Herbert Arnold Zenit vs Nortel Red Max: One Flame or Two

Short answer: These two bench burners answer different questions at very different prices. The Herbert Arnold Zenit is a German single-stage, surface-mix concentric burner that one twist grip sweeps from a needle point to a bushy flame. Arnold rates it for borosilicate and quartz, not soft glass, and its 02/2025 price list runs EUR 2,289 to EUR 3,846 excluding VAT, against our US reference of $3,300. The Nortel Red Max is a two-stage surface-mix bench burner from Canada that takes an optional, separately controlled top fire, rated in our catalog for soft glass and boro, at $894 on Nortel’s own US store with a Minor or Premix top. Pick the Zenit if you work boro or quartz tubing and want one finely adjustable flame with published pressures and gas figures. Pick the Red Max if you work soft glass or mixed boro, want a broad flame plus a detail flame on one stand, and want to keep most of your budget for oxygen and the rest of the station.

The two torches at a glance

Both are surface-mix bench burners, so the gases stay separate until at or just past the burner face. Past that shared category they differ in stages, glass, published data and cost. Zenit figures are from Arnold’s burner catalog and price list; Red Max figures are from Nortel’s pages and our catalog.

Editor’s note: The Zenit’s euro figures are Arnold’s 02/2025 list prices excluding VAT and shipping; our USD figure for it is a reference, not an Arnold list price. The Red Max figure is Nortel’s own US store price for the burner with a Minor top, read 2026-10-17, a conversion from Nortel’s Canadian-dollar price that moves with the exchange rate (the Canadian store listed the Minor-top version at CAD $1,268 on 2026-09-28). Confirm the current price and configuration with Herbert Arnold or Nortel before you buy.

Herbert Arnold Zenit: one flame, three heads

Herbert Arnold builds the Zenit in Weilburg, Germany, as 114/1 PSL (propane), 114/2 ESL (natural gas) and 114/3 WS (hydrogen), each in 40, 50 or 65 mm heads. Each version runs the fuel it was built for. The propane and natural-gas versions also take compressed air at 0.5 to 1 bar (about 7 to 14.5 psi); the hydrogen version lists no air connection. Control is ball valves and a single twist grip that changes the flame continuously, on a heavy cast-iron base with a ball joint.

Arnold rates the heads for boro tubing of about 80 mm, up to 100 mm and over 100 mm, and the hydrogen version for quartz tubing of about 50, 60 and 80 mm. 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 rarely the one on a bench.

The quiet reputation comes from Arnold’s own marketing, which has called the Zenit a “noiseless bench burner” with a flame-stabilizing system that lets it run on a surplus of air for a cooler flame. That is the company’s claim, not a figure in its data sheets, so judge it at a demo bench if you can.

What the data sheets do give is gas data most bench burners never publish. Arnold lists maximum consumption for every version: the 40 mm propane head tops out at 0.5 m3/h propane and 3.5 m3/h oxygen, which is ~58 LPM, and the 65 mm natural-gas head at 8.0 m3/h oxygen (about 133 LPM). Those are ceilings at the largest flame, not working draw, but they tell you the Zenit is a tank or bulk-oxygen burner at full flame. Arnold’s separate Zenit brochure gives 3.5 bar (about 51 psi) oxygen for the 65 mm head where the catalog says 2.8 bar; the two documents disagree. For the full head, fuel and price tables, see our Herbert Arnold concentric ring burners guide and the Herbert Arnold torch lineup.

Nortel Red Max: two stages and a top fire

The Red Max is a two-stage surface-mix bench burner from Nortel, the Canadian maker. Nortel labels the lower head a 45-port burner, and the same page describes it as a center ring of 16 ports inside a ring of 27, which totals 43. We report Nortel’s 45-port label with that discrepancy noted, and we do not invent a port to reconcile the two. Nortel gives a flame width of up to 1.25 inches and names natural gas or propane with oxygen.

