Part 236

Sand, 10 parts; potash, 3.3 parts; soda, 0.27 parts; lime, 1.64 parts; molybdenite, 0.03 parts, gave a reddish-yellow glass with a fine tinge of red.

Sand, 100 parts; potash, 26 parts; soda, 108 parts; lime, 12 parts; sulphide of copper, 1.7 parts; sulphide of sodium, 2.3 parts, gave a dark-brown color, varying from sepia to sienna. In thick layers it was no longer transparent, but still clear and unclouded. When heated this glass became smutty black brown and clouded.

A fine copper red was obtained from sand, 10 parts; potash, 3 parts; lime, 1.2 parts; soda, 0.25 parts; sulphide of copper, 7.5 parts; sulphide of sodium, 10.5 parts; borax, 9.5 parts.

Attempts to color with sulphides of antimony and bismuth failed. But the addition of 7 per cent of sulphide of nickel to an ordinary batch gave a glass of fine amethyst color.

«Coloring Electric-Light Bulbs and Globes.»—Two substances suggest themselves as excellent vehicles of color, and both water soluble—water glass (potassium or sodium silicate) and gelatin. For tinting, water-soluble aniline colors should be tried. The thickness of the solution must be a matter of experimentation. Prior to dipping the globes they should be made as free as possible from all grease, dirt, etc. The gelatin solution should not be so thick that any appreciable layer of it will form on the surface of the glass, and to prevent cracking, some non-drying material should be added to it, say glycerine.

«Rose-Tint Glass.»—Selenium is now used for coloring glass. Rose-tinted glass is made by adding selenium directly to the ingredients in the melting pot. By mixing first with cadmium sulphide, orange red is produced. This process is stated not to require the reheating of the glass and its immersion in the coloring mixture, as in the ordinary process of making red glass.

«CUTTING, DRILLING, GRINDING, AND SHAPING GLASS:»

«To Cut Glass.»—I.—Glass may be cut without a diamond. Dip a piece of {372} common string in alcohol and squeeze it reasonably dry. Then tie the string tightly around the glass on the line of cutting. Touch a match to the string and let it burn off. The heat of the burning string will weaken the glass in this particular place. While it is hot plunge the glass under water, letting the arm go well under to the elbow, so there will be no vibration when the glass is struck. With the free hand strike the glass outside the line of cutting, giving a quick, sharp stroke with a stick of wood, a long-bladed knife, or the like, and the cut will be as clean and straight as if made by a regular glass cutter.

The same principle may be employed to cut bottles into vases, and to form all sorts of pretty things, such as jewelry boxes, picture panes, trays, small tablets, windows for a doll house, etc.

II.—Scratch the glass around the shape you desire with the corner of a file or graver; then, having bent a piece of wire into the same shape, heat it red hot and lay it upon the scratch and sink the glass into cold water just deep enough for the water to come almost on a level with its upper surface. It will rarely fail to break perfectly true.

«To Cut Glass Under Water.»—It is possible to cut a sheet of glass roughly to any desired shape with an ordinary pair of scissors, if the operation be performed under water. Of course, a smooth edge cannot be obtained by such means, but it will be found satisfactory.

«Drilling, Shaping, and Filing Glass.»—Take any good piece of steel wire, file to the shape of a drill, and then hold it in a flame till it is at a dull red heat; then quench in metallic mercury. A piece of good steel, thus treated, will bore through glass almost as easily as through soft brass. In use, lubricate with oil of turpentine in which camphor has been dissolved. When the point of the drill has touched the other side put the glass in water, and proceed with the drilling very slowly. If not possible to do this, reverse the work—turn the glass over and drill, very carefully, from the opposite side. By proceeding with care you can easily drill three holes through glass 3⁠/⁠16 inch thick 1⁠/⁠4 of an inch apart. In making the drill be careful not to make the point and the cutting edges too acute. The drill cuts more slowly, but more safely, when the point and cutting edges are at a low angle.

«To Make Holes in Thin Glass.»—To produce holes in panes of thin or weak glass, provide the places to be perforated with a ring of moist loam, whose center leaves free a portion of glass exactly the size of the desired hole. Pour molten lead into the ring, and the glass and lead will fall through at once. This process is based upon the rapid heating of the glass.

