DOING BUSINESS / SPECIALTY GLASS : Glassmaker Specializes in High-Tech Exotica

Where do you go when you need Widmark stopper cups, an Oldershaw column, quartz bubblers, mercury diffusion pumps or a protein reaction vessel? A specialty glass blower.

The intricate shapes made by Cal-Glass for Research in Costa Mesa require a steady hand and a sculptor’s touch with a blowtorch.

Prices for the larger and more complex pieces can range as high as $4,000, but there’s no shortage of customers, including the aerospace, chemical, pharmaceutical, electronics and food-processing industries, as well as public and private research laboratories.