Casting sources
If you know of others please let me know and I’ll investigate and add them (if I like what I see/buy). If you’re going to distribute this list in a class or on your blogsite–it happens a LOT–please let me know and give me some credit for doing all the work. Thanks.
This list is divided into multiple headings, which I hope makes it easier to use. At some point it’ll become a database (in my spare time, yeah right):
- Adhesives, sealants and other goos
- Casting-related services
- Coldworking equipment and supplies
- Glass
- Instructors, schools and societies
- Kilns & kiln repair
- Refractory molds & supplies
- Sculpture: Models and flexible molds
Adhesives, sealants and other goos
CLK Associates
96 Brynmoor Court
Goshen, Ct 06756 USA
860-539-0747
Thanks to Steve Klein for this one; Chuck sells (and advises) on all kinds of adhesives for artists. Very nice website explaining this stuff, too.
HIS Glassworks
96 Brynmoor Court
Goshen, Ct 06756 USA
860-539-0747
This online shop is like a candy store for glass artists; wonderful, glass-specific equipment and supplies with employees who’ll spend all day on the phone with you finding just the right thing. They sell two of my favorite adhesives: HXTAL, an optically clear, non-UV variety that can also be used for leveling, and 3M’s DP105, which has a fast working time, doesn’t need UV curing. They also sell ATTACK if you need to get the stuff off, and plenty of etching and sealing compounds, including Liquid Luster, which I’m not too crazy about but other people swear by.
This to that
Website only. Not sure of the best way to stick that to this? This is a very handy tool for such things.
Unelko
96 Brynmoor Court
Goshen, Ct 06756 USA
860-539-0747
Thanks to Jeff Wright for this one. Unelko makes Clean Shield Gel Shower, Tub & Tile Protectant, a big name for goo that you apply very thinly to the glass, let set a couple of days, and get happy about. It produces a nice sheen on coldworked glass that looks nice if you don’t overdo it (otherwise it looks as if you’ve varnished the glass) and it can also seal sandblasted glass from fingerprints.
Casting-related services
Cast Glass Forms
93639 Elk River Rd.
Port Orford, OR 97465 USA
541-332-0162
Casting expert Hugh McKay makes custom molds for sculptors (and other artists), and provides full-spectrum glass casting services
Cynthia Morgan
Well, I had to get my name in here somewhere, right? 
My blog discusses my current casting and pate de verre projects, includes an updated version of this list and goes over technical problems. And I do occasionally teach. (as well as a lot of other stuff)
GlassFacts casting calculator
Handy calculator from the folks at Helios Glass, lets you enter volume of your casting model, then tells you how much glass you’ll need (by weight) in crystal, soda lime or float.
Lash Quality Molds and Sculpture Supplies Inc.
4702 NE 102nd
Portland, OR 97220
(503) 251-6959
Expert mold-maker Leslie Bell also sells armature wire, waxes, some clays and other supplies. Unfortunately she doesn’t have a website (that I can find) but her work more than makes up for it.
Twin Vision (Rowe Twins) website
Canadian artists (and twins) Melanie and Leslie Rowe talk about their work in glass casting and how they do their stuff.
Coldworking equipment and supplies
Covington Engineering
715 W. Colton Ave.
Redlands, CA 92374 USA
909-793-6636
Always check with the lapidary guys when you’re looking for coldworking stuff, and these guys have a LOT, everything from small wet belt sanders to massive slab saws.
CR Laurence
2503 E. Vernon Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90058 USA
323-588-1281
These folks sell equipment to glassmakers, builders and installers, and there’s some very cool stuff here. They have maybe a dozen shops around the US, selling cutters, polishers, architectural fittings, adhesives, etc
These guys make glass kilns (primarily fiber kilns) and coldworking equipment. I got my wet angle grinder/polisher from them, for example, and they have some mouth-watering flat laps and such.
