Arrow Springs - 331 #2 Industrial Drive, Placerville, CA 95667
phone: (800) 899-0689 or (530) 344-9219, Fax: (530) 344-9216; e-mail: [email protected]

Supplier and manufacturer of tools, equipment and glass for lampworkers. Has online catalog with prices.

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Andy Company - No.2-110, DongFeng Road, Zhengzhou City, Henan, China
Phone: 86-138-3855 0579; e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Andy Company, headed by Andy Lau, is a Chinese supplier of refractory materials and electric heating elements for glass furnaces. This seems to be the go-to place for inexpensive Chinese molybdenum disilicide heating elements. Several people I trust have recommended them.

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AP Green

Manufacturer of refractory materials for glass furnaces. Now part of a conglomerate consisting of refractory companies Harbison Walker, North American Refractories, and APGreen (among others) called RHI Refractories. (See below on page.)

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Aura Lens Products - 51 8th Street North, Sauk Rapids, MN 56379
phone: 800-281-2872 or 320-253-0919; fax: 320/253-1239; e-mail: [email protected]

Manufacturer of top quality safety glasses for various types of glassworking. Widely acknowledged to be the best quality glasses available for working with glass. They have different lens types available for different types of glassworking (make sure you get the right ones for what you are doing) and a wide variety of frame styles. Aura recently added an economy line in response to popular demand. Their website contains some of the best information I know to be available about safety lenses for glassworking. I use their AUR 186's for lampworking and their AUR 99's for furnace work.

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Austin Thin Films Inc. - 800 Palovan Dr., Suite 150, Round Rock, TX 78664
phone: 800-268-6163 or 512-246-1122; fax: 512-246-1133; e-mail: [email protected]

The maker of DichroMagic dichroic glass. Available direct from them (wholesale only) or from many glass distributors, such as C&R Loo.

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BNZ Materials Inc. - 6901 South Pierce Street, Suite 260, Littleton, CO 80128
phone: (303) 978-1199; fax: (303) 978-0308; E-mail: [email protected]

BNZ According to what I was told by someone from the company, BNZ is the second largest manufacturer of IFB (insulating firebrick) in the world. They also manufacture Marinite, Transite, and calcium silicate structural insulations. Use the link to their website to find the appropriate contact person and address for whatever materials you are interested in. (They are different for the different company divisions.) Something unique they have available is extra large IFB. It isn't cheap, but can be very useful in the right situation. Sizes range up to 24 x 9 x 3 inches.

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C&R Loo - 1085 Essex Ave., Richmond, CA 94801
phone: 800-227-1780 or 510-232-0276; fax 510-232-7810; e-mail: [email protected]

Supplier of colored and dichroic glass, and supplies for furnace working, lampworking, and kiln casting. Wide variety of colored glass and supplies, but have a reputation for screwing up orders. Unfortunately, my experience with them indicates this reputation is well deserved. They seem to be getting a little better at keeping their website up to date.

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Cherrywood Mold Shop - 2725 Millbranch Road, Kenova, WV 25530
phone: 304-453-2279

Walter Evans makes good quality wooden shaping blocks that are reasonably priced.

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Coatings by Sandberg - 856 N. Commerce Street, Orange, California 92867
phone: 714-538-0888; fax: 714-538-2767 e-mail: [email protected]

Source of high quality dichroic glass. Good customer service and an excellent product. My personal experience with them and their products has been very good and from what I've heard about them from others, I'm not alone. Highly recommended.

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Correll Glass Studio - Matthews Road, Conway, MA 01341
phone: 413-369-4283; fax: 413-369-4769; e-mail: [email protected]

Charlie Correll makes and sells recuperative glass furnaces, control systems, glory holes, and other glass studio equipment. Unfortunately, his website doesn't display correctly in a lot of browsers (like mine), but it is still worth a look. There is some good info there about burner systems, etc.

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CR Machine - 30 Danforth Rd., Rindge, NH 03461
phone: 603.899.9871; fax: 603.899.6591; e-mail: [email protected]

Makers of Nickelite blowpipes and punties. Custom machining services also available.

