Casting

There are times when I think the art of sculpting in/casting glass is simply the art of shopping a lot–it seems to take a LOT of supplies. Sometimes you can repurpose things (as I mentioned here) but other times you simply need the right tools. I’ve compiled a list of  places I buy and learn from; if you know of others please comment and I’ll add them to the list.

This list is also available as a downloadable PDF. I usually update the online version faster than the PDF, though, so refer here first. If you’re going to distribute it, however, please give me some credit (and let me know you’re doing it). Thanks.

Casting supplies, services, and information
(List and opinions courtesy of Cynthia Morgan)

Arizona Sculpture
4665 South Ash Ave, Suite G-15
Tempe, AZ 85282

Good prices on waxes, mold- and model-making tools, clays (including wax clay), life casting supplies, patinas, all kinds of stuff 1-888-967-7727

ART Studio Clay Company
9320 Michigan Avenue
Sturtevant, WI 53177-2435

Very nice ceramics supply house with a full assortment of tools, kilns, clays and raw materials. 262-884-4278

Ball Consulting Ltd.
Ambridge, PA

Sculpting supplies, including oil and wax clays, alginates, lots of stone materials. (800) 225-2673

Bullseye Glass Resource Center
3610 SE 21st Ave.
Portland OR 97202

Plaster/silica investment, box casting kits, glass casting billets and cullet metal foils, kiln wash, really wonderful lampworking rods, etc. Very, very good about finding the answers to your questions and figuring out how to make their glass do what you need. 888.220.3002

Cast Glass Forms
93639 Elk River Rd.
Port Orford, OR 97465 USA

Casting expert Hugh McKay makes custom molds for sculptors (and other artists), and provides full-spectrum glass casting services 541-332-0162

Cementex Latex Corp
121 Varick Street.
New York, NY 10013

Nice (if unillustrated) tutorials on moldmaking, sells resins, release agents, latex, modeling clay, Cabosil for mother molds, alginates for life casting, etc. 800-782-9056 / 212-741-1770

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.

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. (as well as a lot of other stuff)

Farwest Materials
405 Woodland Ave.
Walla Walla, WA 99362

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. (509) 522-0556

France Casting
1713 Willox Court, Unit A
Fort Collins, Colorado 80524

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. (970) 221-4044

Gaffer Glass USA
19622 70th Avenue South Unit #4
Kent, WA 98032

Truly beautiful lead crystal billets in a variety of colors. 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 the website doesn’t always spell them out. 800-395-7600

Georgie’s Ceramics
756 NE Lombard St
Portland, OR 97211

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. (503) 283-1353

GlassFacts casting calculator
Handy calculator 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

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. (503) 251-6959

~Micro-Mark
340 Synder Avenue
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922

This catalog store specializes in tools for the miniature modeler, and has everything from drills and plating equipment to soldering irons and mini-sandblasters.
800-225-1066

National Sculpture Society (NSS)
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017

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. 212-764-5645

Olympic Color Supply
818 John Street
Seattle, WA 98109

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. 206-343-7336

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

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. (585) 229-2976

PinkHouse Studios Lifecasting
35 Bank St.
St. Albans VT 05478

Lifecasting supplies, including Reducit (which shrinks your lifecasts) and Expandit (which grows them to double-size). (802) 524-7191

~Polytek Development Corp.
55 Hilton Street
Easton, PA 18042


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.
(800) 858-5990 (610) 559-8620

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

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. (315) 797-8700

Sculpture Depot
418 8th Street
Loveland, CO 80537

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. 800-260-4690

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

Some really cool tools, clays, plasters for the sculptor, very complete product lists for all kinds of media. 212-645-3717

Seattle Pottery Supply
35 S. Hanford St.
Seattle, WA 98134

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. 800-522-1975

Silpak Inc.
470 E Bonita
Pomona, CA 91767

Primarily flexible mold-making materials such as RTV, urethane, casting resins, latex (909) 625-0056

Smooth-on
2000 Saint John Street
Easton, PA 18042

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. 800-762-0744

Stephenson Pattern Supply
3223 NW Guam
Portland, OR 97210

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). (503) 228-1222

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.

Twin Vision (Rowe Twins) website
Candian artists (and twins) Melanie and Leslie Rowe talk about their work in glass casting and how they do their stuff.

Uroboros Glass
2139 N. Kerby Ave.
Portland, OR 97227

Uroboros 90 and 96 casting billet, Uroboros Glass Mix (outer mold casting investment), and plaster-silica mold mix. Good colors, especially in casting tints. Exceptionally nice folk who go out of their way to help. 503-284-4900

Western Industrial Ceramics
10725 SW Tualatin-Sherwood Rd.
Tualatin, OR 97062

Also LA and Bay area. Refractories ( Isofrax, Fiberfrax, Durablanket and Magnaboard), and can custom-make refractory products (although costly). 503-692-3770

Zircar Refractory Composites Inc.
P.O. Box 489
Florida, NY, 10921 USA

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 845-651-2200 (ask for Mike Cauda)