Take me back to the Main Page

The Frequently Asked Questions Page

Factory Tours: Wednesday, 10am and Friday, 10am

KOG offers one group tour on Wednesday and one on Friday of each week, both starting promptly at 10:00 a.m. (except holidays and the month of December). The tours are open to the public. Tour Admission is $1.00 per person. Each person will receive a coupon for $1.00 off of a purchase from the gift shop of $2.00 or more. Children 5 and under free. We are happy to provide directions in advance of your trip to assure a timely arrival. Unfortunately, we are unable to interrupt a tour in progress if a participant arrives after the tour has begun. Therefore, we want to assure you have clear directions to the factory so you won't miss out. Please contact The OP Shop at 765/457-1829 if you have additional questions or would like more information. In addition, advance notice is appreciated if you plan to bring a group to enjoy the tour so we may prepare appropriately. We look forward to introducing you to the wonder of glass making!
Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.

Purchasing a Poster

We have 3 posters available for purchase: Keepers, by Peter McGrain; Bricolage, by Savoy Studios; and Rhododendron, by Steve Stelz. Each of these beautiful posters is 23"x48" and suitable for framing. Please visit our Glass Gear section for more details and an order form.
Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.

Rhododendron Pattern

The Rhododendron window, by Stephen Stelz of Stelz Studios, does not have a pattern available. The window is approximately 5 foot by 9 foot, and is up to five layers thick in places. The trees in the background are painted and fired into glass that makes up the middle layer. It is a one of a kind work of art that can't be reproduced, but can inspire us all. There is a poster available.
Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.

Do you still make (insert desired color)?

Probably. There are very few colors that have ever been completely retired from the line. We make so many different glasses (it's around 22,000), that our production is completely order driven. If we haven't had any orders for it in 60 or so years, it might seem like it's been discontinued, but we'll make it if you need enough! (Unless the EPA says we can't).
Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.

Where can I buy your glass?

That depends. If you are interested in buying retail, your best bet is to check your Yellow Pages under Glass, Stained and Leaded for the store nearest you. There are also several good store locators on the Web; check our link page for the URL's. If you have a business and can meet the qualifications for purchasing wholesale, contact us for a list of distributors.
Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.

Do you have a sample box available?

We sure do. We can make over 22,000 possible color/density/texture combinations, and the process of discontinuing and adding new products is continuous. Thus, it is impractical for us to assemble a "complete" factory sample set. The standard factory sample box we do offer includes approximately 200 samples (representative of KOG's most popular colors), including opalescent combinations, streakies, opalumes and all available patterns. For ordering information, see the Glass Gear page.
Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.

I want to open a stained glass business, how do I get started?

We encourage you to contact the AGSA (Art Glass Suppliers Association), they are a tremendous resource for information regarding the business of stained glass. Contact AGSA at:  

Art Glass Suppliers Association
1100-H Brandywine Boulevard
P.O. Box 3388
Zanesville, Ohio 43702-3388
Telephone: 740-452-4541
Fax: 740-452-2552
E-Mail:  info@agsa.org
Web Site:  http://www.agsa.org.

Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.

What does D, MD, ML, L, and LL mean in your color codes?

See Explanation of Density Codes on the Specifications page.
Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.

What do SPL and N mean?

SPL is a catch-all code that means Special. What's special about a glass with this code? Depends. 64 is Blue, Black Purple and Opal. 64SPL is the same glass with the proportions of Blue and Black Purple reversed. 4 is Royal Blue and Opal, while 4SPL is Royal Blue, Clear and Opal. Many time, SPL simply means we added Opal to a Cathedral color, as in 623 and 623SPL, 629 and 629SPL, 880 and 880SPL.   N, on the other hand, is much easier to explain. N means an amber with a Green tone to it.
Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.

How come some colors look identical to what was made 100 years ago, and some look different now?

There's a couple of reasons why glass made today can look different than glass made around the turn of the century. The most significant difference is in the way opal looks, especially in the lighter densities. Arsenic used to be the chemical of choice to make opal, and glass made with arsenic has a 'fire' to it that glass made today can't quite match. After arsenic was legislated out of use, opal started being made with fluorspar.
A second factor in why glass can look different today is the overall purity of the available raw ingredients. Where in the past a given chemical might have been around 79% pure, today, better refining processes deliver to us a chemical that is closer to 95% pure. What this means is that while we are technically making a 'better', higher quality sheet of glass today, it might not match the same glass made 100 years ago because the colors are more seperate, more distinct today. The impurities that were present in the raw ingredients of the past would sometimes cause the colors to become 'muddy', and as much as we would like to be able to make 'muddy' glass on purpose, we can't.
The last significant factor is a quality control issue. 100 years ago there was so much demand for colored sheet glass that there was no such thing as 'off-color' glass. If it was colored and properly annealed, it got sold. Now days we take great care to master match our colors to ensure that the glass you re-order will look as much like the glass originally ordered as possible.
Scroll up or down to keep browsing, or go back to the top.


Take me back to the Main Page Show me the samples Take me on the tour Take me to the Gallery Gimme the gear Tell me some history Get ahold of us Other cool sites Hey, I gotta question Hot, hot, oooh, so hot.
Home Samples Tour Gallery Gear History Contact Links FAQ Specs Studio

Wallpaper on this page is part number 1076.
Copyright© 2005 Kokomo Opalescent Glass. All rights reserved.
Page designed and updated by Tom Giles