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How to smooth a rough glass edges into a sparkling smooth surface. Sam Nickaby 07-18-2006
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Posted by Martin H. Eastburn on July 23, 2006, 9:55 pm
Plexiglas does get flame polished - I have done it in school. 1/4" thick glass
bead
finish 8" circle. Something of a plastic window that wasn't clear.
Often the circles would have a melted spot - the touch between limp and char is
on a fast angle IIRC - rapid change and a quick eye to extract in time.

I think polish - slow and cool is the best way.
Martin
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH & Endowment Member
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member
http://lufkinced.com/



mike1942f wrote:
> Just to clarify "flame polished" on acrylic was a metafor, meaning
> the edge on acrylic that looks like flame polished on glass. Since
> acrylic goes limp at about 225F and chars at about 450F (like paper),
> unless someone has slid something by me, it can't be flame polished.
> It is normally polished with buffing wheels a lot like glass but a lot
> faster.
> The image of the project had gone away by the time I saw it, but my
> light weight experience growing up with magic effects and illusions
> suggests this is being made a lot harder than it should be.
> Unless the glass is pretty much held in place, the oil is not going
> to work as it will get all over everything. And is pretty much not
> needed, I suspect. If nothing else, you need to go to one of the
> places that cuts and grinds and polishes glass for table tops and
> handle some of their samples of edge finishing and see how closely they
> fit together.
>
> Bob May wrote:
>
>>Glass can be had in waterwhite if needed but I'd rather use the plain green
>>glass for this trick as it will tend to hinder the viewing of the oil on the
>>glass surface as the viewer would tend to understand green glass a lot
>>better and when the edge disappears due to the oil, he'll be more believing
>>of the trick.
>>A flame polished edge of an acrylic sheet won't be flat enough to do the
>>oiling trick on the edges either so you need to polish them with the
>>abrasive techniques and make sure that the edge is good and square - you
>>will still have the location of the edge marked with a V if you don't get
>>that edge square.
>>
>>--
>>Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?
>
>

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Posted by mike1942f on July 23, 2006, 1:20 am
Just to clarify "flame polished" on acrylic was a metafor, meaning
the edge on acrylic that looks like flame polished on glass. Since
acrylic goes limp at about 225F and chars at about 450F (like paper),
unless someone has slid something by me, it can't be flame polished.
It is normally polished with buffing wheels a lot like glass but a lot
faster.
The image of the project had gone away by the time I saw it, but my
light weight experience growing up with magic effects and illusions
suggests this is being made a lot harder than it should be.
Unless the glass is pretty much held in place, the oil is not going
to work as it will get all over everything. And is pretty much not
needed, I suspect. If nothing else, you need to go to one of the
places that cuts and grinds and polishes glass for table tops and
handle some of their samples of edge finishing and see how closely they
fit together.

Bob May wrote:
> Glass can be had in waterwhite if needed but I'd rather use the plain green
> glass for this trick as it will tend to hinder the viewing of the oil on the
> glass surface as the viewer would tend to understand green glass a lot
> better and when the edge disappears due to the oil, he'll be more believing
> of the trick.
> A flame polished edge of an acrylic sheet won't be flat enough to do the
> oiling trick on the edges either so you need to polish them with the
> abrasive techniques and make sure that the edge is good and square - you
> will still have the location of the edge marked with a V if you don't get
> that edge square.
>
> --
> Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?


Posted by Ned Simmons on July 23, 2006, 9:29 am
mikefirth@ticnet.com says...
> Just to clarify "flame polished" on acrylic was a metafor, meaning
> the edge on acrylic that looks like flame polished on glass. Since
> acrylic goes limp at about 225F and chars at about 450F (like paper),
> unless someone has slid something by me, it can't be flame polished.
> It is normally polished with buffing wheels a lot like glass but a lot
> faster.

No, it's a literal description of running over the cut edge of a piece
of acrylic with a propane torch. It takes some finesse, but does work,
though not in this case where a very flat surface is required.

Ned Simmons

Posted by Bruce L. Bergman on July 24, 2006, 12:54 pm
wrote:
>mikefirth@ticnet.com says...
>> Just to clarify "flame polished" on acrylic was a metafor, meaning
>> the edge on acrylic that looks like flame polished on glass. Since
>> acrylic goes limp at about 225F and chars at about 450F (like paper),
>> unless someone has slid something by me, it can't be flame polished.
>> It is normally polished with buffing wheels a lot like glass but a lot
>> faster.
>
>No, it's a literal description of running over the cut edge of a piece
>of acrylic with a propane torch. It takes some finesse, but does work,
>though not in this case where a very flat surface is required.

And through the whole thread, nobody has mentioned that you have to
be very careful what kind of "oil" you would use on the edges of a cut
acrylic or polycarbonate panel to make the join 'disappear'. Or all
your work can get destroyed rather easily.

Petroleum oils and several solvents can have very nasty effects with
plastics. Craze the whole sheet with stress cracks...

--<< Bruce >>--


Posted by Lloyd E. Sponenburgh on July 18, 2006, 10:42 am

> Is it possible to cut glass so straight and flat that when you slide the
> glass in
> parallel that you cannot see the seems.

Then he said ---
> The Japanese
> have done it.

So the answer must be, "Yes, it is possible."

> What kinds of tools can I use to lap the edge of the glass to get it so
> smooth and flat that the surface of the edge of the glass is as smooth the
> face of the glass itself?

It's called a "flat lap", and if you have to do it by hand, you'll regret
trying. First, you'll need a lap plate at least as wide as the length of
the edge you're lapping. Second, you'll need to perfect the skill of using
Newtonian Ring patterns to determine flatness (which will be very hard,
since you're looking through the whole width of the glass).

Then, of course, unless you're grinding two flats to one-another, you'll
need a standard flat against which to gauge yours.

This doesn't sound like a fun exercise. I've ground flats for diagonal
mirrors for telescopes -- it's a jitsy, itchy, long, frustrating process
until you're quite skilled at it. Grinding a couple of flats won't get you
up to "skilled", just down to "very frustrated".

And you'll never make the seam disappear entirely.

LLoyd



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