Lampworking Torch Setup Guide: From Empty Bench to First Flame, Step by Step

Short answer: Setting up a lampworking torch is the same sequence every time: bolt the torch to a non-combustible bench with ventilation and clearance; stage the fuel and oxygen supplies (cylinders secured upright); fit the correct dedicated regulator to each gas; run Grade T twin hose with B fittings (fuel is the left-hand-threaded, notched nut); add a flashback arrestor on both lines at the regulators; leak-test every joint with soapy water; then do a controlled first light — fuel on and lit first, oxygen added slowly — and shut down in reverse, bleeding the lines and closing supplies at the source. Typical bench-torch pressures are low — a Nortel Minor runs roughly 0.25–5 PSI propane and 5–15 PSI oxygen — but pressures vary by torch, so the manufacturer’s sheet always wins.

This is the walkthrough article: it puts the whole hookup in step order, and two companion pieces carry the depth it deliberately skips — the glass torch safety setup checklist (eyewear, ventilation, cylinder handling, oxygen hygiene) and the fittings, hoses, and connectors guide (thread standards, hose grades, Y connectors). Haven’t bought a torch yet? Start with the complete buyer’s guide instead.

Not a substitute for the manual. The steps and example pressures below reflect published manufacturer instructions and dealer guidance, but every torch model has its own sheet — GTT, for instance, ships recommended settings with each new torch. Where anything here differs from your torch maker’s instructions or local code, the maker and the code win.

Step 1: Place and mount the torch on the bench

Before any gas is involved, get the physical station right:

• Non-combustible surface. Metal, masonry, or another fire-rated bench top, with paper, solvents, and plastics kept well away — hot glass lands where you don’t expect.
• Bolt or clamp the torch down. A bench torch must be anchored so it can’t tip or be dragged by its hoses — GTT’s instructions specifically call for the torch base and lines to be anchored and secure.
• Position for posture and clearance. Far enough from the bench edge for comfortable forearms, with nothing in the flame path above or behind.
• Ventilation and exits. Put the bench where an exhaust hood or fan can pull combustion products away from your face, and where the door and gas shutoffs are reachable without crossing the flame. Ventilation, make-up air, CO detection, and the fire extinguisher are covered in the safety setup guide — treat that checklist as part of this step.

Plan the hose runs now too: to the supplies without kinking, crossing walkways, or draping near the flame.

Step 2: Stage the gas supplies

A torch needs two supplies — a fuel gas and oxygen:

• Fuel. Most hobby setups run a propane cylinder; some studios plumb natural gas to the bench instead. The two aren’t interchangeable at the torch without the correct configuration — see propane vs natural gas for torchwork. Store propane per local rules (often outdoors or with strict indoor limits).
• Oxygen. Either compressed cylinders (high pressure, regulator required) or an oxygen concentrator (low pressure, no regulator on the machine itself). The choice changes the plumbing — see oxygen concentrator vs tanks — and if you’re unsure your supply can feed your torch at all, check how many LPM your torch needs before you buy.

Secure every cylinder upright — chained, strapped, or in a stand — before attaching anything, keep oil and grease strictly away from the oxygen side, and keep the two supplies separated from each other and from heat.

Step 3: Fit the regulators and set working pressures

Each gas gets its own dedicated regulator — an oxygen regulator for oxygen, a fuel-gas regulator for your specific fuel — attached to the cylinder valve with clean fittings. A regulator with two gauges (cylinder pressure and outlet pressure) is worth having on the fuel side too, so you can see both what’s left in the tank and what you’re sending to the torch, as Bethlehem’s accessories guide recommends. Before opening any cylinder valve, back the regulator adjustment screw out (counterclockwise until loose) so it starts at minimum delivery, then open the cylinder valve slowly and dial the outlet pressure up to the torch maker’s numbers.

