Northstar Glassworks

What Northstar Glassworks does

Northstar Glassworks is a small U.S.-based manufacturer of colored borosilicate and soft glass art materials, operating with approximately 12 employees from a headquarters in Tigard, Oregon, with manufacturing operations based in Portland, Oregon. The company produces a range of glass consumables including rods, frit, powder, tubes, cane glass, and its proprietary Precision 104 soft glass line, marketed under a Borocolour® palette of more than 100 compatible colors.

The product portfolio is organized under multiple sub-brands — including TAG Rods, WonderTube, Abe's Vault, Future Line, and Slugger Bars — and the company maintains artist-facing collaborations with Trautman Art Glass and Gaffer Glass. Borocolour® is a registered trademark, signaling an investment in proprietary brand equity. Recent product activity (WT-073 and WT-072 in 2026; WT-068 in 2023) and experimental color introductions in 2021 indicate a continuous product development cadence aimed at the lampworking and glass-art community.

The business model centers on per-unit e-commerce sales of niche art supplies to individual artists and small studios, with a WordPress-based storefront processing payments through PayPal/Braintree and Authorize.net. Distribution is partly supported through a retail store locator, indicating some wholesale channel activity alongside direct sales, and the company indicates shipping availability beyond North America. No public revenue, funding, or investor disclosures are present in the available data.

Name

Northstar Glassworks

Legal name

Northstar Glassworks

Website

https://northstarglass.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Northstar Glassworks is a small Oregon-based manufacturer of colored borosilicate and soft glass art materials, selling 100+ color rods, frit, tubes, and cane glass under the registered Borocolour® trademark directly to individual lampworking artists and small studios via e-commerce and wholesale.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Glass Materials Sales: Northstar Glassworks generates revenue through the sale of colored borosilicate glass materials in various forms including rods, frit, powder, tubing, cane, and specialty products like WonderTubes. Products are sold by weight (pounds for rods, ounces for frit/powder) with customers ordering through their e-commerce platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Northstar Glassworks manufactures and sells colored borosilicate art glass under the Borocolour® brand, offering rods, frit, powder, hand-pulled tubing, cane, layered WonderTube products, 2mm–3mm stringers, and Precision 104 soft glass in more than 100 fully compatible colors. The products are sold by weight to professional and hobbyist glass artists for lampworking, glassblowing, bead making, and sculptural applications.

Product overview

Northstar Glassworks is a manufacturer of Borocolour® glass art supplies, operating as an e-commerce store selling directly to glass artists. Their product portfolio consists primarily of colored borosilicate glass materials in various formats: NS Rods (standard Northstar colors), TAG Rods (Trautman Art Glass specialty colors including Stardust and Elvis series), WonderTube (pre-layered multi-color tubing), hand-pulled tubing, frit and powder, slugger bars, and 2mm-3mm stringers. They also produce experimental products through their 'Abe's Vault' program and 'Future Line' series made from batch in Portland, OR. The company offers over 100 fully compatible colors including transparent, opaque, striking, and specialty formulations. A notable product collaboration with Trautman Art Glass produced the Galaxy line combining NS-125 Jet Black base with TAG Stardust sparkle. Minimum order for rod purchases is 1/2lb; frit and powder are sold in 4oz and 16oz jars; tubing is charged by exact weight.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TAG Rods: A sub-brand/product line featuring TAG (Trautman Art Glass) rods with sparkle and stardust properties
• WonderTube (WT)
• Abe's Vault / Vault Archives
• Future Line
• Slugger Bars

