flow or pressure spec with GTT before you commit.
Related guides
- GTT Triple Mix technology explained
- GTT lineup, model by model
- Best torch for borosilicate
- Surface mix vs premix torches
- How to choose a glass torch
Sources
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Lynx” (7-jet single-stage Triple Mix, detail flame, dual oxygen valves, solid boro to 2 inches): https://www.glasstorchtech.com/lynx
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Scorpion 2 and 4 stud” (two-stage standard torch on the Cricket center fire, stud configurations, lead-time wording): https://www.glasstorchtech.com/scorpion-2-and-4-stud
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Scorpion, Lynx center fire” (the separate Lynx-center product, configuration-dependent build): https://www.glasstorchtech.com/product-page/scorpion-lynx-center-fire-1
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Triple Mix Torches” (surface-mix mechanism, independent oxygen streams, outer ring): https://www.glasstorchtech.com/triple-mix-torches
- Glass Torch Technologies, Flow Rate Chart (PDF; fuel and oxygen at the largest usable flame, tested on propane): https://www.glasstorchtech.com/_files/ugd/0f433e_940fa1536d544665a118116eb9542e62.pdf
- Glass Torch Technologies, “Phantom” (Lynx 7-jet center reused inside larger two-stage torches): https://www.glasstorchtech.com/phantom