Glass Color Information

this site lists a few metal oxides and what color they produce:

hope that helps, Kevin

The easiest way to get this info is to look at glazes for pottery. Here is minimal glass information with some links to more info

Adding color chemicals to a basic glass formula can change the COE and other characteristics, so it is more than just throwing a chemical in. Further, getting the same color each time, if that is what you want, can be exciting.

Thanks for you links guys .. but still I need more info.

like for making red, i need copper but some mention selenium ..

even for blue or green - what are the alternatives to cobalt ?

Thank you so much

From the glassworksservices data

Colour Variation Material Conditions Red Ruby Se + CdS not in PbO glass Reduced + on reheating Au Copper antique ruby Cu2O Reduced + on reheating Red violet MnO2 + Se Oxidised Wine red Nd2O3 + Se Not oxidised

Blue Blue CuO & CoO Blue (viloet tint) CoO Sky blue CuO Blue green Fe2O3 + CoO, Cu0 + Cr2O3, FeO

Green I'm not go>Thanks for you links guys .. but still I need more info.

There are lots and lots of sources of information, which require that you spend time learning about the mixes that make colors and how the mixes are affected by the base glass. You haven't even told us what base glass you want to do this with. Red is the hardest color to make and to make behave when you use it. People who succeed may build an entire company or product line around it - for example Blenko's cranberry. If a perfectly good red mix is mishandled, you end up with kind a muddy brown called liver.

i would be using Borosilicate Glass.

What terms do I use to search for glass color making techniques on google.

I always end up on commercial sites which sell colors but very few sites that actually say what proportion of oxides/metals to use for different colors.

thank you so much

Mike Firth wrote:

This is the information that companies are based on, no formula, no company. you will be hard pressed for anyone to give you the precise information that you want.

You MUST read, study and experiment and put in the sweat equity to create that which you seek. There is no answer to your question.

Borosilicate glass and color means that you will be using lampworking techniques and have to mix small amounts of chemicals inside the glass tube and work the chemicals into the glass. This was the technique used when very few colors were available in boro and people were desperate. Now lots and lots of colored boro glass are available without the compatibility problems of soft glass as far as I know. If you want to pursue the old technique, get Bandhu Scott Dunham's superb book Contemporary Lampworking and starting on about page 155 (chapter 7, Working with Color in the edition I am looking at) you will find the specific technique illustrated and page after page of specific colors and the chemicals to make them, for 14 pages before he switches to techniques for using colored glass. Melting boro in bulk to make your own colored bulk glass is super hard to do and pushes the limits of materials technology. Just doing that part of your project would soak up thousands of dollars.

Some reds are made with Gold

Kitty