Products and services

• NS Rods (Northstar Borocolour® Glass Rods) Northstar-branded borosilicate glass rods in 100+ fully compatible colors, including transparent, opaque, striking, and experimental formulations. Sold by the pound with a 1/2lb minimum order; used for sculptural applications, blown work, and stringer application by lampworking and glassblowing artists.
• TAG Rods (Trautman Art Glass) Trautman Art Glass-branded specialty rods featuring the Stardust family, Elvis series, and reactive silver colors, known for aventurine technology with dichro-like sparkles. Sold to glass artists through the Northstar storefront.
• Borosilicate Frit Borosilicate glass frit in various mesh sizes for glass art applications. Sold in fixed 4oz and 16oz jars.
• Borosilicate Powder Borosilicate glass powder for fine detail work and decorative applications. Sold in 4oz and 16oz jars alongside frit products.
• Hand Pulled Tubing Hand-pulled borosilicate glass tubing available in various colors. Charged by exact weight, with customers paying only for the actual weight shipped (measured to the hundredth of a pound).
• WonderTube (Layered Color Tubing) Pre-layered glass tubing that combines multiple colors or effects in a single product (for example Pink Slyme over Poppy, Heavy Blue Stardust over Canary, Light Cobalt over Heavy Blue Stardust) to create depth and combined visual effects. Pre-struck and annealed before sale.
• Precision 104 Soft Glass Soft-glass product line compatible with standard palette colors and techniques, offered alongside Northstar's borosilicate range.
• Slugger Bars Hand-pulled bar-format glass products; length varies by quantity ordered. Popular for sculptural work and heavy applications.
• 2mm–3mm Stringers Thin rods hand-pulled to 2mm–3mm diameter, used for stringer application, lined tubing, and detailed work; specialty products not often produced.
• Abe's Vault / Experimental Color Releases Limited-availability experimental colors including reformulations of discontinued colors, small batch releases, and new experimental formulas. Includes Future Line colors made from batch in Portland, OR (air-free, smooth working characteristics).
• T-152 Galaxy Tubing Galaxy color raw tubing with no clear, formulated from the iconic NS-125 Jet Black base with sparkle from the TAG Stardust family. Dense black with heavy sparkle, safe for encasement; first product of the Northstar–Trautman Art Glass collaboration.
• WT-152 Simax Encasement Galaxy Tubing Galaxy color encased in clear Simax glass that amplifies depth, creates a sleek mirrored surface, and adds durability. Released alongside the T-152 Galaxy tubing as the encased counterpart.
• NS-152 Galaxy 2mm–3mm Stringers Sparkle-black stringers in 2mm–3mm thickness, dense black with heavy sparkle from the TAG Stardust family. First collaborative-effort product between Northstar Glass and Trautman Art Glass in stringer form.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and historical.

• Trautman Art GlasscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNS-152 Galaxy represents the first collaborative effort between Northstar Glass & Trautman Art Glass to produce a new color in rod form. This color was formulated from the iconic NS-125 Jet Black base along with the amazing sparkle from the TAG Stardust family, combining Northstar's color expertise with Trautman's glass tubing technology. The collaboration also produced WT-152 Simax encased Galaxy Tubing.
• Gaffer GlasssecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerExp. #25 Persephone Pink was originally developed through a collaboration between Northstar Glassworks and Gaffer Glass. The collaboration produced a stable, air-free transparent pink with buttery smooth working characteristics and strong flame stability. Northstar recently produced a small limited batch using remaining original material from this collaboration.
• Gaffer GlasshistoricalStrategic or Co-development PartnerEXP #61 Cadmium Poppy Red was a Gaffer X Northstar collaboration to produce a more workable cadmium palette for glass artists. These rods were a bright poppy orange similar to NS-085 Poppy with less cadmium content, making them easier to use in variety of flame environments. This experiment has since been discontinued.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Double Helix Glassworks: Manufacturer of colored borosilicate glass rods and frit specifically formulated for glass artists performing lampwork and beadmaking. Closest direct competitor to Northstar in colored borosilicate art glass, serving the same customer segment with overlapping product formats.
• Glass Alchemy: Colored art glass manufacturer producing borosilicate and soda-lime glass rods, frit, and powder for studio glass artists. Directly comparable to Northstar on product format, customer base, and brand-led niche positioning.
• Creation is Mess (CiM): Producer of colored glass rods and frit for the lampworking community, with strong artist-community engagement and DTC distribution. Competes with Northstar for the same hobbyist and professional glass artist customer base.
• Trautman Art Glass (TAG): Specialty tubing and color glass manufacturer known for Stardust aventurine technology, Elvis series, and reactive silver colors. Co-develops products with Northstar (Galaxy line) and serves overlapping lampworking customers.
• Gaffer Glass: New Zealand-based colored art glass manufacturer producing borosilicate and soda-lime color rods. Has collaborated with Northstar on experimental colors (Persephone Pink, Cadmium Poppy Red) and competes for the same global glass artist market.
• Arnold Zimmerman (AZ) Glass: Long-standing manufacturer of colored borosilicate glass rods for studio artists, with deep roots in the lampworking community. Direct peer to Northstar in colored rod production and artist-segment distribution.

Regional players

• Reichenbach: German manufacturer of colored art glass with broad soda-lime and specialty glass lines for studio artists. Comparable product formats but primarily serves the European market with limited direct U.S. overlap.

Broad incumbents

• Bullseye Glass: Major U.S. art glass manufacturer focused primarily on soda-lime sheet glass and frit, with broader product breadth and larger scale than Northstar. Overlaps in serving studio glass artists but does not specialize in borosilicate rod color systems.
• Schott AG: Global specialty glass manufacturer with deep borosilicate expertise (Duran, Pyrex-branded lines), serving scientific, industrial, and consumer markets. Broad incumbent whose borosilicate capability and scale represent an indirect competitive ceiling for niche art glass producers.

Emerging players

• Simax (Kavalierglass): Czech manufacturer of borosilicate glass tubing and rods, including technical and artistic grades. Northstar sources some encasement tubing (e.g., WT-152 Simax encased Galaxy) and competes partially in tubing form factors.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Northstar Glassworks