HIS Glassworks
2000 Riverside Drive, Suite 19
Asheville, NC 28804 USA
828-254-2559
You name it; Bob’s got it, at least where coldworking is concerned. HIS (I pronounce that H-I-S but I think most people, including the owner, just say “his.”) sells tools to cut, split, carve, smooth and polish glass (among other things–see the Adhesives section, above). More important, they sell the bits and blades and grit and belts you use with the stuff, as well as similar things if you prefer handworking your glass. My favorites: The Trizact belts for smoothing and polishing–as far as I’m concerned they eliminate the need for cerium polishing, although I’m sure Bob would disagree. And the Result wet saw blade, which makes the smoothest, thinnest glass slices I’ve seen yet. And the invaluable flexible diamond hand-pads, which give you maximum control over coldworking sculpture (and make good pads for wet-dry sandpaper when they wear out). They also sell loc-lines, those little articulated hoses that help deliver more water to grinding tools.
910 Brown Street (PO Box 216)
906-563-9228
Kingsley North is like a megamart for lapidary workers–and ain’t it lucky that lapidary is a kissing cousin to coldworking?–and they often have great sales. It’s very much worth looking on the site whenever you need any kind of coldworking whatever.
Cliff, N.M. 88028
People swear by Daniel Lopacki’s diamond coldworking equipment. I haven’t used him (yet), but a lot of coldworkers I respect, do. He sells everything diamond, from diamond pastes for faceting to diamond-plated hard and flexible wheels, and a lot of really interesting diamond burrs in hard-to-find grit sizes (meshes).
Glass
Bullseye Glass Resource Center
3610 SE 21st Ave.
Portland OR 97202
888.220.3002
Plaster/silica investment, box casting kits, glass casting billets and cullet metal foils, kiln wash, really wonderful lampworking rods, etc. Billet colors are strong which can limit cast thickness unless you mix with clear. Very, very good about finding the answers to your questions and figuring out how to make their glass do what you need.
Gaffer Glass USA
19622 70th Avenue South Unit #4
Kent, WA 98032
800-395-7600
Truly beautiful lead crystal billets and frit in a variety of colors, good range of color values, and the glass flows and works like a dream. VERY helpful staff, but it’s wise to call and ask before using a new glass from Gaffer—they can have very precise heating requirements and many colors are pleiochroic, but the website doesn’t tell you. (Fusers please note: The casting world’s frit is not the nicely graded stuff you’re used to, so don’t expect to order a jar of #3–frit means “broken glass” in this context.)
Olympic Color Supply
818 John Street
Seattle, WA 98109
206-343-7336
Casting refractories including Ransom & Randolph 910, 965, etc., Luminar Mold Mix 6, Castalot, plus casting crystal (Reichenbach, Gaffer, Spectrum 96). Also a pretty good library and some casting tools. If you’re in Seattle, the store’s worth a visit just for the specials.
Reichenbach
Germany
Contact
Lead crystal casting frit and billet in a wide range of colors. Available through Olympic Color Rods in Seattle. Nice colors, sometimes a tad muddy..but glorious when they’re not. Word is that you can order custom colors in surprisingly small amounts–I saw their custom mid-range blue-violet–absolutely stunning.
Uroboros Glass
2139 N. Kerby Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
503-284-4900
90- and 96-compatible sheet, noodle, frit. Really nice casting billet (96 COE) in good tints for thicker work especially. Clear 90 casting cullet. Uroboros Glass Mix (outer mold casting investment), and plaster-silica mold mix. Exceptionally nice folks who go out of their way to help, too.
Instructors, schools and societies (for casting/sculpture)
Abbott/Leva
713-864-4773
Beautiful, traditional pate de verre work (as well as exceptional sandblasting, but that’s another story), they teach pate de verre classes that garner raves. I don’t think they teach in their own studios, but if they’re making an appearance near you, worth attending.
Bullseye Glass Resource Center
3610 SE 21st Ave.
Portland OR 97202
888.220.3002
Exceptional instruction in casting, with lots of technical research behind it, and they hold a bi-annual conference on glassworking, BeCON, that is valuable if only for the networking.
