Carlisle Black Widow: the selectable-centerfire torch on a 360° base

The Carlisle Black Widow is a 4-inlet bench torch with an unusual amount of choice built in: its center fire is selectable. You can run it as a premix center (a #3 or #5 tip) or a surface-mix center (‘Artistic’ or ‘Hi Oxy’), all on a fully 360-degree adjustable base. One torch, in other words, that can lean toward a combination flame or toward pure surface-mix depending on how you set it up.

A selectable center fire

This is the Black Widow’s defining trait. Most torches commit to one mixing style; the Black Widow lets you pick for the center flame. A premix center (#3 or #5) runs hot and detailed like the combination CC family; a surface-mix center (‘Artistic’ or ‘Hi Oxy’) gives the calmer, face-mixed character instead. To understand what that choice actually changes, see surface mix vs premix torches and soaking vs penetrating flame.

Control and positioning

The 4-inlet design lets the fires be fed and metered independently, useful for foot-controller setups and separate command of center and outer. And the 360-degree adjustable base gives you full freedom to position and angle the torch, so you can put the flame exactly where the work needs it. That combination of selectable flame and free positioning is what makes the Black Widow flexible for production and goblet work.

Who it’s for

The Black Widow suits intermediate-to-advanced makers doing production, goblet, and general soft-glass and boro work who want to switch the center fire’s character on one torch. If you choose a premix center, it brings the usual combination-style care at startup and shutdown. It isn’t a first torch, beginners are better served by the gentler Mini CC; if you’re still mapping the range, see how to choose a glass torch.

Glass, fuel & oxygen

The Black Widow handles soft (soda-lime) glass and boro, and burns propane, natural gas, or hydrogen, hydrogen being especially relevant to the premix centerfire options. Carlisle doesn’t publish the Black Widow’s jet count or exact oxygen flow in our source data, so we won’t put numbers on it, confirm those with Carlisle and match them to your supply before buying. For sizing your system, see how many LPM does my torch need.

Where it sits in the Carlisle lineup

The Black Widow is one of Carlisle’s most configurable bench torches, sitting alongside the combination CC, CC+, CC++, and GR and the surface-mix Hellcat, Wildcat, and Mini CC. It also serves as the base for the larger Lucio Grande. Its niche is choice, the ability to set the center fire’s mixing style to the work.

Before you buy

Budget for the whole system, not just the torch: oxygen (a concentrator or tanks), the correct propane, natural-gas, or hydrogen regulator, flashback protection matched to your torch and gas supply, didymium or boro-rated eyewear matched to your glass, and ventilation. New to plumbing a torch? Start with the fittings, hoses & connectors guide and the glass torch safety setup guide.

Editor’s note: spec details reflect Carlisle’s own materials. Carlisle doesn’t publish the Black Widow’s exact jet count or oxygen flow in our source data, so confirm those specifics with Carlisle before purchasing.