«To Grind Glass.»—For the grinding of glass, iron, or steel laps and fine sand are first used; after that, the sand is replaced by emery. Then the polishing is started with pure lead or pure tin laps, and finished with willow wood laps. The polishing powder is tin putty, but peroxide of iron or dioxide of tin is a good polishing medium.

Pohl asserts that if glass is polished with crocus (Paris red) it appears of a dark or a yellowish-brown tint. He contends that the crocus enters the pores of the glass, and, to prevent this, he uses zinc white with the most satisfactory results.

«A Home-Made Outfit for Grinding Glass.»—Provide two pieces of cork, one concave and one convex (which may be cut to shape after fitting to the lathe). Take a copper cent or other suitable article and soft-solder a screw to fit the lathe, and then wax it to the cork; get a cheap emery wheel, such as is used on sewing machines. Polish the edge on the zinc collar of the emery wheel (or use a piece of zinc). The other cork should be waxed to a penny and centered. Spectacle lenses may be cut on the same emery wheel if the wheel is attached to the lathe so as to revolve. Another method is to take a common piece of window glass (green glass is the best) and make a grindstone of that, using the flat surface for grinding. Cement it on a large chuck, the glass being from 2 to 2 1⁠/⁠2 inches in diameter.

«To Drill Optical Glass.»—A graver sharpened to a long point is twisted between the fingers, and pressed against the glass, the point being moistened from time to time with turpentine. When the hole is finished half way, the drilling should be commenced from the other side. The starting should be begun with care, as otherwise the graver is likely to slide out and scratch the lens. It is advisable to mark the point of drilling with a diamond, and not to apply too great a pressure when twisting the graver.

«Lubricants for Glass Drilling.»—I.—Put garlic, chopped in small pieces, into spirit of turpentine and agitate the {373} mixture from time to time. Filter at the end of a fortnight, and when you desire to pierce the glass dip your bit or drill into this liquid, taking care to moisten it constantly to prevent the drill, etc., from becoming heated.

II.—Place a little alum in acetic acid, dip your drill into this and put a drop of it on the spot where the glass is to be pierced.

«GILDING GLASS.»

When it is desired to gild glass for decorative purposes use a solution of gelatin in hot water, to which an equal quantity of alcohol has been added. The glass to be gilded is covered with this solution and the gold leaf put on while wet. A sheet of soft cotton must be pressed and smoothed over the leaf until the gelatin below is evenly distributed. This prevents spots in gilding. Careful apportionment of the gelatin is necessary. If too much be used, the gold may become spotted; if too little, the binding may be too weak to allow the gold to be polished. The glass should be cleaned thoroughly before gilding. After the gold leaf is put on the whole is allowed to dry for 10 or 20 minutes, when the luster of the gold can be raised by a cautious rubbing with cotton. Then another layer of gelatin is spread on with one stroke of a soft brush, and, if especially good work be required, a second layer of gold is put on and covered as before. In this case, however, the gelatin is used hot. After the gilding has become perfectly dry the letters or ornamentation are drawn and the surplus gold around the edges is taken off. The gilding does not become thoroughly fixed until after several months, and until then rough handling, washing, etc., should be avoided.

The best backing for glass gilding is asphaltum, with a little lampblack, this to be mixed up with elastic varnish; outside finishing varnish is the best, as the addition of this material gives durability.

«GLASS MANUFACTURING:»

See also Ceramics.

The blue tint of the common poison bottle is got by the addition of black oxide of cobalt to the molten glass; the green tint of the actinic glass bottle is obtained in the same way by the addition of potassium bichromate, which is reduced to the basylous condition, and the amber tint is produced by the addition of impure manganese dioxide, a superior tint being produced by suphur in one form or another. The formulas for various kinds of bottle glass, which indicate the general composition of almost all glasses, are:

White Glass for Ordinary Molded Bottles.—

Sand 64 parts by weight Lime 6 parts by weight Carbonate of sodium 23 parts by weight Nitrate of sodium 5 parts by weight

White Flint Glass Containing Lead.—