This is a family business run by Craig Behn which has been in Smithville, TX for many years.
His web site is http://www.pecoglassbending.com and you can email him there. He only accepts walk-in appointments between 10am and 5pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you want to pick up your replacement, then you will need to ask him to reserve you a specific appointment or he will just email you back that those are his appointment hours.
Normally, you check his web site, and then email him measurements according to the directions on the site. He makes the glass and ships it out to you.
We had a tricky antique hutch door. I didn't feel confident doing measurements myself and didn't want to install the new glass. So I opted to take the door frame to him (about an hour away from where I live) and have him prepare the glass and do the installation. The price was extremely reasonable.
I went in with my door frame and introduced myself. He really wasn't very engaging, and kind of ignored me as he was cleaning up his bench from a previous job. He just took the door and started measuring it. I'm 73 years old and I'd wager Craig is at least my age, and maybe has a couple of years on me, so I started asking him questions about cutting the glass. Folks usually enjoy talking about their craft. I asked if he ordered the glass already bent, and that's where I discovered he had all kinds of molds and he buys sheets of glass and bends them to fit the mold, then cuts them down to fit the furniture.
He said he's been trying to retire for years, but he just has too many people needing glass. The phone rang, and the caller asked "What are you up to" and he Said "I'm trying to retire." The reason he can't retire is he is one of only two people in the sate of Texas who provide glass bending service for individual furniture pieces. He said there are only a handful of people in the United States that still provide this service.
We got to talking about how things were in the old days, like two old men will do, and at the end of the hour the door was good as new and I had enjoyed exchanging memories with him. I really think working alone all the time (he has no helper in the shop and generally ships out his product), he just got used to the many years of not talking. I hope he enjoyed my company as much as I enjoyed his.
He's been running this business pretty much all his working life and is trying to sell it. But he said when prospective buyers come to look it over and he shows what is involved in bending the glass and fitting it, they decide it's too much work. I'm glad I found him before he retired because he did an excellent job and the china cabinet now looks as good as new. read more