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Cutting Edge Products - PO Box 3809, Chico, CA 95927
phone or fax: 530-342-1970; fax: 530 342-0771; e-mail: [email protected]

Makers of high quality glass tools. Their diamond shears have replaced my Jim Moore shears as my favorites. These shears cut through glass like a red hot knife through soft butter. If their jacks work as nicely as their shears (and I've heard they do), I can't wait to use a pair. Jeff Lindsay, the owner of Cutting Edge, used to build custom mountain bikes (Mountain Goat). He was also one of the first people inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame (1989) which I think is pretty cool even if those guys can't handle something with an engine. (I used to race off-road motorcycles. :::grin:::)

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Denson Crystal Repair - 17 Glen Ave., Corning, NY 14830
phone: 607-962-1980; e-mail: [email protected]

Not really a supplier, but a useful addition to this list anyway. Denson's does glass repair work, which most glass studios avoid (or SHOULD avoid) like the plague. If you have a chipped, scratched, or otherwise damaged piece of glass that needs repair, check with Densons. Their family has been making and repairing glass since 1914. If you're a glassblower who who wants to turn and run when someone walks in your studio with a damaged piece of glass, send them here instead.

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Duralite - 15 School Street, Riverton, CT 06065
phone: 888-432-8797 or 860-379-3113; fax: 860-379-5879; e-mail: [email protected]

If you need wire heating elements (nichrome, Kanthal, etc.) check with Duralite. They will make custom elements and can supply replacements for virtually any oven or furnace (like Denver's), usually at a much lower cost than replacements from the oven or furnace manufacturer.

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East Bay Color/East Bay Batch - 169 South First Ave., Richmond, Ca 94804
phone: 800-322-6567; fax: 888-322-3337

Distributor of Gaffer Colour Rods (from New Zealand - hence the funny spelling) and casting glass. They also carry color rods for both lampworking and furnace work that are made in the Czech Republic. East Bay produces several mixes of their own glass batch, and sells the new Gaffer batch as well. The Gaffer batch that East Bay sells is made in Holland by Phillips and is shipped from several different locations around the US.

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Engineered Ceramics - PO Box 155, Gilberts, IL 60136
phone: 847-428-4455, (800) 756-8794; fax: 847-428-0158

This company makes 90 percent alumina crucibles designed for metal casting, but they work well for glass too. If you pay the mold fee, they will make whatever size/shape you want. However, be aware that paying the mold fee does NOT necessarily mean the mold is yours, nor keep some middleman from profiting by selling crucibles made from a mold you paid for.

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ETS Schaefer - 8050 Highland Pointe Parkway, Macedonia, Ohio 44056
phone: 1-800-863-5400 or 330-468-6600; fax: 330-468-6610

Manufacturer of refractory ceramic fiber and board. They used to have the best prices on the planet but they increased some of them by about 50% in 2000. Their prices were such a bargain before that they are still pretty good when compared with other suppliers. Still the cheapest place I know to buy colloidal silica in small quantities - $55 for 5 gallons. Lots of places charge that price for ONE gallon.

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Fantasilaboratoriet - Sodra Orsjo 210 SE 38297, Orsjo-Sweden
Tel/fax +46 481 200 40 ; Mob. 070 555 90 40; e-mail: [email protected]

Makers of wooden molds, blocks, and tools (overlay spades, foot-sticks etc.) for glassblowers. They do custom work and ship worldwide. Very nice website showing their work with the text in your choice of three languages, Swedish, English, or French.

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Gabbert Cullet Company - 700 Cherry Avenue, PO Box 63, Williamstown, WV 26187
Phone: 304-375-6435; e-mail: [email protected]

Gabbert is the place where many studios get their colored glass cullet for remelting. The glass normally originates at various factories in West Virginia and is the scrap from their operations. Be aware that few of these colors will be compatible with the typical clear glass used by most studios, but if you can get around that by not mixing it with your clear, it can be a fairly easy way to melt color.