Corning Museum of Glass/The Studio
One Museum Way
Corning, NY
800-732-6845
Wow. I took my first real, formal glass instruction here, and it hooked me for life; I would take paperclip construction classes at Corning just to be there. Exceptional teachers, fabulous facilities, exceptional courses, a little more technique/technical in focus than Pilchuck from what I’ve heard (never been to Pilchuck). The Higuchis teach there regularly and Dan Clayman’s been known to make an appearance; nuff said.
Linda Ethier
This lady teaches some beautiful casting techniques well, and is a neat person, to boot. Very much worth a class if you can come to Glassland. She’s also across from the best Cuban restaurant in the US Northwest, Pambiche, so your lunches during the class will be sublime…
National Sculpture Society (NSS)
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
212-764-5645
National (well, sometimes international) organization of figurative sculptors, holds exhibitions, competitions and produces Sculpture Review, a magazine of figurative sculpture. They have their own (huge) resource list for sculptors.
Oatka Glass School
56 Harvester Avenue, 2nd Floor
Batavia, NY 14020
(585) 300-7606
I’ve not taken a glass here, but it’s got a good reputation and seems to do a lot of casting-type instruction. (And, for heaven’s sake, Ellen Abbott and Marc Leva teach here as does Linda Ethier and Karl Harron, so it must be incredible). They also sell glass supplies.
Pacific Northwest Sculptors Assn.
Sculptors’ guild in Oregon/Washington that holds regular meetings, arranges for member discounts on supplies, has exhibits. Also has its own resource list that’s really good if you live in glassland.
Philippe Faraut Studios
PO Box 722
Honeoye, NY 14471
(585) 229-2976
Really marvelous portrait sculpting instruction, on DVD, in workshops and in books. If you’re interested in sculpting human faces or figures at all, and have a chance to take a class from Philippe, jump on it. NOW. His videos are detailed and informative, but not as great as working with him in person. Site also sells some of his sculpting tools and stands.
Pilchuck
1201-316th St NW
Stanwood, WA 98292 USA
360-445-3111
Most artists working in glass consider Pilchuck the equivalent of Mecca; never been there so I can’t say for sure. Big name instructors, facilities are supposed to be unbelievable; all I can vouch for is the quality of their auctions. Exceptionally heavy emphasis on glassblowing, with much less interest in casting and the stuff I like to do. I’ll get there someday, when they have a class I want, the stars align on my schedule and my wallet is very fat.
Polytek Development Corp.
55 Hilton Street
Easton, PA 18042
(610) 559-8620
(800) 858-5990
Polytek offers workshops in using its products, and from what I’ve heard (never taken one), their classes are must-haves if you’re interested in flexible mold-making. They also have exceptional online videos showing you how to do this stuff.
Smooth-on
2000 Saint John Street
Easton, PA 18042
800-762-0744
Fabulous tutorials and videos on making molds, life casts, mother molds, etc., online, and then they also teach physical workshops in their facility.
Kilns & kiln repair
Digitry Company
188 State Street, Suite 21
Portland, ME 04101
207-774-0300
Sorta the Ferrari (or maybe the Mack Truck) of the controller world, the Digitry folk go way beyond the normal 8-dumb-segments firing schedules. The offer controllers that manage multiple kilns and furnaces simultaneously, run 15-segment programs (or more if you chain), manage multi-zoned kilns, and deliver significant amounts of firing data to your computer network. And some models can share power between them to save on energy. They’re also bloody expensive.
Euclids
1120 Speers Road
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
800-296-5456
Known for kiln elements, but they also sell kilns and kiln furniture, and have some interesting tutorials on building your own kiln.
Ellison Kilnworks (Portland area)
Mitch Ellison installs and repairs glass kilns of all kinds. If you’re in the Portland area and need help, he’s probably the first one I’d call. No website that I can find.
