Herbert Arnold Big Arni vs Bethlehem Bravo: Surface-Mix Torches

Short answer: The Herbert Arnold Big Arni and the Bethlehem Bravo are both two-stage, surface-mix bench burners for beads and small work, and our reference prices sit close together ($1,095 and $1,171). For most North American buyers the Bravo is the easier buy: Bethlehem publishes its jets, pressures, oxygen draw and work capacity, one Bravo runs propane, natural gas, butane or hydrogen, and parts and service are domestic. The Big Arni is a compact German bead burner built for one fuel at a time, with fewer published figures and a thin US supply path. It makes sense if you work in Europe or already run Arnold equipment, and if your work is beads and fine detail, its smaller sibling, the Arni, lists at less than half the Big Arni’s euro price.

If you are still deciding between torch designs in general, start with surface mix vs premix torches; this article zooms in on one head-to-head.

The two torches side by side

Both are surface-mix designs, which keep fuel and oxygen separate until at or just past the face, the same principle behind nearly every bench burner in our catalog.

Editor’s note: Arnold’s figures come from its burner catalog and its 02/2025 price list; the psi values beside its mbar and bar figures are our conversions. Bethlehem’s come from the Bravo product page and operating instructions. The Big Arni’s dollar figure is a US reference price, not Arnold’s own: Arnold lists in euros excluding VAT, and landed cost moves with shipping, import charges and the exchange rate. The Bravo’s oxygen figure is a full-flame ceiling, not a minimum. Confirm the current spec with the maker before you buy.

Herbert Arnold Big Arni: a compact bead burner

Herbert Arnold started the company as a one-person business in Weilburg, Germany, on 1 October 1950, and Wolfram Arnold led the second generation from 1984. Much of the Arnold burner catalog is industrial and laboratory equipment (machine burners, ribbon burners, quartz burners), with studio bench burners and hand torches alongside.

Arnold calls the Big Arni a bead burner (Perlenbrenner) for beads and small or large glass handicrafts. Its catalog page gives a 28 mm head with an 11.7 mm jet ring, a weight of 1.76 kg (about 3.9 lb), a 2-zone adjustment, 6 mm hose glands, and delivery connection-ready. Arnold builds a propane (PS) and a natural-gas (ES) version, and a given torch runs the fuel it was built for. The 02/2025 price list carries only the natural-gas 126/11 ES, at EUR 856 excluding VAT, so ask Arnold about the propane version before you plan around it. Our US reference price of $1,095 puts it in the mid band.

Three figures often quoted for the Big Arni are not on Arnold’s catalog page: 15 jets, glass up to about 40 mm, and a cast-iron base with a ball joint. They come from earlier listings, and our catalog still carries the 15-jet figure from them; treat all three as unconfirmed until Arnold states them. Arnold also does not name the mix system in the Big Arni’s table, though it states surface mix for the smaller Arni on the same page, so surface mix is our reading.

The smaller sibling, the Arni. If your work is beads and fine detail, look at the Herbert Arnold Arni (126/12) before the Big Arni. Arnold describes it as a surface-mix bead burner with a fine flame for bead details: a 20 mm head, a 6.6 mm jet ring and 1.25 kg, on the same 50 mbar propane or 22 mbar natural gas and 0.5 to 1 bar oxygen. The 02/2025 list prices it at EUR 398 (propane) and EUR 372 (natural gas), excluding VAT. Our catalog records no US price for the Arni, and Arnold publishes no jet count, stage count or gas consumption for it.

Bethlehem Bravo: published numbers and four valves

The Bravo comes from Bethlehem Burners, a division of Bethlehem Apparatus Company in the US that states it has made surface-mix glassworking torches since 1950. It replaced the Barracuda.

Its 1-inch face carries a 6-jet center fire inside a 12-jet outer fire, and Bethlehem’s product page lists 36 oxygen ports on the outer fire. Bethlehem describes the output as whisper-soft surface-mix work with a razor-sharp center for fine detail, which is the company’s own framing. The torch is stainless steel on a swivel base and scroll pedestal, and it comes standard with four independent valves for the center and outer fires, so you get two-stage control without adding a separate manifold.

Bethlehem lists the Bravo at $1,171 on its own page, which puts it in the high band by our thresholds, only a little above the Big Arni’s US reference figure. For a more focused center fire on the same 18-jet layout, Bethlehem also sells the Bravo Sharp Flame at $1,284.

Fuel, pressure and oxygen

This is where the two diverge most.

The Bravo is genuinely multi-fuel. Bethlehem’s operating instructions list natural gas, hydrogen, propane and butane, and its product page gives propane at 2 to 5 psi and tanked oxygen at 8 to 20 psi, with 6 LPM gas and ~30 LPM of oxygen at full flame. Bethlehem also states the Bravo runs on household gas at about 1/4 psi and on oxygen concentrators at 7 psi. That flexibility matters if your gas supply is fixed, or if you expect to change fuels later without buying another torch.

The Big Arni is built for one fuel and wants very low fuel pressure: 50 mbar on propane (about 0.7 psi, well under the Bravo’s 2 to 5 psi) or 22 mbar on natural gas (about 0.3 psi). Set the regulator to Arnold’s figure, not to a US torch’s psi range. Oxygen runs at 0.5 to 1 bar, about 7 to 15 psi, close to the Bravo’s tanked range. Arnold publishes no gas or oxygen consumption for the Big Arni, so we print no LPM figure; if you plan to run a concentrator, ask Arnold what the torch draws before you buy.

Whichever you choose, flashback protection is specific to the torch and the supply. Arnold’s catalog recommends protection against reverse gas flow and flashback on its burners; follow Bethlehem’s operating instructions for the Bravo. Fit the flashback protection your torch and gas supply call for, and let the manufacturer manual take precedence over any general rule.

Availability, service and what buyers actually ran

The honest differentiator is not the flame; it is the supply chain.

The Bravo is US-made by a long-running domestic manufacturer, so parts, documentation, service and replacement are straightforward for a North American buyer. A torch you can get serviced quickly is worth more than a spec sheet shows.

The Big Arni is a German import, priced in euros and fitted with metric 6 mm glands, so plan the hoses and adapters with Arnold before it arrives. Arnold’s general terms limit defect claims to 12 months from delivery. It is also an uncommon torch in North America: in Joe Blanchard’s sixteen years on the distribution side of the glass industry, the Arnold burners people bought and ran were the Zenit in its 40 mm and 65 mm heads, and the Big Arni was a rare order. That is no knock on the torch or on Herbert Arnold, but a rare torch has fewer owners to ask about setup and fewer used examples to buy. In Europe, or in a shop already running Arnold equipment, that calculus shifts.

Which one fits your bench

• You want fuel flexibility on one torch: the Bravo. Four fuels, plus documented household-gas and concentrator operation; each Big Arni runs one fuel.
• You want published figures to plan oxygen and capacity: the Bravo. Bethlehem gives flow, pressure, rod and tube sizes; Arnold gives pressures and head dimensions only.
• You want easy US support and fast service: the Bravo, on availability alone.
• You work beads in Europe or an Arnold shop: the Big Arni, or the Arni if fine bead detail is the job and the lower euro price matters.
• You want a sharper center flame: the Bravo Sharp Flame.
• You are moving into larger boro: neither. Arnold’s own step up is the Herbert Arnold Zenit, which Arnold rates for boro tubing of about 80 mm on its 40 mm head, at a pro-band price; see Herbert Arnold Zenit vs GTT Mirage and the best torch for borosilicate for the wider field.

Both are honest surface-mix bench torches from makers who have built glass burners for decades. For most North American buyers, the Bravo’s fuel range, published numbers and domestic support decide it. The Big Arni earns its place for buyers who want Arnold’s build and can handle the import path, and for detail work the Arni is the Arnold to price first. The full Arnold range is in our Herbert Arnold torch lineup.

Related guides

• Herbert Arnold torch lineup
• Surface mix vs premix torches
• Best torch for borosilicate
• Flashback arrestors explained
• Best beginner glass torch
• GTT Lynx vs Bethlehem Bravo
• GTT Cheetah vs Bethlehem Bravo

Sources

• Herbert Arnold, ARNOLD Burners catalog (PDF): https://downloads.arnold-gruppe.de/ARNOLD%20Burners.pdf
• Herbert Arnold, burner price list 02/2025 (PDF): https://downloads.arnold-gruppe.de/Brenner%20Preisliste.pdf
• Herbert Arnold, company history: https://www.h-arnold.com/company
• Bethlehem Burners, Bravo torch page: https://www.bethlehemburners.com/torches/bravo/
• Bethlehem Burners, Bravo operating instructions: https://www.bethlehemburners.com/resources/operating-instructions/bravo-operating-instructions/