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Goldschmidt Industrial Chemical Company - 941 Robinson Highway, McDonald, PA 15057-2213
1-800-426-7273; e-mail: [email protected]

Supplier of stannous oxide (black tin oxide) and other tin chemicals. Larger quantities only, typically starting at 25 kilos and up. Very good prices if you can use that much material.

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Hi Temp Refractories Co. - 2250 N. Lark Dr., Fenton, MO 63026
phone: 636-677-2200

Refractories supplier - bricks, fiber, etc. Very good prices. Ask for Tom.

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HIS Glassworks - 91 Webb Cove Rd., Asheville, NC 28804
phone: 800-914-7463, 828-254-2559; fax: 828-254-2581

Supplier of diamond grinding wheels and equipment, Hxtal glass cement, and other useful things.

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Hot Block Tools - 3710 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15201
phone: 412-683-1700, fax: 412-683-6622, e-mail: [email protected]

Good quality wooden shaping blocks and molds at a reasonable price and turn around time. Any product make from wood/cork for the glass worker.

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Hub Consolidated - 690 Route 73, Orwell, VT 05760
phone: 802-948-2209; fax: 802-948-2215; e-mail: [email protected]

Glass studio equipment, including furnaces, glory holes, etc. They also sell RHI refractories (formerly AP Green and Harbison-Walker) products and they recently added furnace control equipment to the line of products they sell.

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Joppa Glassworks - P.O. Box 202, Joppa Rd., Warner, NH 03278
phone: 603-456-3569; fax: 603-456-2138 ; e-mail: [email protected]

Manufacturer of the Giberson Ceramic Burner Head. Dudley Giberson also sells electric kiln elements and other glass type stuff. He has a unique catalog called The Joppa Glassworks Catalog of Fact and Knowledge that is full of useful information for someone getting started in glass (as well as for those who have been doing it for a while). He recently published a book about equipment building that is available from him, too. (See my Books Page.)

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LaClede Christy Clay Products - PO Box 580, Owensville, MO 65066
phone: 573-437-2132

Manufacturer of glass melting crucibles in various compositions, depending on your glass formula. Mullite and AZS crucibles. They have a downloadable catalog of their commonly available sizes here. Widely used by glass studios in the U.S., the quality is excellent but they've become a bit pricey over the last few years.

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Larkin Refractory Solutions - 2331 Varkel Way, Lithonia, Georgia 30058
phone: 678-336-7090 or 800-898-4532; Fax: 678-336-7094; e-mail: [email protected]

According to their website: "Larkin Refractory Solutions has been a supporter of ceramic and metallurgical artists since its inception. Through our vast inventory of refractory products, coupled with almost four decades of technical knowledge, we have established ourselves with potters, glass blowers and fabricators, and metallurgical casters of aluminum, bronze, copper, and iron sculptures as THE place to obtain refractory products and knowledge."

According to my experience the folks at Larkin know their stuff, are very nice to deal with, and their prices are very reasonable. They also have special deals on various refractories now and then so it could pay off to ask if they have any specials going when you talk to them. Highly recommended.

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Mason Corporation - Schererville, IN
ph: 800-326-3075 ext. 111 ; fax: 219-322-3611; e-mail: [email protected]

Manufacturer of tin chemicals such as stannous oxide and stannous chloride (for fuming). Will sell in lots down to 5 lbs. with discounts for larger quantities.

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Jim Moore - PO Box 30936, Seattle, WA 98103
phone: 206-440-9420

Jim Moore makes excellent quality tools for hot glass working. His diamond shears are a work of art. His tools are now carried by Olympic Color Rods (below).

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Olympic Color Rods - 818 John Street, Seattle, WA 98109
phone: 800-445-7742, 206-343-7336; fax: 206-343-2292; e-mail - [email protected]

Olympic carryies a wide variety of colored glass, tools, and supplies, primarily for furnace work, as well as Moretti colored glass rod for lampworking. They have online color charts which are very useful (within the limitations of different monitors, of course). Olympic also sells glass batch and other things.

