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Repairing broken glass

Started by suzanneC, February 14, 2015, 08:46:26 AM

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suzanneC

Hi
Thought I would run this by you all to see what you think.  A friend has asked me if I could repair or make another stem to a special glass they have. It is broken very near the base of the glass. I'm very nervous about trying this as I am still trying to get to terms with boro.   I presume if I did attempt it I would have to warm the whole glass in the kiln before attaching a new stem. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

garishglobes

It depends how close to the base of the glass the break is.. if it is too close, you risk deforming the bowl when you melt it to attach a new stem.

However, I often repair glasses - because the attachment points at the top and the bottom of the stem aren't that thick, it should be fine to put the base and the bowl in Hot Fingers, warm them in the flame (just near the attachment point, don't aim heat at anything else or it might crack) and then attach a new stem. The problem with putting them in the kiln is that once they are hot, you need to work out how to hold them in order to make the repair, and that isn't too easy! I don't think you want to put Hot Fingers on the cold glass and then warm the whole caboodle up in the kiln.. !!

tuffnell glass

Hi ,
         Also check first what glass it is made of, if there is any quantity of lead in the glass as soon as you go near it with a flame you will get a black/silver finish on the glass.

Martin

tuffnellglass@yahoo.co.uk
www.tuffnellglass.com
www.flameoff.co.uk

Pat from Canvey

I once ruined some Hot Fingers by putting them in the kiln. Hemostats might work though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemostat

garishglobes

They might, but you'd still want to have Hot Fingers or some type of grabber with a central handle on the pieces when they came out of the kiln, so that you could get an even join.

I had assumed the glass was boro!!  ::) ::)  Martin's right, you'd need to know!! Warming soft glass would be a different process altogether!

suzanneC

Thanks for replies.  Does that mean Martin if I put a piece of the old stem in flame and it turns black/silver, there is a lot of lead content?  Have no idea what sort of glass it is, is about 28/30 years old.

tuffnell glass

Hi ,

         Is it a plain glass style or is it cut and faceted , if the latter then it will certainly have a lead content, if you have a tiny chip you can test on that by placing in the flame and trying to seal it with a piece of soft glass , I would be surprised if it is boro , it will more than likely be a soft glass heading more towards a Bullseye type 90-96coe.

best wishes ,

Martin
Tuffnell Glass

tuffnellglass@yahoo.co.uk
www.tuffnellglass.com
www.flameoff.co.uk