Olympic Kilns
4225 Thurmon Tanner Parkway
Flowery Branch, GA 30542
770-967-4009
These guys made Oliver Wendell Kiln (Ollie, for short), my ginormous casting kiln. Reasonably priced kilns, they will modify them for you as needed. Ollie, for example, is one of their big electric raku kilns with some additional features.
Omega Engineering
One Omega Drive
Stamford, Connecticut 06907
203-359-1660
If you’re into wildly funky gadgets that do scientific-like stuff, this is the place to go. Seriously, this is where I buy thermocouples for the kiln, as well as dataloggers (which let you record a whole firing schedule’s worth of kiln temperatures without actually having to write stuff down every 15 minutes).
Paragon Kilns
2011 South Town East Blvd.
Mesquite, Texas 75149
972-288-7557
Really lovely kilns and they’ve been working with glass a long time, so they offer premium stuff. It’s also at a premium price which is why, though I’ve lusted after a couple of their kilns (check out the (sigh) SuperDragon), I’ve never actually owned one. Some say their phone support can be less than helpful; I wouldn’t know. I do know that they’re frequently on warmglass answering kiln questions whether you own a Paragon or not, which makes them friendly in my book.
Skutt Kilns
6441 S.E. Johnson Creek Blvd.
Portland, OR 97206
503-774-6000
Skutt’s got a reputation for value-priced kilns and that isn’t an insult–I paid less than $1,500 for my old Skutt GM1414 but it’s lasted years and years and years through a LOT of abuse (and glass casting, is about like dropping a kiln off a cliff). They do not specifically make a casting kiln but they sure as heck do ceramics kilns that go up to cone10 (really hot) firings, and they will modify or custom-make a kiln for you. If you live in the northwest they should be your first choice on location and unparalleled service alone–when something’s gone wrong with my kilns they’re right there to fix it.
Refractory molds/supplies
Bullseye Glass Resource Center
3610 SE 21st Ave.
Portland OR 97202
888.220.3002
Plaster/silica investment, box casting kits, kiln wash. Not their primary business; see under Glass.
Colour de Verre
3216 SE 8th Avenue
Portland, OR 97202
503-232-3629
Don’t want to make your own? I could go all snooty on you and say this is paint-by-numbers stuff and as an aaaahhhrtist you really SHOULD make your own models and molds, but if they’ve already got a shape you want, why reinvent the wheel? (And given the number of gen-u-wine artists who cast everyday objects like hand grenades and rocks, why the heck not?) These are open-faced, bisque molds that can produce some really lovely components for use in other projects, and they have nice tutorials. Also sell blanks for tile molds, primer and findings.
Michael Dupille
Makes Castalot, a permanent (or probably semi-permanent) refractory mix, as well as other glasswork-related products.
Olympic Color Supply
818 John Street
Seattle, WA 98109
206-343-7336
Casting refractories including Ransom & Randolph 910, 965, etc., Luminar Mold Mix 6, Castalot. If you’re in Seattle, the store’s worth a visit just for the specials.
Ransom-Randolph Glass Casting Supplies
3535 Briarfield Blvd
Maumee, OH 43537
(419)794-1290
Casting investments (R&R910, R&R965, R&R400, etc), each formulated for specific casting requirements. Site also includes an interesting glass casting gallery, tutorials.
Remet
210 Commons Rd.
Utica, NY 13502-6395
(315) 797-8700
They have a division specializing in waxes, and they’re primarily focused on metal casting, but they sell just about anything you could want–waxes, refractories, abrasives, hardeners. They also have some very interesting technical papers.
Seattle Pottery Supply
35 S. Hanford St.
Seattle, WA 98134
800-522-1975
Oil- and water-based clays for sculpting, sculpting tools and supplies, raw materials for making investments. They offer very good prices on custom-mixed plaster/silica packed in individual 50-lb bags and will ship up to 4,000 pounds at a time to Portland for a flat rate. Takes about 10 days from order to receipt.
