color suppliers
 

http://www.crloo.com/ C&R loo

http://www.glasscolor.com Olympic Color Rods. (my favorite)

http://www.sprucepinebatch.com batch and color


http://www.eastbaybatch.com west coast batch supplier

Canadian colour
 

In Canada -

www.colourfusion.com

Allan

Flying Colors Color Charts?
 

Pete -

Where can one see color charts on the web for the Flying Colors series - Spruce Pine website doesn't have any pictures!
Want to see what the Purple opaque looks like.....Got any color pics?

Thx, Dan

Re: Flying Colors Color Charts?
 

I always thought my purple opaque was pretty ugly. The gold purple transparant is beautiful. Since I am not actively in the biz anymore, I deleted all my color lists. :dog:

New Kugler Source
 

Olympic isn't carrying Kugler anymore but I get mine from Hot Glass Color & Supply in Seattle. Their site is at http://www.hotglasscolor.com/.

New colour website for UK blowers
 

KHT has just launched a new website for you folks on the eastern side of the Atlantic -

www.khtglass.co.uk

bump

I noticed Gaffer isn't listed

http://gafferglassusa.com/

Are there any others?

That thread is over 13 years old. Back then, Phil was probably telling everyone that Gaffer would never amount to much. Since then, Gaffer joined, and left Olympic probably causing Phil to repeat himself. I'm not even sure if System 96 existed when that thread was started.

I buy my color from east bay batch. Those guys are the best.

Uroboros sells sys96 colors in all sorts of forms.

Jim Myers rates in my "world's most favorite people"

I can see why.

Hey I wasn't sure if this was the right thread but I figured I would try here first.

We are looking for a chemical supplier for neodymium oxide.

None of my local vendors seem to be able to source it.


Any ideas?

Thanks!

US Pigment Elgin Ill. That has a lot of differing concentrations so they are not created equal. I've seen anywhere from $17.00lb up past $60.00. How much do you want? It takes about 2% to get decent color.

Hey Pete, thanks for the quick reply as always.

I'm open to suggestions here. This would be a recipe we have never made in the past so I assume there will be some trial and error with the batch.

Price really isnt a problem as long as we get chemicals that achieve the desired color and dont cause issues with compatibility.

We are looking at making a collection of alexandrite glass for our 2021 line and are starting to gather ideas and samples.

Any chance you happen to have a formula for neodymium/alexandrite glass to save me some trial and error? :)
It would be for an ~1000lb pot

It's $60/Lb. at US Pigment. I think I've seen the old Alexandrite mentioned in Weyl as being a 4% by weight Neo. That may or may not throw off your fit but maybe you're not mixing it with any of your clear. The lanthanides aren't known to affect expansion as much as most other colorants though. That $60/Lb. adds up quick if you're doing a large-size melt.

I would need to see your basic clear formula you want to add it to if you wanted me to see that privately. If not, I can't speak to Alexandrite specifically and much depends on your choice of alkaline flux that dominates. Nominally, I would start at 2% and see if you like it, particularly if it is not to be cased in anything else. The thicker the work, the better it will look. As Josh says, 4% in a 1000 lb pot would be pricey and it would be wise to perhaps start with a smaller amount. That being said, if you were buying that much, you could likely get a better price.

Nd can come in a number of %'s and is curious that way. I see Nd203 60%, Nd2O 72% and NdO 90% offered from various spots. I have some NdO I would sell but it's not enough to do 1000 pounds. I'm clearing out some chemicals I doubt I will use again.

I would anticipate compatibility issues at anything above 2% and even perhaps there. When I go to US pigment, it lists 95% at $25.00 dollars a lb. Josh may know better.

Pete, let me DM you our last batch report for Crystal and see what you think.
You seem to have a vast knowledge of the chemistry of glass and I'd love to get your opinion on...pretty much anything haha. Same for you, Josh.
Blenko has lost a lot of that "tribal" knowledge over the last 20 years especially. We are on a quest to reclaim what we can and reinvent what we cannot.

Josh, thats interesting about the lanthanides. Ill keep that in mind.
I think our batching would be mixed with a base of crystal so maybe 4% would work. Luckily, the cost really isnt a problem - we're used to spending thousands of dollars on colorant haha. Assuming the batch isnt a total wash, we will be able to use and sell it no problem - even if the color isnt exactly what we want.

I just looked at US Pigment again and the only one I had seen in the past was their 325 mesh/99.9@ NdO for $60/lb. But I do now see they offer that $25/lb. option for 95.5% but it's called "coarse". I haven't bought any from them, I'm towards the end of the stuff I bought from Dudley, but I'm guessing that was closer to a 325 mesh. Now I'm wondering if the coarser mesh will work just fine. The concentration isn't that much different and I suppose it could be put in a coffee grinder if it were too coarse for mixing evenly. The cost sure is better..

So, the rare earths may not have much sway on your LEC, but 4% of anything added to your regular batch base can have the potential to throw off proper ratios of everything else that's in the mix. That's something that Pete has cautioned me about here in the past. There's no way around the trial and error though. Hopefully you have the ability to do some smaller test melts at Blenko, that could save a lot of money for spending on colorants later.

mesh coarseness does not determine NdO content. The curiosity with the Nd is it can be supplied as NdO, Nd20, Nd2O3, or NdO3 , (I think that's right) so every content has a different Oxygen content as well as a different Nd content, which is the one that colors the goop. I think carbonates are out there as well. That O2 content should be thought of as diluting the Nd.

So that's price. I don't have any quantifying info as to whether it makes any difference in the color density. Logic says it should.

*****
I ran your formula as you supplied it and something is missing in the ingredients, like, Soda Ash.