How to make glass?

How can we make glass colours at home?

• Iam setting up a business and wanted to know on how to make glass colors at home..the ones used in stained glass paintings.. P.S.-i want to know the chemicals required to make the colrs, not steps on how to create glass paintings..

• Answer:

  Because you are referring to chemicals to make the colors, I assume you wish to have color in the glass, not painting on glass. Color in glass is added when the glass is melted and can get complicated because the chemicals for color can interact with the minor ingredients in the glass and the heating conditions to change colors, red being particularly difficult. Most stained glass shops just buy the flat colored glass. Those people who melt glass buy color in high intensity bars from places like Olympic Color in USA (much bar color is made in eastern europe) and apply it to blown glass that is spun out to make flat sheets. If you wish to add chemicals to glass as you are melting it at over 2000F, sources are available in books. One book that discusses this is Glass Notes www.glassnotes.com a few suggestions are at my site http://users.ticnet.com/mikefirth/color.htm#COLBAT Most of the color chemistry is similar to that for pottery glazes which is published in several books. Pete Vanderlaan was working on a book on glass color chemistry, but I don't know if he finished it. By signing in at www.craftweb.com glass forum you can contact him and see what others have to say, including the author of Glass Notes.