Uroboros Glass
2139 N. Kerby Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
503-284-4900
Uroboros Glass Mix (outer mold casting investment), and plaster-silica mold mix. Not their primary business; see under Glass.
Western Industrial Ceramics
10725 SW Tualatin-Sherwood Rd.
Tualatin, OR 97062
503-692-3770
Also LA and Bay area. Refractories ( Isofrax, Fiberfrax, Durablanket and Magnaboard), and can custom-make refractory products (although costly).
Zircar Refractory Composites Inc.
P.O. Box 489
Florida, NY, 10921 USA
845-651-2200 (ask for Mike Cauda)
Luminar Mold Mix 6 (be sure to visit the site for user’s guides and other artist information), many different types of mold-making and kilnforming refractories
Sculpting: Modeling/flexible molds
Alumilite
315 E. North St.
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
800-447-9344/269-488-4000
Resin and silicone for moldmaking and casting. Very nice little site with good step-by-step tutorials and clear explanations, also a nice little volume calculating tool. Emphasis on small part reproduction.
Arizona Sculpture
4665 South Ash Ave, Suite G-15
Tempe, AZ 85282
1-888-967-7727
Good prices on waxes, mold- and model-making tools, clays (including wax clay), life casting supplies, patinas, all kinds of stuff
ART Studio Clay Company
9320 Michigan Avenue
Sturtevant, WI 53177-2435
262-884-4278
Very nice ceramics supply house with a full assortment of tools, kilns, clays and raw materials.
Ball Consulting Ltd.
Ambridge, PA
(800) 225-2673
Sculpting supplies, including oil and wax clays, alginates, lots of stone materials.
Brick in the Yard
521 Sterling Drive
Richardson, TX 75081
214-575-5600
Mold-making supplies, specializing in life-casting, but also carry plasticines, metal sculpting supplies including patinas, resins, expanding foams, silicones, urethanes and alginates. They’ve got some nice tutorial videos up on YouTube.
Cementex Latex Corp
121 Varick Street.
New York, NY 10013
800-782-9056 / 212-741-1770
Nice (if unillustrated) tutorials on moldmaking, sells resins, release agents, latex, modeling clay, Cabosil for mother molds, alginates for life casting, etc.
Compleat Sculptor
90 Vandam Street
New York NY 10013
800-9-SCULPT
Badly organized website but an excellent array of sculpting and casting tools, clays, waxes and other materials. One of the best batches of sculpting tools I’ve seen. They’re changing their website to compleatsculptor.com at some point.
Farwest Materials
405 Woodland Ave.
Walla Walla, WA 99362
mailbox@reproduce100s.com (no phone that I can find)
Many different types of mold and model-making supplies, including urethanes, silicones, latex, and polysulfide rubber, oil- and water-based clays, waxes, release agents, etc.
France Casting
1713 Willox Court, Unit A
Fort Collins, Colorado 80524
(970) 221-4044
Ecorche (live-size reference models) and other castings of human and animal bones. Assorted races, ages, medical conditions, both sexes, extremely realistic. Very useful for to see where bones or muscles attach when sculpting, or for incorporating impressions into your work. Warning: These are skilled reproductions from the real thing, so they’re not cheap. If all you’re looking for is, say, a skull for Halloween, there are cheaper places to find them.
Georgie’s Ceramics
756 NE Lombard St
Portland, OR 97211
(503) 283-1353
Clays (including paper clays), plasticine, sculpture equipment and supplies, really great tools, raw materials for investments (such as #1 pottery plaster and silica flour), sculpting wax. Very helpful people, too.
Make Your Own Molds (MYOM)
7609 Production Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45237
800-333-5678 (513-244-2999)
This site offers supplies and instruction in making food-grade silicone molds (for ice sculptures, confections, etc.). It’s a bit far afield from glass casting, but they offer some good tutorial videos and a silicone putty that looks promising.
Micro-Mark
340 Synder Avenue
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
800-225-1066
This catalog store specializes in tools for the miniature modeler, and has everything from drills and plating equipment to soldering irons and mini-sandblasters. They also carry some flexible moldmaking materials, but I haven’t tried them.
