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Glass and General Beadmaking Supplies

[Links to online glass color charts.]

 

	Wale Apparatus    Glass, all kinds of tools, supplies, torches, and the like. We love these guys. Located in central Pennsylvania.
	Arrow Springs  Glass, torches, tools, etc. Located in California.

	Coatings by Sandberg   Manufacturers of dichroic glass. Buy in bulk from Sandberg, explore new products, and study their FAQ.
	Double Helix Glassworks makes metal-laden glass that is compatible with Moretti/Effetre.
	Spiral Dance Design for frit and shards. Interesting web site!
	Delphi   All manner of supplies, glass, kits, and torches, located in Lansing, MI. Pleasant site, well organized.
	C. R. Loo  Has all kinds of glass and supplies. Located in California.
	Howaco Glass in Grand Rapids MI. Full line of glass and supplies.
	Glasscraft, Inc. Located in Colorado. All kinds of glass and supplies.
	Generations Glass Art & Lampworking Supplies in North Carolina. Ignore the website design, if you can.
	Auralens  Eyewear, glass, other supplies. Located in Minnesota.
	Ed Hoy's  No online catalog.
	Timberwolf Studios  Moretti/Effetre glass. Located in Massachusetts.
	Heritage Glass, in New Braunfels, Texas.
	Centre deVerre  Kilns, torches, books, sandblasters. Located in New Hampshire.
	Glass Daddy   Source for Lauscha glass from Germany.
	Steinert Industries, Inc.  Glassblowing tools, glass, located in Kent, OH.
	Sundance   Glass and other supplies. Located in California.
	Frantz Art Glass & Supply   Michael and Patricia Frantz - - Glass, dichro, frits, enamels, torches, tools, advice, and so forth. Located in Washington state.
	Colored Sands Glass  All types of glass. Located in somewhere in the Midwest.
	Bullseye Glass
	Glass Alchemy, Portland OR.  Borosilicate glass. Well-designed site has color chart, safety and technical tips.
	Val Cox Frits, Cane, and Shards Buy Val's famous "Raku Frit" here. (Unfortunately, in order to look and explore and browse this web site, you have to "register", which is annoying to me. And then of course you have to "log in" for each visit.)
	Jo-del Glass  This is a retail operation based in Rhode Island. The online store has very good pictures of the equipment and the glass. You can place an order online or the Jo-del Ebay storefront is an alternative.
	Blue Heeler Glass, located in Nebraska.
	Lampworkingsupplies.com is located in Fort Wayne IN.

And ----> (3Mar)Glass Suppliers Map from Cosmoglassworks, shows the locations of or suppliers on a map. Cool!

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Jewelry Making, Coldworking , Lapidary Supplies

