Dichroic Information Page

Dichroic is not a glass or a texture, it is a coating. You could look at it the same way you might say that an item was sugar coated. So then a person might say, well then what can you have sugar coated? At that point the possibilities would be endless with sugar but with dichroic coatings, there too are literally thousands of possibilities of coating combinations.

Consider this : CBS has 45 dichroic colors/effects that they are coating on 72 different colors/kinds,textures of glass and that is only the glass that they stock. That means there are 3240 different combinations that can be coated with just the 72 kinds of glass they stock. There are hundreds of other colors/textures still to be coated so if you said that there are 172 colors of glass that can be coated then 172 x 45 colors = 7740. Oh my gosh that is an incredible potential of coatings. Realistically there are probably close to 1000 different colors and textures out there between all the companies that make glass for the hot glass industry (keep in mind that we are talking several COE's from Pyrex to Moretti.

Ok now that you saw how many combos with just a few numbers let us just imagine the realistic possibilities of what you could have coated at CBS.
Opps maybe I had better just back up a moment because now I just said something that may have gone over un-noticed.
Did you know that a huge percentage of the people who order glass from CBS had no idea that they could have almost anything coated that is glass and that will fit into a chamber. Let me explain. When you have a sheet of glass coated at CBS, you are charged 2 different fees.

1) - the coating cost - depends on your level of sales and if standard or premium colors, patterns etc.

2) - CBS charges you for the glass they pull off of their shelves that you have asked for.
An example you order pink/teal on thin clear radium.
You are charged the appropriate cost for the coating and cost of a sheet of thin clear radium and together you pay for the price of a coated sheet of dichro never really knowing they added up 2 cost to arrive at what you just paid!

So here is where the fun comes in. Lets say you have a wine decanter and 8 glasses. Well depending on what level of buying you are on they would charge you for chamber cost and since you supplied your own glass per sey, you would have just had some cool items coated with a dichroic color of your choice at less than the cost of a sheet of dichroic glass because you just had a coating cost and not paid for a sheet of glass! You also have to figure that you would have to ship your item/items to CBS also. Wow can you imagine the possibilities now? I have seen and heard of big fused plates etc that were coated and found out that these artists were sending the fused plate to CBS to have coated after the plate was aleady done. That is too cool. Get the picture now of what we are fetting into as far as what you could have done ? CBS has its criteria of course but in general if they can get your item in the chamber and it can be cleaned etc before coating and be clamped down to handle the coating processes, then you could possibly have a ton of different ideas of having items coated.

I myself have had just about every texture known to stained glass coated with dichroics. Yes from glue chip to everglade and everything in between.

CBS also coats dichro on float, Moretti, Bullseye, Uroborus, Pyrex and on and on. They coat on sheet glass, rods, stringers, frit, glass blocks, tiles as well as other items.

As if that was not enough then they have folks sending in their own glass choices like myself. As long as you cut your glass into a 19" diameter circle, ship it to them then they can coat you that sheet.

After I had explained this to a few fusers they were very surprised that they just thought they had to buy what CBS made when they had not even begun to explore the endless possibilities that CBS can offer to all of us who use their products.




Gee do I sound like a sales person for CBS or what ?? LOL - They do sponsor me when I travel to teach cabochon fusing and they also expressed interest if I ever do my own video. I know all the info on this page is a lot to digest but many folks had no idea that there are an infinite amount of possibilities to be done and every time the glass companies come up with another texture like Bullseye just did, then it just keeps adding more to the ridiculously huge mathematical possibilities. That is the reason I am always looking to come up with a different color/texture combination than what is the usual standard choice. I have already had the first sheets of splinter coated on more than the standard 2 options CBS offers. The same with Aurora Borealis as they only offer 4 colors per sey as options and in just 2 textures being smooth clear and black, but I have already ordered Aurora Borealis in 13 different colors with approx 6 of the colors being done for the first time and on all the textures available to the COE 90 fuser. Everyone else has that option as well just how many folks knew it could be done.

I hope this page of facts, thoughts and examples gives you an ideas as well




So what is all the hoopla about dichroic glass anyway and what the heck is the big deal about it. There are so many ideas of how it originated and who knows the exact origins?

information from CBS web site - - - - - Dichroic Glass is a multi layer coating placed on glass by using a highly technical vacuum deposition process. Quartz Crystal and Metal Oxides are Vaporized with an electron beam gun in an airless vacuum chamber and the vapor then floats upward and attaches then condenses on the surface of the glass in the form of a crystal structure. Our colors have as many as 30 layers of these materials yet the thickness of the total coating is approximately 35 millionths of an inch. The coating that is created is very similar to a gemstone and by careful control in thickness, different colors are obtained. Thus, all our coatings are created using the same exact materials. Originally created for the Aerospace industry, Dichroic Glass is now made available to the artist community through Coatings By Sandberg, Inc. CBS Dichroic Glass is specifically designed to be hotworked in any way but can also be used in its raw form. The main characteristic of Dichroic Glass is that it has a transmitted color and a completely different reflective color. Furthermore, these two colors shift depending on angle of view. With the play of light together with its vibrant color, Dichroic Glass is a prime tool used to add interest to any piece of work or project. With over 45 Colors of Dichroic Coatings available to be placed on “any” substrate (ie glass), artists have unlimited freedom of expression.

CBS, Inc. is a family owned corporation run by Gerald (Jerry) Sandberg (CEO), Nona Sandberg (President), and Howard Sandberg (CFO). The company has been in business since 1996, but Jerry Sandberg, its founder, has been producing and supplying Dichroic glass to the art community for well over 25 years. CBS was created in response to the artist community that encouraged Jerry to develop a consistent and reliable outlet for the manufacture and marketing of fine quality Dichroic Glass. Thus, Jerry is the original creator of the vibrant and effective colors that CBS presently manufactures.




1) - Did you know that if you could scrape all the dichroic dust (metal oxides) off of 2 full sheets (which are 19" circles with 2 clipped edges) that you would have a pile of dichroic dust equivilent in size and dimensions of a dime.
2) - At the rate of a dime's worth of dichroic dust with a retail average of say $165 per sheet depending on who or where you get your full sheets from, that means that this little dime's worth of dichro is $330
3) - The word "dichroic" inself is a word that was coined from the gem industry because dichroic glass has gem-like properties, not glass like
4) - Jerry Sandberg builds the vacuum deposition chambers for CBS glass which is "Coatings By Sandberg"
5) - A vacuum deposition chamber consists of 6 chambers that can coat 1 sheet at a time per chamber
6) - A run or coating time for the coating chamber takes 2 hours.
7) - CBS is the largest dichroic glass coater selling to the general public in the world.

Click picture for close up view