Posted by Raymond Chapman on March 19, 19104 at 13:43:28:
Mike JacksonWhile we were at Fred's Letterhead gathering last week, my son Mike worked on a glue chip project. The glass was put in Fred's box and stayed for two days until we had to leave and very little had chipped. It has now been a week and not much more has happeded. We've put it under a lamp, out in the sun...and still nothing.
The glue used was at the bottom of the pot and seemed rather thick. Also, someone had unplugged the pot and we had to reheat the glue to get it to pour.
Now, the question is: since it does not seem like it is going to chip, can we soak the old glue off and mix up some more? What will happen to the areas that are already chipped? This was just a small project Mike was working on but he still wants it to look nice.
Hi Raymond,
My first question is "Did anyone get a chip from the glue in the pot at Fred's?" If the answer is yes, then Mike might have done something wrong. If the answer is no, I'd guess they have either the wrong glue or bad glue. I can be reheated numerous times and still work, so I don't think that is a problem.
You can certainly soak off all the old glue and go at it again with new glue. He probably already peeled the stencil, so to apply it again, you could either paint around the frosted areas with asphaltum and squirt glue in the areas, or use some clear vinyl and re-hand cut the stencil around the frosted designs. Just make sure you don't have a lot of oil on the surface before you pour the glue. Normally, you don't have to worry about that because you just frosted the glass, but in this case, oil could be a factor.
Good luck!!!!!!!
Mike Jackson
Raymond Chapman
Mike - the pot had been used most of the day and I think that a lot of the water had evaporated out. Could that have caused a problem? I was walking Mike through the process, so you know that I COULD NOT have made a mistake. We cut the stencil away after the glue had set up, but we may have put it in the box too soon, like Jeff said.
Fred mixed his glue with one part glue (by weight) and two parts water (by weight) and then maybe just a tad more water. It seems that everyone has a little different formula.
We will soak the glue off and start over.
Like a lot of other people, Mike and I (mostly Mike) have a renewed interest in glue chipping and are going to do some projects in our spare time....whenever that is. Now we can make all the same mistakes over again that I made twenty years ago.
Jeffrey P. Lang
Ray,
Was the glue dry before you put it into the box?
Bob Hovanec taught me to not put the piece in the box until the glue looked transparent, not cloudy.
I have tried to rush the process & put the panel in front of a fan to try & speed the drying & all that seemed to do was dry the surface of the glue & leave the resr soft. It seemed as though it sealed the surface of the glue so no more moisture from the glue could escape, & it never chipped all the way. I washed off the glue with water & repoured the glue , waited till dry, then put in the box & it worked fine.
It sounds like you may want to mix a new batch of glue.
I'm interested in hearing other replies as this process is new to me.
Good Luck,
Jeff
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads