Bethlehem Sharp Flame Hand Torch: an adjustable surface-mix hand torch

The Bethlehem Sharp Flame Hand Torch is a stainless, single-stage surface-mix hand torch that produces an adjustable flame built to mimic the centerfire of the discontinued PM2D bench burner. It’s made for bringing a controllable flame to the work — assembly, spot heating, and boro — and comes in two neck lengths to suit how you reach into a piece.

What the surface-mix flame gives you

Like Bethlehem’s bench burners, this hand torch is surface-mix: fuel and oxygen meet at the face rather than premixing inside it, for a quiet, calm flame that’s easy to control. The design recreates the PM2D’s centerfire character in a hand-held form, so the flame is familiar to anyone who ran that bench burner. For the background on the mixing approach, see surface mix vs premix torches.

A hand torch for assembly and spot work

A hand torch is held and maneuvered rather than fixed to the bench, which makes it well suited to assembly, joins, spot heating, and off-mandrel work where a bench burner can’t reach. The flame is adjustable, and the handle is adjustable too. Two neck-length options — 4in and 7in — let you choose between a compact reach and more clearance into a larger piece. For when a hand torch is the right tool versus a bench burner, see bench vs hand torch.

Glass, fuel, and oxygen

It handles soft glass and boro and burns propane or natural gas with oxygen. At full flame, the catalog lists roughly 3 LPM propane (2–5 psi) and 10 LPM tanked oxygen (8–20 psi) — a modest appetite for a hand torch. Note the full-flame figure is given for tanked oxygen, so if you run a concentrator, confirm suitability with Bethlehem. Bethlehem doesn’t publish a jet count for this torch. See how many LPM does my torch need.

Where it sits in the Bethlehem lineup

This is Bethlehem’s hand-torch answer alongside its surface-mix bench range (Alpha, Star, STACKS, Bravo, Champion, Grand). Notably, it keeps the PM2D’s flame alive even though that bench burner has been retired and replaced by the Champion. Its quiet, controllable flame also makes it a sensible pick for shared spaces — see our quietest torches for shared studios roundup.

Before you buy

Budget for the whole system, not just the torch: oxygen (a concentrator or tanks), the correct propane or natural-gas regulator, flashback arrestors on both lines, didymium eyewear, and ventilation. New to plumbing a torch? Start with the fittings, hoses & connectors guide and the glass torch safety setup guide.

Editor’s note: flame and flow figures above reflect Bethlehem’s own catalog for the Sharp Flame Hand Torch (full-flame figures are given for tanked oxygen). Bethlehem doesn’t publish a jet count or current pricing, so confirm those — and concentrator suitability — with Bethlehem before purchasing.