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Pine Ridge Enterprises - PO Box 121, Paradise, CA 95967
phone: (530) 877-9793; email: [email protected]

Tom Ash at Pine Ridge makes "Whisper" ceramic head ribbon burners for glass furnaces and glory holes. Quiet and hot - a very nice product. Tom also builds a variety of other nice hot shop equipment.

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RHI Refractories - Cherrington Corporate Center 400 Fairway Drive, Moon Township, PA 15108
phone: (412) 375-6600

Now the big dog in the refractories field. A combination of the former Harbison-Walker, North American Refractories, APGreen, and probably some other companies as well. (Where was the Justice Department when this company was formed??) They used to have a pretty good website with a lot of information about their products. Unfortunately, their current website can best be described as useless crap.

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Spruce Pine Batch Co. - PO Box 159, Burnsville Highway, Spruce Pine, NC 28777
phone: 828-765-9876; fax: 828-765-9888; e-mail: [email protected]

Makers of Spruce Pine pelletized glass batch. Distributor of Kugler, Ullman, Gaffer, and Reichenbach color rods, frits and powders. Distributor of Glo-Glass fluorescent glass color. The main batch maker for studios in the U.S., Spruce Pine also mixes custom batch fomulas on request.

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Steinert Industries - 1507 Franklin Avenue - Kent, OH 44240
phone: 330-678-0028 or 1-800-727-7473; fax 330-678-8238; e-mail: [email protected]

Blowpipes, punties, glassworking tools, and optic molds. They will do custom work too. Online catalog and a huge list of places that teach glass classes.

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Standard Ceramic Supply Co. - PO Box 4435, Pittsburgh, PA 15205-0435
phone 412-276-6333; fax 412-276-7124; e-mail: [email protected]

Supplier of clay and raw ceramic materials.

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Thermal Ceramics - P.O. Box 923, Augusta, Ga 30903
phone: 706-796-4200; fax: 706-796-4398; e-mail: [email protected]

Manufacturer of Kaowool and other refractory materials.

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Unifrax Corporation - 2351 Whirlpool Street, Niagara Falls, NY 14305-2413
phone 716-278-3800; fax 716-278-3900

Manufacturer of Fiberfrax refractory insulating materials. They have sales offices all over the USA and the world so check their website for the one nearest you. They also have product prices available on their website, which is something I personally like a lot.

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Wale Apparatus Co. - 400 Front St., PO Box D, Hellertown, PA 18055
phone: 610-838-7047 or 800-334-9253, fax: 610-838-7440; e-mail: [email protected]

Lampworking tools and supplies geared primarily toward scientific glassblowing but have gotten into carrying a lot of tools and supplies for beadmaking in the last few years. Carry Moretti/Effetre color rod and Northstar borosilicate color rods.

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Wilt Industries - Route 8, Lake Pleasant, NY 12108
phone: 800-232-9458, 518-548-4961; fax 518-548-5504; e-mail: [email protected]

Manufacturer of glass shop (lampworking) equipment and ovens. They also sell torches, tools, and other glassworking equipment. What they sell is geared primarily toward scientific glassblowing, but much of the equipment can be used for artistic stuff as well. In the scientific glassblowing world, Wilt annealing ovens are generally acknowledged to be the best ovens made. (And top dawg Dan Wilt is a helluva nice guy, too.) Not a fly-by-night outfit cashing in on the recent glassworking boom, these guys have been around for many decades. Highly recommended.

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The Thomas Register of American Manufacturers - The Thomas Register is a directory of North American manufacturers of virtually everything imaginable. Available in most libraries, there is also an online version. The print version consists of around 20 very large volumes, which gives an indication of how many companies are listed here (according to their website, 156,914 of them). If you have an idea what you are looking for but don't know where to start looking - start here. You need to register to use their website, but it is free and only takes a minute. Probably the most valuable resource available for anyone trying to find a product, manufacturer, or supplier.