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	Chain: Ball Chain Mfg. Co., Inc.   Makes and sells ball chain in all manner of materials, finishes, sizes, and shapes.
	Coldworking Equipment: His Glassworks, Inc. sells all the equipment you need for cold working glass, such a grinding and polishing disks. Use these to facet beads.
	Coldworking Equipment: Kingsley North Inc. Discounted Lapidary Supplies - - 910 Brown Street, P.O. Box 216, Norway, MI 49870, e-mail: kingsley@up.net (800-338-9280)  -  Jewelry making supplies, findings, tools, tumblers, and so forth. Call or e-mail for catalogs. Good prices.
	Coldworking Equipment: Vitrum Studio, Beltsville MD, rents time on a "sandblaster, various grinders, saws and other cold working equipment to help you complete your projects professionally."
	Drill Bits: Daniel Lopaki Company carries long diamond drill bits, for cleaning the bead release from inside those loooong beads.
	Findings: Handfast features some unusual clasps, "designed and crafted in New England".
	Findings: Burgard Studio: Maker of the famous Bead Ring. And many other, very nice findings to help you feature your beads in jewelry. This is the Burgard Bead Ring!
	General Jewelry Supply:  Rio Grande  Jewelers' supply: findings, gems, beads, stringing supplies, metals, tools, display, packaging, etc.
	General Jewelry Supply: Santa Fe Jewelers Supply   Online catalog is up, includes findings, tools, stones, metals, and display. Compare prices vs. Rio.
	General Jewelry Supply: Indian Jewelers Supply Co. , PO Box 1774, Dept. AS; Gallup NM 87305-1774 ((505) 722-4451, FAX (505)722-4172) - - Excellent prices on precious metals.
	General Jewelry Supply: E. B. Fitler & Co., 18526 Cool Spring Road, Milton, DE 19968  - Jewelry making tools. Rudimentary online catalog.
	General Jewelry Supply: Terra Firma Enterprises  Located in Baltimore. Full selection of jeweler's supplies, tools, and materials.
	General Lapidary Supplies: Cauldron Crafts   Mostly lapidary and jewelry-making supplies. Located in MD. A few glass beadmaking supplies, including the HotHead torch and some glass.
	Leather Laces: The Wandering Bull, located in Massachusetts, for leather laces.
	Pendant Kit: Change-A-Bead  Beth Williams' site for her ingenious bead pendant contraptions. Visit the site to see.
	Pliers: Lindstrom Rx Jewelry Pliers. The finest and most expensive pliers in the jewelry world. Ergo design, finest materials. Sold also by Rio and Frei&Borel.
	Stringing: Soft Flex�   A much-improved web site. Whew. An interesting tips 'n tricks page.
	Tags: Microstamp USA  Those tiny metal tags with the tiny little ID logos, for "signing" your finished pieces.
	Tools: Jewelry Tools by Miland    Unique tools for metalworkers.

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Torches and Burners

	National Torches - The National 8M, etc.
	Carlisle Machine Works - Maker of the new Mini CC, among five other models.
	Wale Apparatus - New torch called the Firebird.
	Nortel Manufacturing - Makers of the venerable old reliable: the Minor torch.
	Bethlehem Burners - The Barracuda, the Piranha, and more!
	Glass Torch Technologies - The Bobcat, the Lynx, et al.
	Bethlehem Apparatus Co., Inc.  - Water-cooled torches. Located in Pennsylvania.
	Snodgrass Glass Supply  - Torches and tools, mostly. Located in Oregon.

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Bead Presses, Lentil Mashers, and Other Mold Tools

 

	(22Apr)Jim Moore Glass Tools are outstanding quality tools. He has developed an entire line of superb lentil and pillow presses for glass beadmakers, with the input of Andrea Guarino-Slemmons, who lives nearby. Ask him about them.
	Tapcraft by Darrell Tapley. Here is a description of a new (4July05) design: "It is a lentil/pancake design. The cups are 7/8�.The idea is to have a smooth, flat bottom with decoration on the lentil top. To prevent the bead from turning bottom side up, I have made a double mandrel that will make two holes in the bead. This, of course, will require double stringing. The mandrel (button mandrel) is about 8 �� long. The double prongs are about 2 � long made of 3/32 stainless steel with a 3/32�space between them."
	Bicone Beadmaking Mold and Tool, from "ChristyL", whose dad is a master machinist. Also sells a cube making mold and (rumor has it) a lentil mold.
	CattWalk Tools  Various presses and molds. Outstanding quality.
	Corina's Lentil Mashers. The first, the original. Thank you, Corina!
	Making Lentil Shaped Beads Without Spending a Fortune, by Kiki Beads, with a four dollar pair of ice tongs from the store.
	The Multi-Masher, from Black Dot Designs Contemporary Glass Art.
	Osibin Lentil Shaper, sold by Arrow Springs
	Zoozii Tools, brass presses for making many different shapes. The guide pins are a very handy innovation! (See picture, below.)

