Chipping Without Blasting

[Sarah King]

I am always looking for ways to do things without machinery so I thought I would report that you can glue chip without sandblasting. I bought a couple of diamond point pencils and one carbide tipped pencil and tried scratching the glass instead of sandblasting. I then glue chipped the design and it all came out great! The glue actually did chipped the scratched areas and the result was brighter than a single chip on sandblasted glass because there were no frosted areas at all.

You do have to be careful to scratch right to the edge of your design since the glue does not chip if it can't grip the glass. My piece measured 5" x 7" so I don't know how well the technique would work on really large areas - more experiments needed - but it does work! And it costs less too!

[Patrick Mackle]

I dunno Sarah. I read your post and it left me with an odd feeling somehow. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but chip'n without blast'n feels like the notion of
eating a candy bar without tasting it.
Do the scratch lines on the unchipped glass show up between the chips?
Pat

[Kent Smith]

I don't know about scratching but I have chipped many times without blasting. I use a mask, pour then cut the glue to the mask if it happens to flow over. I consitantly get a great snail chip with this process. Sometimes I get a clear spot or two but I find that usually the glass has enough tiny scratches to let the glue adhere. Having said that, this process is subject to plinks and plings and does not always completely chip and sometimes does not follow the line. I therefore do not suggest it unless one wants a large undefined area.

I suspect this is how chipping was discovered in the first place, ie spilled glue on a piece of glass that then chipped?

[Sarah King]

Well Pat, I'm not sure that blasting is as much fun as a candy bar.

Where the glue has not chipped completely you can see the scratch lines in the glass just as you can see the matte areas on unchipped sandblasted glass. Since the scratches are very small and close together they reflect the light in the same way that the chipped areas do and so they are not as noticable as a matte texture. I admit that this technique is not a part of the grand tradition but I think it could be a new and fresh (and cheap) way to create small textured areas without having to start up the compressor. The apartment dweller's alternative.

Kent, it's interesting that you have chipped smooth glass. I think I will try some free hand experiments to see what happens if I scratch some areas and then pour glue over the whole thing. A masterpiece or a mess - who knows. Jackson Pollack on glass. Could be good.

[Patrick Mackle]

Brilliant Sarah! My friends ask how I stay thin while they are constantly battling their weight- Hey, its the Sandblast Diet! Makes more sense than most of them.
Pat

[Larry White]

This all sounds very interesting. Perhaps you could post some pictures of your finished results.

-LW