Herbert Arnold Zenit vs GTT Mirage: High-End Production Torches

Short answer: Buy the GTT Mirage if you want one torch for soft glass and boro, staged control from 40 jets, and the lower price ($1,975 for the standard bench torch). Buy the Herbert Arnold Zenit (the “Herbie” in shop talk) if you work borosilicate or quartz and want a single-grip burner whose head you size to your tubing: Arnold rates the 40 mm head for boro tubing of about 80 mm and the 65 mm head for work over 100 mm. Our US reference price for the 40 mm Zenit is $3,300; Arnold’s own list price is in euros, EUR 2,794 excluding VAT for the 40 mm propane version. The Zenit names no soft glass, so a soft-glass worker’s decision ends there.

Two torches, two ways to build a flame

The Mirage is a production torch in the GTT idiom: a 7-jet Lynx center fire inside 33 outer jets in two rings, two stages on a four-stud manifold, mounted on a powder-coated base with rack-and-pinion adjustment. GTT markets it as part of its Triple Mix line. If you have worked on a GTT Lynx, the Mirage is the same center fire with a larger outer fire you bring in on its own valves.

The Zenit builds its flame the other way. Herbert Arnold, founded in Weilburg, Germany, in 1950, makes it as a single-stage, concentric-ring surface-mix burner (Arnold’s catalog calls it a separate-gas system, Getrenntgassystem) on a heavy cast-iron base with a ball joint. There are no stages to balance: ball valves and one twist grip change the flame continuously, from a needle point to a large, bushy flame. Arnold builds it as three separate burners by fuel, 114/1 PSL for propane, 114/2 ESL for natural gas and 114/3 WS for hydrogen, each in 40, 50 and 65 mm heads. A given Zenit runs the fuel it was built for.

Neither design is better in the abstract. One gives you several fires to orchestrate; the other gives you one control and asks you to choose the right head up front.

Specs head to head

The mix type below comes from our catalog, which records both as surface mix. Triple Mix is GTT’s own name for how the Mirage layers its oxygen, and we treat it as the company’s framing rather than a separate mix category. Arnold publishes no jet count for the Zenit, so we never assign one.

Glass, head size and what each will melt

Glass type is the first fork. Our catalog lists the Mirage for soft glass and boro, and GTT’s page claims all glass types. Arnold’s catalog names borosilicate for every Zenit head and quartz only for the hydrogen version; it names no soft glass. If you work soft glass at all, the Mirage is the one of these two built for it.

For boro, the Zenit’s reach is set by the head you buy, and Arnold publishes the ratings:

In practice the choice narrows to two heads. 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; the 50 mm is on Arnold’s list but rarely the one on a bench.

GTT publishes no numeric work capacity or maximum flame size for the bench Mirage; it positions the torch for large boro and production, and our catalog records it that way. GTT’s hand-torch page does rate the hand Mirage for solid boro up to 2.5 inches, but that figure belongs to the hand version. So you can size a Zenit against its data sheet, while sizing a Mirage still comes down to GTT’s positioning and what other owners report.

Flame character and control

The Mirage’s character comes from its stages. You run the Lynx center alone for detail, bring in the outer rings for heat, and set the flame chemistry on each fire’s fuel and oxygen valves. That flexibility is the appeal of a GTT production torch: one burner covering detail work through larger boro. For how GTT layers its oxygen, see GTT’s Triple Mix technology.

The Zenit’s character is one smooth adjustment. The twist grip carries the whole flame from point to bush, which is simple to learn and repeatable once you know its range. Its reputation is a quiet, even flame, which earlier Arnold materials credit to a flame-stabilizing system; that description and the “noiseless” label are the company’s framing and the burner’s reputation, not figures on the current data sheets, and neither maker publishes a decibel number. Our overview of Herbert Arnold’s concentric ring burners covers the ring design in more depth.

Gas pressure and oxygen appetite

The two run at very different pressures. GTT’s instruction sheet for the Delta, Mirage and Phantom sets fuel at 10 psi and oxygen at 35 psi, the same figures as GTT’s Flow Rate Chart. The propane Zenit wants only 50 mbar of fuel (about 0.7 psi) and the natural-gas Zenit 22 mbar (about 0.3 psi), with oxygen at 2.0, 2.5 and 2.8 bar (about 29, 36 and 41 psi) by head on propane, and 1.5, 2.0 and 2.8 bar on natural gas. For the 65 mm head, Arnold’s catalog says 2.8 bar while its Zenit brochure says 3.5 bar (about 51 psi); both are Arnold’s figures, so ask which applies. The propane and natural-gas Zenits also take compressed air at 0.5 to 1 bar (about 7 to 15 psi), where GTT sells air as a separate Mirage configuration.