What those numbers are depends entirely on the torch — examples, not prescriptions:

• A Nortel Minor is specified at roughly 0.25–5 PSI fuel gas and 5–15 PSI oxygen; a common practical starting point is about 5 PSI propane and 10 PSI oxygen.
• GTT’s instruction sheet for its Delta/Mirage/Phantom family calls for substantially more — around 35 PSI oxygen, with 5 PSI gas / 10 PSI oxygen described as a bare minimum at which the torch runs but underperforms. A smaller GTT like the Lynx ships with its own recommended settings on the included sheet.
• Bethlehem publishes per-model operating instructions (for example, for the Alpha) rather than one universal number.

The spread between those examples is the point: there is no universal “lampworking pressure.” Set what your torch’s documentation says; if you’ve lost the sheet, get it from the manufacturer or dealer. Concentrator users skip the oxygen regulator entirely — the machine delivers a few PSI on its own, and you work with flow (LPM) rather than a regulated pressure.

Step 4: Connect hoses and fittings

Run one hose per gas from regulator to torch — the short version, with full detail in the fittings and hoses guide:

• Hose grade: for propane or natural gas, use Grade T twin welding hose, rated for all fuel gases. Grade R is acetylene-only and degrades on propane.
• Fittings: lampworking torches and regulators almost universally use B-size (9/16”-18) connections — fuel on a left-hand thread marked by a notched nut, oxygen on a normal right-hand thread. The mismatch is deliberate: the wrong hose physically won’t thread on, so if a connection resists, you’re on the wrong port. Never force or adapt it.
• Concentrator note: a concentrator usually ends in a small hose barb, not a B fitting, so expect an adapter on that line; confirm the exact part with your supplier.

Tighten fittings with a wrench to snug — clean, dry threads, no oil near the oxygen side — and route the hoses so they can’t be stepped on, pinched, or heated.

Step 5: Install flashback arrestors on both lines

Before the system ever sees pressure, fit a flashback arrestor at each regulator outlet — one on the fuel line, one on the oxygen line — ahead of the hose. An arrestor stops a flame or reverse gas flow from traveling back through the hose toward the regulator and cylinder; torch-end check valves are a worthwhile addition, not a substitute. Both lines, always — the reasoning is covered in the safety setup guide. Arrestors are directional, so confirm the flow arrow points toward the torch, and replace them on the maker’s service interval.

Step 6: Pressurize and leak-test everything

With every connection made and the torch valves closed:

1. Open each cylinder valve slowly (standing to the side of the regulator face, per standard oxy-fuel practice) and bring the regulators up to working pressure.
2. Brush or spray soapy water onto every joint — cylinder-to-regulator, regulator-to-arrestor, arrestor-to-hose, hose-to-torch. Growing bubbles mean a leak. Depressurize, reseat or tighten the joint, and re-test until every joint is clean.
3. A useful extra check from welding practice: close the cylinder valve and watch the gauges for a few minutes — falling pressure with everything shut means gas is escaping somewhere.

Never hunt for a leak with a flame, and repeat the soap test any time you move the bench, change a cylinder, or swap a component. This is the step most worth being slow about.

Step 7: First light

Didymium glasses on, ventilation running, striker in hand (not a butane lighter held in the flame path). The near-universal sequence for surface-mix lampworking torches — memorably taught as POOP: Propane on, Oxygen on; Oxygen off, Propane off — is:

1. Concentrator users: start the machine first and let it run several minutes to reach purity.
2. With the torch’s oxygen valve closed, crack the fuel valve slightly and light it at the torch face — a modest, steady yellow flame (GTT suggests on the order of a 6–7 inch candle; your manual may differ).
3. Slowly open the oxygen valve. The flame turns from yellow to blue as combustion completes; adjust until the small inner candles at the torch face are sharp and defined. If the oxygen blows the flame out, close it, relight with slightly more fuel, and add oxygen more gradually.
4. Fine-tune both valves for a neutral flame appropriate to your glass — if you’re brand new, the best beginner glass torch guide covers what a first flame should look like on starter torches.

