Macalaster Bicknell Company of New Jersey has a variety of colored glass tubing for sale. The Boromax tubes are ideal for glass blowers and lampworkers that prefer to work with hard glass to create stunning pieces.

Borosilicate Glass Tubes

Macalaster Bicknell sells colored glass borosilicate tubing. Considered a “hard glass,” borosilicate is made from boron trioxide and silica. These components give the glass a low coefficient of thermal expansion. This means that the glass has a higher melting point than “soft glass,” and is more forgiving to work with. Additionally, the oxygen present in the flame used to heat borosilicate can react with metals in the glass to produce striking and unpredictable colors. Soft glass melts at lower temperatures, but can easily crack if an even temperature is not maintained as the glass is being worked on.

Although Macalaster Bicknell only has colored glass tubing for sale, solid glass rods are also used in lampworking. The rods are best for creating solid pieces, like intricate glass beads, goblets, paper weights, pendants and figurines. However, hollow glass tubing is ideal for creating vessels and containers.

Lampworking can be done as an art to create visually stunning pieces. However, most major academic institutions hire scientific glassblowers to create custom scientific apparatus. Because borosilicate glass has a high resistance to thermal shock, it can be heated and cooled repeatedly without breaking down or cracking. This property is ideal in a laboratory setting where chemical solutions are often heated to remove impurities or separate components of differing densities. Those skilled in scientific glassblowing must be extremely precise in their work to meet exact specifications for laboratory glassware.

No matter the application, Macalaster Bicknell Company of New Jersey has a variety of colored glass tubing for sale to meet your needs. Browse our selection or contact us today!