GTT Cricket: the economical 5-jet surface-mix torch for soft glass and first-timers

The GTT Cricket is Glass Torch Technologies’ most economical bench burner — a single-stage, 5-jet surface-mix torch built to give first-time students and budget-minded beginners a clean, gentle flame without the cost of the rest of the line. One thing to be clear about up front: the Cricket is not a Triple Mix torch. It’s a surface-mix burner, but it doesn’t carry GTT’s patented Triple Mix flame, so think of it as an accessible entry point rather than the model to learn the signature GTT flame on.

What the surface-mix flame gives you

Like the rest of GTT’s bench torches, the Cricket is a surface-mix burner: fuel and oxygen meet at the face of the torch rather than premixing inside it, which gives a calmer, more forgiving flame than a premix starter and is less prone to a backfire “pop.” To understand why that matters for a learner, see surface mix vs premix torches. What the Cricket doesn’t do is replicate the Lynx-style Triple Mix flame — for that you’d look at the Bobcat or Cheetah.

Who the Cricket is for

The Cricket is aimed at beginners, intro classes, and soft-glass beadwork — anyone who wants an easy, economical first flame. It’s GTT’s friendliest price-of-entry, and the gentle flame and very low running pressures make it forgiving while you build basic torch habits. If you’re choosing your first torch, the best beginner glass torch guide and the how to choose a glass torch buyer’s guide are the place to start.

Glass, fuel, and oxygen

This is where the Cricket is genuinely clever for the money. It burns propane or natural gas with oxygen and is designed to get the best out of an inexpensive 5 LPM, 5 psi oxygen concentrator, while also running well on 10 LPM or tanked oxygen. It runs remarkably low — as low as 1/4 psi fuel and 3 psi oxygen — and GTT rates it working 1in solid boro, boro pendants up to 2in, and larger soft-glass pieces. If you’re deciding how to feed it, see oxygen concentrator vs tanks.

Where it sits in the GTT lineup

The Cricket is the bottom rung of GTT’s bench range — the odd one out as a non-Triple-Mix, budget-focused starter. The natural next step is a Triple Mix single-stage torch: the versatile Bobcat (which also runs happily on a single concentrator) or the bushy, high-heat Cheetah. From there the line scales up through the multi-stage Phantom and Mirage.

Before you buy

Budget for the whole system, not just the torch: oxygen (a small concentrator is ideal here), 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: spec details reflect GTT’s own materials. GTT doesn’t publish the Cricket’s current pricing, so confirm cost with GTT before purchasing. Note again that the Cricket is a surface-mix torch but not one of GTT’s patented Triple Mix models.