Premix torches have their own lighting quirks — one more reason the manufacturer’s sheet, not this page, is the final word (see surface mix vs premix torches).

Step 8: Shutdown and making the system safe

At the end of a session:

1. At the torch: oxygen off first, then fuel. The turn-off order for alternate fuel gases sees some genuine debate in welding circles, but the dominant lampworking convention — and what most torch makers teach — is oxygen first, then fuel, which avoids the pop or backfire some torches produce otherwise. Follow your manual if it says differently.
2. Close the supplies at the source — cylinder valves shut, concentrator off. Never leave cylinder valves open when you walk away from the studio.
3. Bleed the lines. Open the torch valves one at a time to vent each hose until the gauges read zero, then close the torch valves and back out the regulator adjustment screws. Hoses and regulators shouldn’t sit pressurized overnight.

That drained, closed-up state is where the next session begins — back at Step 6, re-opening the valves.

Setup sequence at a glance

The table is a qualitative summary, not a specification — pressures, fittings, and procedures vary by torch and supplier, and are unverified for your specific equipment.

Key takeaways

• Setup is a fixed order: bench → supplies → regulators → hoses → arrestors → leak test → first light → shutdown. Doing steps out of order is how leaks and cross-connections happen.
• Regulator pressures are torch-specific — a Nortel Minor runs single digits of propane and roughly 5–15 PSI oxygen, while GTT’s sheet for larger torches calls for around 35 PSI oxygen. Use the maker’s numbers, not a generic one.
• Grade T hose, B fittings, flashback arrestors on both lines at the regulators — the fittings guide has the depth.
• Leak-test with soapy water every time the system is assembled or changed; never with a flame.
• Light fuel first, add oxygen slowly; shut down oxygen first, then fuel, close supplies at the source, and bleed the lines after every session.
• Everything here is general guidance, unverified for your setup — confirm each step with your torch manufacturer, gas supplier, and local code. This is not a substitute for the manufacturer’s instructions or a qualified professional.

Sources

• Hive13 Wiki, “Nortel Minor Torch” (specified pressures, startup notes) — https://wiki.hive13.org/view/Nortel_Minor_Torch
• Glass Torch Technologies, “Delta / Mirage / Phantom Torches Instructions” (hosted by Mountain Glass) — https://www.mountainglass.com/pdf/GTT_Delta_Mirage_Phantom_Torches_Instructions.pdf
• Bethlehem Burners, “Alpha Torch Operating Instructions” — https://www.bethlehemburners.com/resources/operating-instructions/alpha-operating-instructions/
• Bethlehem Burners, “Accessories: A Lampworking Torch Buyer’s Guide Part 4” — https://www.bethlehemburners.com/news/accessories/
• MillerWelds, “10 Steps for Safe Oxy-Fuel Torch Setup” — https://www.millerwelds.com/resources/article-library/10-steps-for-safe-oxy-fuel-torch-setup
• Glass Alchemy, “Setting Up Your Glass Blowing Torch” — https://glassalchemy.com/blogs/the-formula/setting-up-your-glass-blowing-torch
• Arrow Springs (Craig Milliron), “Installing and Using Oxygen Mix Torches” — https://arrowsprings.com/blogs/tips-and-tricks/installing-and-using-oxygen-mix-torches
• Harris Products Group, “Which gas do you turn off first?” — https://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/en/Resources/Knowledge-Center/Tech-Tips/Tech-Tips-OLD/Which-gas-do-you-turn-off-first

Editor’s note: this walkthrough reflects published manufacturer instructions and dealer guidance as of 2026. Pressures, fittings, and procedures vary by torch model and gas supply — always follow the instruction sheet for your specific torch, your gas supplier’s guidance, and local fire and gas codes, and consult a qualified professional for your installation.