Since 1888, the process at Kokomo Opalescent Glass hasn’t changed much.
“We’re manufacturing with a 19th century manufacturing process,” president and owner Jeff Shaw said. “So much of it is by hand.”
Opalescent glass, a classification of stained glass, is a mixture of different colored glass that has texture to it. The handmade glass is made from a mixture of sand, limestone, feldspar and other materials. The mixture is placed in a furnace, usually around 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit, and cooked down over a period of about 24 hours. When it’s ready, the molten glass is ladled from the furnace to a table where it is mixed with a steel fork and sent through rollers to flatten.
The glass sheets spend 45 minutes in a machine called an annealing oven cooling to around 200 degrees. They are then trimmed by hand to size. Depending on the customer’s needs, glass sheets made in Kokomo can range anywhere from 8 by 12 inches to 32 by 84 inches.
“It’s a tricky product, but a beautiful one too, when it comes out right,” Shaw said.
Because Kokomo’s glass factory is one of the oldest in the world, its largest customer base consists of professional studios doing restoration work. The company also sells to artists and hobbyists.
“If they got a restoration job, they’ll send us, in the mail, broken pieces of the glass that they need to replace,” Shaw said. “Because we do have the biggest palette in the business, and the oldest, they have the best chance of matching it with us.”
For Shaw, the future of the company is in both ensuring the company can continue to produce reliably and expanding the products the company offers.
“Glass is a very versatile material,” Shaw said.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Inside America’s oldest opalescent glass factory in Kokomo
Reporting by Christine Tannous, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