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Miscellaneous Supplies + Wonderful Contraptions

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	Arm/Hand Rest: Timberwolf Armrests, for $99.
	Arm/Hand Rest: The Famous Creation Station, available from Glasscraft. Inc. Pretty reasonably priced, for what you get. Has gotten some very good reviews. Someone has given this some serious thought!
	Arm/Hand Rest: Glassandfire - Arm Rests. Everyone needs a pair of $175 dollar arm rests! What price ergo-comfort, eh?
	Arm/Hand Rest: Hand Stabilizer   This is a contraption that attaches to the top of a torch, made and sold by Scott Bouwens at Barefoot Art. The Hand Stabilizer a very interesting invention for those having trouble with precision work.
	Arm/Hand Rest: Mandrel Master, the latest in aids to hold your bead steady in the flame. There is no price on the web page, so you will have to e-mail the company.
	Arm/Hand Rest: Steadyrest Marver, by Bill Rasmussen, is stainless steel and bolts to the top of the torch. It is billed as both a marver and a hand rest (the illustration on that web page shows it used as a hand rest). Would a piece of steel that you just used as a marver be cool enough to use as a hand rest? I wonder! Some comments are here.
	Bead Release: FosterFire Bead Release. Two formulations: regular and "Heavy Duty Formula for Sculptural, Boro & Hollows." Hey, it's worth a try! Sold by some of our featured suppliers, listed above. Or buy directly from the manufacturer.
	Chopsticks: Stainless Steel Chopsticks from House of Rice.
	Display: Craft Marketing Suppliers from the Juried Online Arts Festival Site. There are suppliers here for canopies, display systems, chairs, lighting, and so forth.
	Display: Woodworks Today makes these great bead display racks, in many different designs, out of precious woods. Contact them directly to special order: renateviolet@att.net. Or visit their listings on eBay to see samples of designs and prices paid.
	Electroforming Kit: Tink sells a complete electroforming set up for beads, including an instruction booklet (buy it separately for $10), but not the solution, for $330 before shipping. Thank you Tink!!
	Enamels: Schlaifer's Enameling Supplies  Sells Thompson's enamels, especially formulated for use on Moretti/Effetre glass. Also sells enameling accessories, such as sifters, kits, kilns, etc.
	Enamels: Thompson's Enamel, Inc.   Special formulation for compatibility with Effetre/Moretti glass. Order directly from the manufacturer.
	(17Apr)Etching Supplies: Etchworld. Find it all here, from chemical etching solutions to sand blasting supplies.
	Eyewear: Aura Lens  Protective eyewear for glass workers. Good FAQ and good advice. Good folks.
	Eyewear: Phillips Safety Products  Makers of protective eyewear.
	Goldstone: Big Chunks of Blue, Red, and Green Goldstone. See also 'Goldstone Slabs'.
	Heater: Rod/Murrini Warmer, from Mike Aurelius. Just how annoyed are you when those rods explode? A hundred and eighty dollars annoyed? Then this is for you!
	Heater: Ceramic Heater Stove from Belson Products  Use this tiny stove, which is used to heat up hair irons, to pre-heat your rods, shards, and murrini. Holds at 480�C (880�F).
	Heater: Hot Plates galore here, for pre-heating your shocky rods and murrini. From Terra Universal.
	Holder: Ice Tubes� Trays for storing your stringer. Might need some anchoring at the base, so it won't tip over. Check your local kitchen mega-store to see if you can find this locally.
	Internet: Superb Internet: SGB/MA's web hosters. Our hosting company. No problems so far, generally speaking. Recommended.
	Kiln Furniture: Firebrick Kiln Tiles Mandrel Holder Rack. Made and sold by Jay Chantell Studio Designs. These holders are propped up at the back of your kiln and hold your mandrels up off the kiln floor. There are questions about what kind of weight (what size beads) these racks will hold before they fall forwards. Maybe you have to glue them to the back wall of your kiln. But do you want to glue something to your kiln wall? Is that where the elements are? Glue is included in the kit.
