Short answer: The best torch after a beginner torch is one that adds real heat and a wider flame range without leaping straight to a production burner, and that you can actually feed with the oxygen you have. Five bench torches sit squarely in that intermediate zone: the GTT Lynx, the GTT Cheetah, the Nortel Red Max, the Bethlehem Star, and the Bethlehem Bravo (the last of which crosses into higher-tier territory on both price and oxygen demand). If you are graduating from a Minor, an Alpha, a Bobcat, or a Mini CC, these are the torches that give you room to grow into bigger boro and more detail work.
If you are still mapping out the whole setup rather than just the torch, start with the complete glass torch buyer’s guide. This article focuses on the second torch decision specifically.
What “intermediate” actually means in a torch
A beginner bench torch, like the Carlisle Mini CC or the GTT Bobcat, is built to be forgiving: a gentle, bushy flame that is kind to uneven rotation and easy on a modest oxygen supply. You outgrow it in two directions.
First, heat and flame range. As you push into solid boro, larger beads, and finer detail, you want a torch that can throw a hotter, more penetrating flame and dial down to a small pinpoint for stringer and dot work. The step-up torches here give you more of both ends of that range.
Second, oxygen appetite. This is the honest catch nobody mentions at the beginner stage: a bigger flame eats more oxygen. A torch that runs happily on a single small concentrator at the entry level may starve on the same supply once you move up a tier. Community guidance is consistent on this: at around 5 LPM these intermediate torches will light and run, but not at full capacity, while roughly 8 to 10 LPM lets most of them reach full output (see Lampwork Etc.). Plan the oxygen before you plan the torch. Our oxygen concentrator LPM guide walks through matching supply to demand.
All five torches below are surface mix, the same family most beginner bench torches belong to, so the handling logic carries over. If you want the difference spelled out, see surface mix vs premix torches.
The five torches at a glance
Specs and prices below are derived from our catalog, which pulls from the manufacturers’ own pages and manuals. Oxygen figures are estimates, not precise operating specs (see the note under the table), and prices move with time and configuration, so confirm the current spec with the maker before you buy.
| Torch | Price | Jets / ports | Stages | Oxygen (estimate) | Mix | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem Star | ~$446 (mid) | 11 total | Single | ~20 LPM ceiling | Surface mix | Soft glass and boro rod up to about 22mm |
| GTT Lynx | ~$525 (mid) | 7 | Single | ~9.5 LPM | Surface mix (Triple Mix) | Detail work and solid boro up to about 2 inches |
| GTT Cheetah | ~$645 (mid) | 13 total | Single | ~13 LPM | Surface mix (Triple Mix) | More heat, broader flame, boro up to about 2.5 inches |
| Nortel Red Max | ~$712 (mid) | 45-port label (see note) | Two | Not published | Surface mix | Two-stage versatility with an interchangeable top fire |
| Bethlehem Bravo | ~$1,171 (high) | 18 total | Two | ~30 LPM ceiling | Surface mix | The top of this range, crossing into higher-tier work |
Editor’s note: oxygen figures are estimates derived from manufacturer flow tables at the largest usable flame (propane basis; natural-gas consumption runs roughly 2.5 times higher). The Bethlehem “ceiling” numbers are full-flame consumption ceilings, not the minimum you must supply to run the torch. The Nortel Red Max has no oxygen figure we can stand behind, so we publish none for it. Treat every number here as a planning estimate and confirm current specs with the maker.
GTT Lynx: the Triple Mix detail all-rounder
The GTT Lynx is a seven-jet, single-stage bench torch and, by GTT’s own framing, the first of its Triple Mix torches. Its distinguishing feature is that the oxygen streams are independently controllable through separate valves, which is what gives it a notably wide flame range for a torch this size. It runs a small, hot, penetrating pinpoint for detail work and dials down soft and clean for delicate soda-lime.
Its sweet spot is detail and moderate solid boro: GTT positions it for boro up to about two inches solid. It is not built for large boro tubes or big marbles, so if your ambitions run toward heavy tubing, look further up the range. On oxygen, the catalog estimate is roughly 9.5 LPM at the largest usable flame, which makes the Lynx one of the more supply-friendly torches in this group. That combination, wide flame range and modest oxygen appetite, is why it is such a common first “real” torch for artists moving past a beginner burner. Source: GTT.
GTT Cheetah: more heat, a broader flame
The GTT Cheetah packs a lot of heat into a small torch. It carries 13 ports in total: a three-port center fire sitting inside a ten-port outer ring, also a Triple Mix surface-mix design. Compared with the Lynx, the Cheetah trades some of the needle-fine precision for a broader, hotter flame. GTT describes a flame that ranges from pencil-sized up to about three-quarters of an inch wide by twenty inches long, hot and penetrating for boro up to roughly 2.5 inches solid, and it works both soft glass and borosilicate.
The trade-off against the Lynx is oxygen: the catalog estimate is about 13 LPM at the largest usable flame, meaningfully more than the Lynx wants. If you have the oxygen to feed it, the Cheetah is the more capable of the two for larger solid work while staying in the same mid price band. Source: GTT.
