Hi I am trying to find a source for the glass that glass blowers use
to create their goods We are interested in using it to blend with
jewelry Any help will be graciously accepted Georgia area Thank you
Michael
Michael, I currently incorporate glass - blown and sculptured into my
metalwork in addition to lampwork beadmaking.
If you are looking for Gaffer and float glass used in larger scale
works then there are alot of places you can use. I would recommend
Olympic Color Rods www.glasscolor.com.
If you are looking for Italian, Czech, Japanese or clear and colored
Borosilicate (Pyrex) in small diameter rod form that is used by
small sculptural glassworkers and lampwork bead makers then your
best bet is Frantz Art Glass www.frantzartglass.com They are a super
company to deal with.
I have also used the following companies on and off depending on
what I need:
Sundance Art Glass www.artglass1.com
Arrow Springs www.arrowsprings.com
CRLoo www.crloo.com
Wale Apparatus www.waleapparatus.com
www.checkglass.com (no this isn;t a typo)
Industry pricing for most of these types of glass are pretty
standard across the board. But I know right now that Olympic has
decided not to carry Kugler Colors anymore so all of their stock is
50% off until the end of the year.
Hope this helps. If you have any further questions feel free to
contact me off list.
Cheers-
Carree
Hi I am trying to find a source for the glass that glass blowers use to create their goods We are interested in using it to blend with jewelry Any help will be graciously accepted Georgia area Thank you
Michael, if you mean flint glass or pyrex rod, which is used in
‘lampwork,’ scientific supply houses carry it. You might try Fisher
Scientific (worldwide) or Tri-Ess (Glendale, CA.)
If you mean blowpipe work, I dunno.
David Barzilay, Lord of the Rings
HI Michael, there are two types of glass, hard (like borosilicates
used in laboratory glassware) and soft (used for beads). There are
websites for bullseye and moretti glass companies on the web and
smaller companies that supply glass in rod, tube or sheet form.
These are soft glasses and the two most known suppliers (there are
others). I’m not sure who supplies the hard glasses. You should
probably be aware that not all glasses are compatible and you need to
check the coefficient of expansion (COE) for compatibility. Hope
this helps Eileen
HI Michael, there are two types of glass, hard (like borosilicates used in laboratory glassware) and soft (used for beads). . . .
Eileen and all: There are US companies making colored borosilicate
glass for lampworkers (glass beadmakers) and some incredibly
beautiful work being done with it.
The glass IS hard (think pyrex) and requires higher temperatures and
longer working times for beadmaking than the soda lime (soft) glass
most commonly used for beads.
Do a search on the web for borosilicate and beads to check out some
beauties.
I’ve been doing some work using borosilicate beads made by Kristen
Frantzen Orr and will try to get some images up on my website soon
for those who are interested.
Pam Chott
Song of the Phoenix
You will want to use soft glass - either moretti, effrette,
bullseye, or spectrum 96. Note also that because of COE differences,
you are going to making a glass item with small bits of metal in it.
You will not have a survivable metal item with bits of glass in it.
Copper seems to work very well, as does very thin (<.5mm) silver.
Gold leaf works very well provided it is encased.
Mike Aurelius
Pam, I suppose that I could look it up easily enough, but since youa
re right here 
What is the temperature between the payrex and
softer (bead?) glass melting temperatures? And are either close to
that of enameling? Tom
Tom-
Firstly, please note that all temperatures are approximate, give or
take a few degrees.
Enamels fire between 1050F and 1450F depending on the enamel.
Soft (Italian, Czech, stained glass, etc) gets soft around 1337F
with a COE (coefficient of expansion) that can vary anywhere from 82
to 120 depending on the manufacture.
Pyrex (Borosilicate) gets soft around 1400 with a COE of 32-33.
Soft glass is annealed around 1022F and hard glass around 1000F.
Does this help?
Cheers-
Carree
Soft glass anneals at 960 F and borosilicate anneals at 1100 F. Lead
based glass anneals at a lower temperature, around 850 F.
Mike Aurelius
since youare right here :-) What is the temperature between the payrex and softer (bead?) glass melting temperatures? And are either close to that of enameling? Tom
Hi Tom. It appears, fortunately, that someone else has answered
this question here. See Carree Syrek’s post for that
Thanks Carree. (Orchid rocks!)
I’m not a glassworker. Some of my jewelry incorporates handmade
glass beads by (mostly) Kristen Frantzen Orr. She is more widely
recognized for her beautiful florals [
http://members.cox.net/kforrglass/ ].
Kristen has also been working with the borosilicate glass which I
enjoy as much for the incredible iridescence it sometimes displays as
well as the character and variety of colors that can be achieved
through varying the type of flame (oxidizing, reducing) and the
working and annealing temperatures.
Metals are used in the highly proprietary formulas for colored
borosilicate glass and the colors are developed in working - as a
result of the formation of metal oxides. Although a discussion of
this would be quite technical, an understanding of what happens isn’t
necessary to an appreciation of the effects!
Here you can see an image of a set of her borosilicate beads [
http://www.songofthephoenix.com/gallery_1.php3 - scroll down to #4 ]
I have still to add images of the work I referred to in my earlier
posting. These will include borosilicate glass beads featuring
interior patterns and surface textures as well as the more familiar
“wound” beads.
Thanks for listening. I can really get going sometimes. :-}
Pam Chott