Herbert Arnold Zenit Hand Torch

The Herbert Arnold Zenit Hand Torch takes the Zenit bench burner’s 40 mm surface-mix head off its base and puts it in your hand. Arnold calls it a high-capacity hand torch (Hochleistungs-Handbrenner): the burner head is separated from the control unit, which mounts on a bracket at the burner support, and gas reaches the head through flexible DW-tested hoses 1,600 mm long. Herbert Arnold builds it for reworking borosilicate glass, and the hydrogen version for quartz too. It comes from the German maker behind the Zenit bench burner and its concentric-ring approach.

What the surface-mix flame gives you

Like the Zenit bench burner, this hand torch mixes fuel and oxygen at the face rather than inside the body, giving a clean, controllable flame with the Zenit family’s reputation for quiet, see quietest torches for shared studios. Control works the same way too: ball valves and one twist grip, but they sit on the control unit, not on the torch, so the part you hold is just the head and its handle, 1.2 kg. For the background on surface mix versus premix, see surface mix vs premix torches.

Who it’s for

The Zenit Hand Torch suits intermediate-to-advanced makers doing hand-held borosilicate work and assembly, where a fixed bench flame is awkward: reworking a large piece, joining, or reaching a seal on work already mounted. As a premium German hand torch it isn’t a budget first burner. If you’re choosing a format, see bench vs hand torch.

Versions, pressures and demand

Arnold builds three versions, all with the 40 mm head, a maximum flame of about 40 mm and a total length of 470 mm. Figures are from Arnold’s burner catalog (page 6) and its 02/2025 price list, read on 2026-10-06; prices are in euros, excluding VAT.

In PSI the fuel side is low (50 mbar is about 0.7 psi, 22 mbar about 0.3 psi, 500 mbar about 7 psi) and the oxygen is 1.5 to 2 bar, about 22 to 29 psi (our conversions). The maximum oxygen draw on the propane version, 3.5 m3/h, is about 58 LPM, the estimate on this page; that is the ceiling at the largest flame, not what a working flame uses, but it puts the torch in tank or bulk territory rather than on a single concentrator. See how many LPM does my torch need and oxygen concentrator vs tanks.

Arnold’s catalog lists no compressed-air connection on the hand torch, unlike the propane and natural-gas Zenit bench burners; an earlier listing described an air version, so ask Arnold if air matters to you.

Before you buy

Budget for the whole system, not just the torch: oxygen (tanks or bulk), a regulator for your fuel, flashback protection matched to your torch and gas supply, eyewear selected for the glass and process, with quartz-specific protection when working quartz, and ventilation. Arnold recommends protection against reverse gas flow and flashback, and its gas connections are metric (9 mm gland on the fuel, 6 mm on the oxygen), so settle fittings with Herbert Arnold before you order. Its terms limit defect claims to 12 months. New to plumbing a torch? Start with the fittings, hoses & connectors guide and the glass torch safety setup guide.

Editor’s note: versions, pressures, consumption, weights and euro prices come from Herbert Arnold’s burner catalog and 02/2025 price list, as read on 2026-10-06. The quiet-flame reputation comes from earlier reads of Arnold’s materials and listings, not from the data sheet. Confirm the configuration and current price with Herbert Arnold before purchasing.