On oxygen, the two makers publish different kinds of number, so do not compare them one to one. GTT’s chart gives the Mirage 55 CFH at its largest usable flame on propane, the ~26 LPM in our table, and says actual use is generally lower. Arnold gives a maximum consumption for every Zenit version: 3.5, 4.2 and 4.7 m3/h of oxygen on the propane heads (about 58, 70 and 78 LPM) and 4.4, 5.0 and 8.0 m3/h on natural gas (about 73, 83 and 133 LPM). A maximum is a ceiling, not what a working flame draws. Read together, the figures say a Zenit is not a light draw and a big Zenit head is a tank or bulk-oxygen burner. GTT’s Mirage page describes a concentrator on the center fire with tank oxygen for the outer fire.

Whichever you buy, the maker’s manual for your exact version governs pressures and setup, along with the flashback protection your torch and gas supply call for. Arnold recommends protection against reverse gas flow and flashback on its burners.

Editor’s note: the Mirage oxygen figure is GTT’s largest-usable-flame flow on propane, converted to LPM; the Zenit figures are Arnold’s maximum consumption, converted (m3/h x 16.67). They measure different things, so treat the comparison as a direction of appetite. Pressures in psi are our conversions from Arnold’s mbar and bar. Confirm current specs with each maker before you buy.

Price and configurations

At $1,975 for the standard four-stud bench torch, the Mirage is the cheaper of the two. GTT also lists a compressed-air Mirage at $2,450, a variable-switch bench Mirage at $2,400, and Mirage hand torch versions on sale at $2,480 with a switch and $2,030 without (list $3,100 and $2,550). Foot-pedal and hose assemblies are sold separately.

The Zenit’s price moves with head and fuel. Arnold’s 02/2025 price list, excluding VAT:

The list also carries cheaper N-M7 versions of the 40 and 50 mm heads (EUR 2,645 for the 40 mm propane head). The catalog says the standard M7 head has no gas fine-adjustment screw and an optional head adds one, but never says which suffix is which, so ask Arnold. A US buyer should also price Arnold’s US adapter set, which converts the gas, air and oxygen connections to 9/16 inch fittings. Our $3,300 is a US reference figure for the 40 mm head, not Arnold’s price; the euro list is the maker’s own number.

Neither maker publishes a lead time. GTT gives no dated delivery commitment and warns that material availability can delay torches; Arnold’s documents give no lead time either. Ask both before you plan around a delivery date.

Which one fits you

Choose the GTT Mirage if you work soft glass as well as boro, if you want staged control and the option of a hand-torch or compressed-air version from the same maker, and if you would rather spend less on the torch and more on oxygen. It is the natural step up for someone already comfortable in the GTT family. If you are weighing it against GTT’s next model up, see our Mirage vs Delta Elite comparison.

Choose the Herbert Arnold Zenit if your work is boro or quartz, if you want one control rather than several, and if you can name the largest tubing you run so the head can be sized to it, which for most buyers means the 40 mm or the 65 mm. Budget for its oxygen appetite and for euro pricing. For the full range, see the Herbert Arnold torch lineup, and for the Zenit against a smaller GTT, see GTT Phantom vs Herbert Arnold Zenit. If the decision really turns on mixing in general, start with surface mix vs premix torches.

Related guides

• Herbert Arnold torch lineup
• GTT’s Triple Mix technology
• GTT Phantom vs Herbert Arnold Zenit
• GTT Mirage vs Delta Elite
• Surface mix vs premix torches

Sources

• GTT, Mirage product page: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/mirage
• GTT, Triple Mix torches: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/triple-mix-torches
• GTT, Flow Rate Chart (PDF): https://www.glasstorchtech.com/_files/ugd/0f433e_940fa1536d544665a118116eb9542e62.pdf
• GTT, Delta, Mirage and Phantom instruction sheet (PDF): https://www.glasstorchtech.com/_files/ugd/0f433e_841587b99d6b47e6874cd464bb19219a.pdf
• Herbert Arnold, burners overview: https://www.h-arnold.com/burners
• Herbert Arnold, burner catalog (PDF): https://downloads.arnold-gruppe.de/ARNOLD%20Burners.pdf
• Herbert Arnold, Zenit brochure (PDF): https://downloads.arnold-gruppe.de/ARNOLD%20Zenit.pdf
• Herbert Arnold, 02/2025 burner price list (PDF): https://downloads.arnold-gruppe.de/Brenner%20Preisliste.pdf

Editor’s note: GTT configurations and prices were read from GTT’s own pages on 2026-10-06; Arnold versions, pressures, consumption and euro prices from its catalog, Zenit brochure and price list, read the same day. Verify current lineups, specs and pricing with the maker before purchase.