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Glass issue

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

Moderators: Ron Percell, Mike Jackson, Danny Baronian

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Jerry Berg
Posts: 369
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: pacific northwest

Glass issue

Post by Jerry Berg »

I stop by a local glass shop periodically and check out thier discounted glass. These are pieces of glass that have been cut to the wrong size, or that were ordered but never picked up. The pieces can be purchased at quite a discount. Yesterday I picked up a piece 15" x 32" for $5.00, perfect for a piece that I'm doing for a client that measures 15" x 15". I can cut it in half, make 2 and keep one for me.

Well, when I got back I noticed in a corner an etched logo, pretty small and just a very light etch. Can this be polished out?, and If so with what. It's not going to interfere with the artwork too much at all if I have to go over it. If I can't get rid of it I suppose this one could be mine. I would rather have it perfect though as there will be a bit of work put into this one.

Thanks, Jerry
Danny Baronian
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Post by Danny Baronian »

Jerry,

the mark you refer to is called a bug, a mark made at a glass company during tempering, and is commonly found on sliding glass doors, auto glass, and commercial installations. It's a requirement on many installations to indicate that it is tempered.

Tempered glass cannot be cut. Give it a try to see what happens, I did. What did the glass company know?

Scored a 3 x 8' sheet of 1/4 with a glass cutter. Started to break the score and the glass made a loud pop and exploded into thousands of pieces all over the shop. Took a hour to clean up, and found remants for a week.

It could be saftey or laminated glass that can possibly be cut, but can be difficult. Most likely it's heat treated. If Larry wanders in he could elaborate.

Danny
Danny Baronian
Baronian Mfg.
CNC Routing & Fabrication
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Jerry Berg
Posts: 369
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: pacific northwest

Post by Jerry Berg »

Thanks Danny,

I think I'll be going down to get a couple of pieces for this project. Save this one for something or other, don't know if I really want to use tempered glass on anything. Not a big loss at 5 bucks. Thanks for the schooling! I'm guessing that tempered glass would not be usable for chipping, seems I've read somewhere on here addressing that. Seems I've gotten lucky so far and I'll be keepin my eyes open in the future.

Jerry
vance galliher
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Post by vance galliher »

........from what has been said Jerry, I'm sure it's tempered. It can be chipped, but the chip never seems to be as nice a untempered glass. If you've never seen what happens when tempered glass break, it would be worth the five bucks to whack it on the edge (have some visqueen or something underneath for easy cleanup)......enjoy
Larry White
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Post by Larry White »

Ya Jerry, it's most likely tempered, if you can read the bug, it might even state that. You can't cut it. Most of the large scale pieces have done are on large tempered pieces of glass that were rejects by the customer, typically the wrong size. They ask me if I'll throw it out, and I always say "Sure". Vance is correct taht tempered glass doesn't chip as nicely as regular annealed glass....but not impossible. When looking through the scrap bin, if the glass has very sharp edges, it' annealed. These sharp edges are seamed or sanded prior to tempering. If the edges are seamed, then look for a tempered logo. Also sometimes you can see a distorted reflection in tempered glass.

-LW
Jerry Berg
Posts: 369
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: pacific northwest

Post by Jerry Berg »

Yep, I read the bug, "tempered". Thanks everyone for the replies! I'll use this piece eventually, 'till then... time to get me some glass.
Jerry Berg
Posts: 369
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: pacific northwest

Post by Jerry Berg »

Regarding removing the "bug", how does one polish things like this out of glass? This would be usefull information to me.
Mike Jackson
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Post by Mike Jackson »

Jerry,
You can do a quick test on this on that particular piece. I am almost 100% positive the bug will completely disappear if you do your decorating on the same side as the bug and if you paint over it. No need to try to polish it out unless you were hoping to leave that area clear.

Rick had a piece in his shop in which the company had acid etched areas of the glass, but also acid etched some notes into the glass just to the side of several areas. The note would say something like "23k" with a small arrow pointing to the etched area. The piece Rick was showing me had been completely stripped down to clear glass, otherwise he may have never known the notes were there.

Paint some black in that corner. Let it dry and then see if you can see the image from the front. If not, pour some laquer thinner on the spot and remove it for use in the final piece.

Polishing out a scratch is a pain. I don't even know if you can do it on a piece of tempered glass, but I have never tried it. I had my local glass company order in a felt pad that fits in a hand held drill, along with some cerrium oxide. When we did our larger editions of 10-12, we ordered 20-24 pieces of glass and culled out any of the with scratches right off the bat. The only time I'd try to remove a scratch is on a completed piece that picked up a light scratch along the production process. You can blow an hour trying to remove a scratch, and when you do, you still have a very slight dimple when viewed at the right light. The slight frosting you are looking at might be a much easier fix than a deeper scratch.

Good luck,
Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
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Jerry Berg
Posts: 369
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: pacific northwest

Post by Jerry Berg »

Thanks Mike,

I figured painting on it would make it dissapear when viewed from the front. I'm thinking that if it where water gilded gold it would appear as a flat finish when viewed from the front. The bug is in just far enough to where it would be in an area where water gilt would be and would appear flat, not shiney. I'm entertaining the thought of using this piece of glass for a personal project and don't want to have this ruining my efforts.
Patrick Mackle
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polishing out bugs

Post by Patrick Mackle »

Three ways bugs are put on glass. Acid stamped, sand etched, and screen printed with glass ink.
If it is acid etched or lightly sand etched, just polish it out with a felt wheel with cerium oxide and water.
If it is well sand blasted, or screened with glass ink, you must grind it out first with a small glass block and some
1000 grit silicon carbide and water, then polish the frosted grinding area with a felt wheel and cerium/water mixture.
Use a razor blade to determine the type of etch. Raised texture will prove as glass ink, while indented will prove as acid or sand etched.
Glass inks can also be in colors, from white, black or a frosted etched look. They will always be raised.
Pat
Jerry Berg
Posts: 369
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: pacific northwest

Post by Jerry Berg »

It's acid etched, very light etching. And thanks everyone for your help.
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