Its real flexibility is the top fire. Nortel offers the Red Max with a Minor, Mega Minor or Premix top (the Premix top takes N11 and N3 tips), each separately controlled, so a second, smaller flame sits above the main burner for detail work. That is a different way of working from a single adjustable head: you switch between the broad flame and the detail flame rather than resizing one. On Lampwork Etc., the Red Max carries a stronger reputation for borosilicate than the older Nortel Major and Minor combination; treat that as community knowledge, not a measured comparison. Nortel also sells a Red Max Handtorch with, in Nortel’s words, the same flame pattern as the bench burner, for people who want that flame off the stand.

Nortel publishes no oxygen figure and no pressure settings for the Red Max, so we list none. Size your oxygen supply to the flame you actually run and confirm with Nortel. For the smaller Nortel it is often cross-shopped against, see Nortel Red Max vs Minor.

Flame character and control

This is where the two burners feel least alike. The Zenit is one flame on one grip: you meter it from a needle point to a broad flame and back without changing burners, and Arnold publishes the pressures and ceilings for the head you choose. If you want to set a flame precisely and return to it, that is the Zenit’s whole argument.

The Red Max gives you two flames. The broad lower head handles bulk heat, and the separately controlled top fire handles detail, so you move between them instead of sweeping one flame across its range. Neither is better in the abstract. The Zenit rewards a worker who wants fine control of one flame on boro or quartz; the Red Max rewards one who wants versatile output and the top-fire trick, including on soft glass.

Price, glass and who each torch is for

The price gap should drive the decision as much as any spec. The cheapest Zenit on Arnold’s list, the 40 mm hydrogen version at EUR 2,289 before VAT, still costs more than twice the Red Max’s $894, and the propane and natural-gas 40 mm heads sit at EUR 2,794 and EUR 2,562. You are not paying for more flame. You are paying for the single-grip control range, Arnold’s published data, quartz capability on the hydrogen version, and a heavy German build.

Glass settles it for some buyers before price does. Arnold rates the Zenit for borosilicate and quartz only, so a soft-glass worker has no reason to stretch for it; our catalog rates the Red Max for soft glass and boro.

Choose the Zenit if precise control of one flame on boro or quartz tubing matters more than upfront cost, and you are comfortable ordering a specialized burner from Germany. Choose the Red Max if you want a two-stage bench torch that handles soft glass and boro at a price that leaves budget for oxygen and the rest of the station.

Availability and fittings

A Zenit is an order from Germany: international shipping, import charges, and configuration questions (head, fuel, and which head version a quote covers) to settle before purchase. Arnold sells a US adapter set for 9/16 inch fittings separately, which a North American buyer should add to the order. Herbert Arnold has been making burners since 1950 and is now part of the Arnold Gruppe, which makes burners, tools and machines for glass and quartz processing, fiber optics, photovoltaics and other industries, so the company is well established even if the buying path is longer for a North American studio. Arnold’s general terms limit defect claims to 12 months from delivery.

The Red Max is a current Nortel product with its own US store listing, which usually means a shorter path to your bench. If you need a torch soon, that gap matters as much as the price.

How to decide

Start from your glass, then your budget, then your workflow. Soft glass, or boro with a broad flame plus a separate detail flame, and money kept back for oxygen and safety gear: the Red Max. Boro or quartz tubing, one finely controlled flame, and a budget and oxygen supply that can carry a Zenit: pick the head (most buyers take the 40 mm or the 65 mm) and the fuel, then size the supply to that version’s ceiling.

Whichever you choose, size your oxygen supply to the flame you actually run rather than to a headline number. Arnold recommends protecting its burners against reverse gas flow and flashback; set up the flashback protection your torch and gas supply call for, and our guide to flashback arrestors explained covers how that differs by maker and gas source. Manufacturer manuals take precedence over any general advice here: confirm the current specs, pressures and price with Herbert Arnold or Nortel before you buy.

Related guides

• Herbert Arnold torch lineup
• Herbert Arnold concentric ring burners
• Nortel Red Max vs Minor
• GTT Phantom vs Herbert Arnold Zenit
• Flashback arrestors explained

Sources

• Herbert Arnold burners overview
• Herbert Arnold company background
• Herbert Arnold for glassblowers
• Arnold burner catalog (PDF)
• Arnold Zenit brochure (PDF)
• Arnold burner price list 02/2025 (PDF)
• Nortel Red Max product page
• Nortel store: Red Max with Minor Top
• Nortel Major product page
• Lampwork Etc. community discussion