	Kilns: Paragon Kilns    This site is a bit confusing. For instance, when you click on the specific category 'Lamp Working Kilns' on the home page, the search returns this message: "Although there are no ready-made kilns that match your search criteria, Paragon is capable of custom manufacturing kilns with the criteria that you selected." This is of course not true. There are many Paragon Kilns that are eminently suitable for "Lamp Working" needs. And why list a category of kiln on your home page where there are (supposedly) no kilns in your line that fit that category? (sigh) At the end of the day it's not a good idea to wonder why folks from Texas do what they do. We're stuck with them. Note: There is a nice feature that offers the full text of all their kiln manuals, if you happen to lose yours. Not that there was much useful or intelligible in the manual to begin with.
	Kits: Marj Bates' Kits. Use these to make glass knobs for cabinets or furniture, bottle stoppers, and finials for lamps.
	Kits: - Make bottle stoppers, candlesticks, pens, letter openers, and so forth with your beads           - -Cheese Knife Blanks, sold by Lauri Copeland at Wildfire Designs. Screw-on end cap.           - - Penn State Industries and The Woodturners' Catalog.  Two suppliers for pen, kitchen gadget, and letter opener kits. Originally designed for woodturners, but lampworkers can use them as well, provided the bead was made on a large enough mandrel, such as 3/8". Study the specs well, before ordering, to avoid disappointments. Sometimes it is nearly impossible to make some of these kits work with glass beads, instead of a wooden handle for which they were designed. Caveat emptor!           - - The Candlestick Finding  Kits to make candlesticks from your beads. Check it out! Three different heights. Very neat. You could enamel the copper one to match and compliment your beads.
	Knobs: Drawer/Cabinet Knob Mandrel, from Dawn and Evan.
	Knobs: Make-a-Knob Kit, from Marj Bates.
	Lamp Finials: Make Your Own Finials. Buy lamp finial findings here.
	Lamp Finials: Make-A-Finial Kit from Marj Bates.
	Lighting: The "Geolumen" line by Brightman Design is an elegant choice for both task or sales lighting.
	Mandrels: Inspiration Toolworks, by Jeff Albro in Massachusetts. Button mandrels, ribbon mandrels, cabochon mandrels, T-hole mandrels, and more.
	Marver: Double Barrel Rolling Marvers, from Bearfoot Art. This looks promising.
	Marver: Val Cox Bicone Marver, sold by Zoozie. (Be sure to study the tutorial, which is here.)
	Mechanical Mandrel Spinner: Electric Mandrel Spinner, from Bearfoot Art. I guess now we've seen everything! Avoid the bother of actually using your hands and fingers to turn your bead in the flame. Let a machine do it!
	Metals: Sepp Leaf Products, in NYC for silver, gold, copper, and palladium leaf. Bulk purchase minimum?
	Metals: Fine Silver Powder  From Atlantic Equipment Engineers, NJ. Interesting, but expensive.
	Metals: Salt Lake Metals
	Metals: Micron Metals
	(3May)Metals: Online Metals for stainless steel tubing for large mandrels and for copper for electroforming.
	Mystery Tool!: The Stage. We're not sure exactly what this is or what it does, but it looks marvelous. A must-have! From Barefoot Art.
	Oxygen Generator OGSI (Oxygen Generating Systems Inc.) makes the OG-15, the oxygen generator that is such a hit with glass beadmakers for whom the standard pressurized oxy tanks are not practical.
	Photography Services: Jerry L. Anthony Photography   Located in Columbus, Ohio and specializing in craft and jewelry photography for juried show submissions and postcards. Visit their website or call for a brochure and particulars: 614-451-5207.
	(3Jul)Photography Services: Joanie Beldin Photography  Located in Pt. Townsend WA, this photographer has had quite a bit of success photographing her husband's work (he's the maestro Michael Barley).
	Pigments and Metals: Sinopia.com
	Printing Dies: Enamel Stamping Dies, from Enamel Animal. Click on the 'Catalog' button in the meny to see the different designs. Maybe now we've finally seen it all. Simply sprinkle enamel on the raised design on the brass die and press a soft glass bead onto it. Voila! Repeat a design a million times! As the website says "If you've ever imagined being able to create consistent patterns on your beads, but couldn't get the level of detail that you wanted from stringers, this process will amaze you!" We are fairly amazed.
	Reamer: Use a length of this tungsten carbide rod saw blade as a bead reamer. Nip off the tabs at the ends using a bolt cutter and cut two 4" lengths. Mount one in your wireless Dremel using foil on the end inside the chuck. Always use with water!
	T-Shirts, Tote Bags, etc.: from Glass Attack at Cafe Press. Amaze and puzzle your regular friends. Artwork by Jennifer Geldard.

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