Metal Oxides and Compounds such as copper, cobalt, cadmium, and gold are mixed together with the basic ingredients silica sand, soda ash, and limestone using precise recipes to create beautiful batches of opaque and transparent colored glass.

Some glass will appear pale and colorless when in its cold sheet form but when brought to high temperatures the color will “strike” and change to a much different color. This process involves the metal oxide particles added to the glass to dissolve and grow into crystals at the surface. The size of these crystals determines the color because the smaller wavelengths reflect yellow while the larger crystals reflect purples, blues and greens.

Striking colors can vary depending on temperature, atmosphere, history of heat, and amount of times heated.

Different than traditional furnace “soft” glass, borosilicate (Boro) glass has boron trioxide added to its recipe which creates increased heat resistance and durability.

It has a low coefficient of expansion which makes it relatively resistant to thermal shock. This makes Boro glass perfect for scientific equipment and cookware.

Because Boro glass melts at higher temperatures than Soft glass, it is often melted from rods at a stationary flame versus being melted in batch in a furnace and blown in the hot shop studio.

Recycled glass that has been cleaned, sorted, and crushed into small, uniform pieces for reuse in the production of new glass.

Cullet is charged, or loaded, into the furnace at high temperatures of around 2300 degrees Fahrenheit and melted for at least 10-12 hours.