WHO WE ARE Our Portland, Oregon manufacturing facility is located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest of the United States. Founded in 1973 by glass artist Eric Lovell, now some 50 men and women at Uroboros Glass push the limits of technology and traditional handmade craftsmanship to bring you the most unique and creative glass styles to be found anywhere. We make Art Glass in more than 150 sophisticated color combinations available in over a dozen styles and textures. We also make a wide range of colored fusible glass products in several tightly controlled expansion points - including System 96®, FX90, many Artista colors, and 104 (compatible to Effetre). For more information about our fusible glass and fuse testing program, read more in any fusible products section in this website. Even as our process must use lots of energy, we pride ourselves in being environmentally conscious. We minimize waste, reuse and recycle energy, water, and materials in many ways, and choose environment-friendly packaging whenever possible. For our efforts, we are certified as a 'Green Business' by the City of Portland. Uroboros also strives to make the workplace as safe as possible for our greatest asset, our employees. WHAT IS A UROBOROS The 'Uroboros' is an alchemist's term often represented by a dragon or serpent devouring its own tail. The ancient symbol represents an endless cycle of renewal or life everlasting. Our name honors the traditions and lore of medieval alchemists as they struggled to turn non-precious lead into precious gold. Today, we use non-precious sand to make some of the most precious hand-cast art glass available in the world. FAQ What is System 96®? Our System 96 products are the result of a cooperative alliance with our friends at Spectrum Glass of Woodinville, Washington. In 1999 we committed to mutually launch a broad-purpose product line of fusible glass products. System 96 is the result, reflecting the strengths of both companies. Uroboros makes the more specialized sheet styles, Frit, Noodles and Stringer, Rods and specialized kiln casting glass Spectrum produces a vibrant color palette of super-smooth, single-color sheets at affordable prices. Learn more and browse the products. Is Uroboros fusible glass compatible with Bullseye? Yes, our FX90 fusing glass is designed to be fully compatible with Bullseye products. Wide ranging tests by independent experts have repeatedly confirmed the full compatibility of the two brands. Artists have been mixing the two successfully since 1989 â€" more than 20 years! Is Uroboros fusible glass compatible with Schott â€" Artista? Neither our FX90 nor our System 96 products are designed to be compatible with Artista. While it may be possible that some individual colors can be fused successfully with certain Artista colors, this is due to a lucky convergence of COE and viscosity mismatches, not by design. We do, however, produce a range of tested compatible colors exclusively for Schott's ‘Artista' product line. These are available through Artista dealers worldwide. If you are an Artista user, you can recognize our sheets by our sheet size and surface texture. What firing schedule should I use with your glass? We have compiled (from real life kiln working experience) a complete set of firing guidelines for fusers, kiln casters and torch workers in the Resources section of this website. In general, Uroboros FX90 fires similarly to Bullseye fusible products, while Uroboros System 96 fires right along with Spectrum System 96 products at 10 - 20 degrees F lower than 90 COE products. For unusual or large scale projects please contact us for further guidance. For further information on fusing techniques and temperatures read: Glass Notes by Henry Halem, The Fused Glass Handbook by Gil Reynolds, Contemporary Warm Glass by Brad Walker, and Firing Schedules for Glass by Graham Stone. What are the Physical Properties of your fusible glass? Physical properties such as Annealing and Strain points, and Specific Gravity, of our glasses vary slightly between product categories. Please visit the Resources tab of this website for Product Information, and choose the COE category you are interested in. How much glass do I need to fill a mold? And in general, our own Bill Ward recommends from experience that when in doubt about the glass amount needed, its always better to slightly overfill than to underfill. Slight overfills can usually be fixed with cold working, while underfills often require a second firing.
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