Scraping in any direction with trapped abrasive material may result in scratches as well, correct? Thats why plastic scrapers seem silly to me, they are much more likely to trap abrasive materials than metal, in my opinion.
ZERO! Because if they donât sign they are not a client.
In the forward motion, the foreign object is in front of the blade. Fabrication Debris is part of the glass, and removal will cause a scratch, but nothing else will.
If the blade is brought backwards, it will catch/trap foreign objects between the surface of the glass and the blade, thus causing another kind of scratch. Moral of the story is we canât help f.d., but we can dang sure be careful to only scrape in one directionâŚ
Iâve never tried plastic scrapers. Dan Fields teaches to use broad knives. You sharpen them to keep them from getting rust on them. They arenât really sharp, and he recommends filing them even duller, for post construction clean ups. Itâs not the sharpness of the blade as much as it is what is on/under itâŚ
Forward mothion pushes crap out of the way, but the reverse motion will trap it, and if itâs harder than the glass, youâll get a scratchâŚ
That is my understanding. Correct me if Iâm wrong.
vic
To clarify, I wasnât trying to justify scraping in a backward direction and when I wrote âgood glassâ I meant glass free of f.d. or concrete etc. I just meant that glass that doesnât have f.d. or concrete can be scraped backward or forward safely. Sorry to befuddle the matter. Carry on.
Alex: Because Dan used todayâs secret word of âbeduddle,â please send Justin a track brush on me.
Alex - because I caught Larryâs spelling error (beduddle instead of befuddle) please send me a Glass Renu system on Larry. 
Typing on an iPhone is a blessing and a curse!
Hey Larry,
Have you ever heard the saying that âA poor craftsman all ways blames their toolsâ ?
Ha Ha
There is a great site about bad autocorrect that has some pretty funny stuff on it
I love my iPhone â itâs the blessing and my fumblefingers are the curse.
A local wcr here is currently being sued for 80k. He, after my prodding did not get a waiver signed. But I wonder too how much one would have helped him.
Itâs not just the waiver but the customer education that can eliminate these situations. First, it helps you pre qualify the customer. Their refusal to sign or request you not use a razor helps me to not work for them and avoid potential litigation land mines. Second, reasonable people who sign a contract after being educated are far less likely (in my experience) to sue you over the very problem you identified to them as someone elseâs responsibility.
I had an encouraging experience recently concerning use of waivers. A great customer had me work with their General Contractor for a large expansion. We had a productive meeting before starting CCU, including having waiver signed. While the bulk of perimeter curtain walls appear not to have FD, a large atrium did. This glass came from a different temperer, AND was put in by a different glazier. At the meeting, the GC totally backed me up (Because THEY were educated in advance). The GC demanded a response from the temperer, and the customer ultimately said the glazier must do CCU, and will held responsible for any FD scratches. We will do the rest, in addition to keeping the regular contract. The glazier, after first trying to get out of it, admitted theyâve seen the problem before.
They briefly claimed it couldnât have FD because it wasnât tempered (the stamp was clearly visible), at which point the GC immediately demanded replacement, as tempered was speced. Glazier admitted it was tempered, then said customers ânever complain about this type of scratchâ. The GC and myself said this customer WOULD care, and had already been informed. So far so good, and weâre off the hook, and temperer and glazier are on it.
Thanks for sharing this, Steve.
This is what it is all about. And to think, if you hadnât known about it, or let the others know, you would be liable.
I have a question about FD, though. Is it always visible, or only when the sun hits it just so?
Still learning,
vic
Vic in general FD is not visible to the naked eye. Scratches caused by dislodged FD are sometimes only seen in certain light conditions.
Thank you, Jay
Nice avatarâŚ
vic
Thanks for posting this Steve! It clearly shows the benefit of customer education along w/ the waiver and shows that we donât need GANAâs support to make this go away. Once the people that buy the product start demanding that it be made w/out defect things will change.
Of course we need the glass industryâs assistance to reduce excessive fabricating debris and improve heat-treating glass facility maintenance. Replacement costs are minimal and built in to their profit equation. Folks have been sending back poor quality glass for at least a decade with no negative effect. In fact, GANA is doing even more to insulate themselves from liability.
I would disagree w/ us needing the glass industry. They have proven that they are interested only in hiding from the truth. Itâs the end user we need to educate. The more of them that do what the contractor in Steveâs example is doing the more pressure is exerted on the manufacturers to make a quality product on a consistent basis. That and only that will put an end to the glut of garbage glass that is being turned out every day. I would also say that, in my opinion, the fact that GANA is doing more to insulate themselves is an effect of the rise in awareness of the defect their members are producing.
Data? Losses in dollars? Increase in lawsuits? Increase in number of settlements?