PinkHouse Studios Lifecasting
35 Bank St.
St. Albans VT 05478
(802) 524-7191
Lifecasting supplies, including Reducit (which shrinks your lifecasts) and Expandit (which grows them to double-size).
Polytek Development Corp.
55 Hilton Street
Easton, PA 18042
(610) 559-8620
(800) 858-5990
Silicone, urethane and other flexible casting supplies as well as latex, mold shell fiberglass, resins and related materials, releases, adhesives, lifecasting wax and gels, fiberglass mat and chop, etc.
Remet
210 Commons Rd.
Utica, NY 13502-6395
(315) 797-8700
They have a division specializing in waxes, and they’re primarily focused on metal casting, but they sell just about anything you could want–waxes, refractories, abrasives, hardeners. They also have some very interesting technical papers.
Reynolds Advanced Materials
5 locations across the US
Moldmaking supplies, Smooth-on distributor from the looks of things, but the site’s not particularly friendly and a lot of the how-tos contain broken links. It’s probably worth a visit to one of their stores–in Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando, Dallas or Boston–instead. Online, you’re probably better off going directly to Smooth-on.
Sculpture Depot
418 8th Street
Loveland, CO 80537
800-260-4690
Supplies, books, videos, materials for the sculptor. One of the few places I’ve found that has good hot wax working tools (although, frankly, my crossover electronics equipment, i.e., soldering station with a couple extra tips, works just as well). They also hold workshops in various sculpting media and list sculpting classes at other locations.
Sculpture House
(609)466-2986
Sculpture tools and supplies including some really interesting clay tools, clays and armatures.
Sculpture House Casting
155 W. 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
212-645-3717
Some really cool tools, clays, plasters for the sculptor, very complete product lists for all kinds of media.
Seattle Pottery Supply
35 S. Hanford St.
Seattle, WA 98134
800-522-1975
Oil- and water-based clays for sculpting, sculpting tools and supplies, raw materials for making investments. They offer very good prices on custom-mixed plaster/silica packed in individual 50-lb bags and will ship up to 4,000 pounds at a time to Portland for a flat rate. Takes about 10 days from order to receipt.
Shellspen
PO Box 1741
Venice, FL 34284
941-951-2545
Very old-fashioned website–these folks are primarily interested in lost-wax metal casting using ceramic slurries, but they also sell sculpting waxes and equipment, silicones and rubbers, and refractory materials. They’ve got some interesting tutorials on slurry casting.
Silpak Inc.
470 E Bonita
Pomona, CA 91767
(909) 625-0056
Primarily flexible mold-making materials such as RTV, urethane, casting resins, latex
Smooth-on
2000 Saint John Street
Easton, PA 18042
800-762-0744
Fabulous tutorials and videos on making molds, life casts, mother molds, etc. These guys have literally written the book(s) on flexible mold-making and they’re extremely eager to help. The site is a bit confusing, but very information-rich. Unless you know precisely what you want, search for a project demo that LOOKS like what you want to do, and then track back the supplies list to figure out what you actually want to buy. Or save time by just calling them to ask.
Stephenson Pattern Supply
3223 NW Guam
Portland, OR 97210
(503) 228-1222
Refractories, mold-making supplies, RTV, huge selection of waxes, many types of latex and rubber, etc. (and they’re very good about working with you to solve a mold problem). Also have extensive lists of model and mold-makers in glassland (including metal foundries). Extremely nice folk who will spend a lot of time helping you solve a mold-making problem if you go there in person (and can also let you in on closeouts).
TAP Plastics
Stores all over the west coast
Acrylic forms, fiberglass fabric and chopped fibers, RTV silicon, lots of interesting stuff to use for models and molds. Good online catalog. Employees in most stores are very helpful, but different stores emphasize different products and have slightly different stock and clearance items, so if there’s more than one store in your area, it pays to visit them all.