Nortel Red Max: two-stage workhorse with an interchangeable top fire
The Nortel Red Max is a two-stage surface-mix bench burner, and it is the first genuinely two-stage torch on this list. Two-stage means separate control over the outer and center portions of the flame, which gives you finer command over flame shape and intensity than a single-stage burner.
A note on its port count, because Nortel’s own materials are not internally consistent: Nortel labels the lower head a 45-port burner, while the same page describes it as rings of 16 and 27 ports, which total 43. We report Nortel’s label and the discrepancy rather than inventing a center port to reconcile the two. The practical point stands regardless: this is a substantial burner head.
The Red Max’s signature flexibility is its interchangeable top fire. It accepts a top-mounted Minor, Mega Minor, or premix head as a separately controlled second torch, so a single bench setup can cover a genuinely wide range of work. We do not publish an oxygen estimate for the Red Max: the figures we could find were not solid enough to stand behind, and a wrong number is worse than none. Budget generously and size your supply from the maker’s guidance. Source: Nortel.
Bethlehem Star and Bethlehem Bravo: single-stage versus two-stage
Bethlehem gives you two clean points on the intermediate curve.
The Bethlehem Star is a single-stage stainless surface-mix bench burner with six center gas jets and five outer gas jets, eleven total. Bethlehem lists 5 LPM of propane and 20 LPM of tanked oxygen at full flame, and rates it for 22mm boro rod and 36mm heavy-wall tube. Read that 20 LPM correctly: it is the consumption ceiling at full flame, not the minimum you must supply. The Star is the most affordable torch in this group and a strong, no-drama step up for soft glass and mid-size boro. Source: Bethlehem.
The Bethlehem Bravo is where the intermediate range ends and higher-tier work begins. It is a two-stage surface-mix burner that replaced the older Barracuda, with a six-jet center fire and a twelve-jet outer fire on a one-inch face, eighteen jets total, and it works both soft and borosilicate glass. Its catalog price puts it in the high band, not the mid band, and its oxygen estimate is about 30 LPM tanked at full flame (again, a consumption ceiling, not a floor). Notably, the Bravo can still operate on household gas at 1/4 psi and on oxygen concentrators at 7 psi, so its flexibility is real even though its ceiling is high. Think of the Bravo as the torch you buy when you already know you are heading toward serious boro, not as a mid-priced all-rounder. Source: Bethlehem.
Feeding the step up: oxygen is the real constraint
The single most common mistake at this stage is buying more torch than your oxygen can feed. Every torch here wants more oxygen than a forgiving beginner burner did. The community rule of thumb bears repeating: around 5 LPM will light these torches but leave them short of full capacity, while roughly 8 to 10 LPM lets most of them reach full output. The Bethlehem full-flame figures (20 LPM for the Star, 30 LPM for the Bravo) are ceilings you approach at maximum flame, not thresholds you must hit to run the torch at all.
Practically, that means a single mid-size concentrator can run the Lynx comfortably and the Star or Cheetah adequately, while the Bravo and a fully open Red Max push toward two concentrators or tanked oxygen. Size the supply first; the torch is only as good as the oxygen behind it. Our oxygen concentrator LPM guide covers the details.
How to choose: matching the torch to your glass, bench, and gas
- You mostly do soft glass and detail, on a modest oxygen supply: the GTT Lynx. Widest flame range for the oxygen, and the friendliest appetite in the group.
- You want more heat for larger solid boro and can feed it: the GTT Cheetah. Broader, hotter flame at the same mid price, in exchange for more oxygen.
- You want two-stage control and a torch that can wear a second head: the Nortel Red Max. The interchangeable top fire makes one bench cover a lot of ground.
- You want the most torch for the least money and work soft glass plus mid-size boro: the Bethlehem Star. The value pick of the five.
- You already know you are heading into serious boro: the Bethlehem Bravo. It is the top of this range and priced accordingly; buy it as a deliberate reach, not an incremental upgrade.
Whichever you pick, match it to the glass you actually work, the oxygen you can actually supply, and the fuel plumbed to your bench. For a deeper look at the boro end specifically, see the best torch for borosilicate. This article informs your decision; it does not replace the manufacturer’s instructions or the advice of a qualified professional for your specific setup, and the manufacturer’s manual always takes precedence on pressures, fittings, and flame settings.
Related guides
- How to choose a glass torch
- Best beginner glass torch
- Oxygen concentrator LPM guide
- Surface mix vs premix torches
- Best torch for borosilicate
Sources
- GTT, “Lynx”: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/lynx
- GTT, “Cheetah”: https://www.glasstorchtech.com/cheetah
- Nortel, “Red Max”: https://www.nortelglass.com/red-max/
- Bethlehem Burners, “Star”: https://www.bethlehemburners.com/torches/star/
- Bethlehem Burners, “Bravo”: https://www.bethlehemburners.com/torches/bravo/
- Lampwork Etc., torch and oxygen discussion: https://www.lampworketc.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-235087.html