Herbert Arnold Mini Hand Torch

The Herbert Arnold Mini Hand Torch, model 126/20, is a small premix hand torch that Arnold builds for working the smallest glass and quartz instruments. Its job is a fine, concentrated needle flame, the kind you use on a tiny seal or a delicate detail rather than to heat a whole piece. It comes from Herbert Arnold, the German glass-machinery maker in Weilburg known for precise burners.

What it’s built for

This is a specialist hand torch for very small, fine work in glass and quartz, a focused tool rather than a general-purpose burner. Arnold’s catalog calls it a Mischgassystem, its term for premix: fuel and oxygen mix inside the torch, which is what lets so small a jet hold a sharp, hot point. Our catalog records it as a single-stage, intermediate-to-advanced torch. If you’re weighing the format, see bench vs hand torch, and for what premix changes at the bench, surface mix vs premix torches.

Jets and accessories

The torch ships with two curved copper jets with stainless inserts, 0.5 and 0.8 mm bore on the propane and natural-gas versions, and 0.3 and 0.5 mm on the hydrogen version. Arnold sells the rest of the range separately, which is where the torch earns its keep for a scientific shop:

• Replacement jets (126/20.1001) from 0.3 mm upward, EUR 40 each, with the larger sizes in stainless steel.
• Jewel-insert jets (126/20.1002), straight stainless jets with a jewel insert, down to 0.18 mm, at about EUR 90.
• A two-jet distributor (126/20.1000, EUR 170) that runs two jets at once.
• A stand (126/20.1006, EUR 175) with a heavy cast-iron foot, ball joint and height adjustment, if you want it fixed.
• Hose olives and reducers for connecting it to standard gas and oxygen hoses.

Prices are from Arnold’s 02/2025 price list, in euros excluding VAT.

Where it sits in Herbert Arnold’s hand torches

Our catalog carries three Herbert Arnold hand torches. The Premix Hand Torch, model 126/22, is the larger sibling: separate fine needle valves for gas and oxygen and an exchangeable upper part, shipping with three jets at 0.8, 1.0 and 1.3 mm. The Zenit Hand Torch is different again, a surface-mix 40 mm Zenit head on long hoses, aimed at reworking borosilicate.

The comparison worth carrying away: the Mini’s supplied bores, 0.5 mm and 0.8 mm (smaller still on hydrogen), start below its larger sibling’s smallest jet. It is not a cheaper route to the same flame, it is the finer end of the range.

Fuel, oxygen, and gas supply

Arnold builds it in three fuel versions, propane (126/20 PS), natural gas (ES) and hydrogen (WS), each run with oxygen and each listed at EUR 304 excluding VAT. A given torch runs the fuel it was built for, so order the version that matches your supply rather than planning to switch later.

Arnold publishes no pressures and no consumption for this torch, unlike its larger burners, so we record no oxygen figure. With bores this small the demand is modest, but size the supply from the work rather than a guess, using how many LPM does my torch need. Arnold recommends protection against reverse gas flow and flashback on its burners; fit the flashback protection your torch and gas supply call for.

Editor’s note: the model number, mix system, jets, accessories and euro prices come from Herbert Arnold’s burner catalog and its 02/2025 price list, as read on 2026-10-06. The price in the spec table is a US reference figure, not Arnold’s. Confirm the version, jets and current price with Herbert Arnold before purchasing.