I have begun to rebuild what I had 23 years ago. Downstairs around my pellet stove. I had every acid, alkalies, solvents, superabrasive powders, many commercial products, and glass taken from buildings around the country. I even had glass taken from the World Trade Center before it was destroyed. Hundreds of glass squares were wasted and taken to the dump. This was where I learned everything I know. There and in the field. If you are just experimenting in the field you are limited. Cuz you can’t waste the glass. Simple. But if you buy a small mirror plate for five bux you can do anything you want to it. This is advanced testing. Marc Tanner started doing this kind of testing years ago. He works with Starfire glass. I prefer mirrors. Just personal choice. I will never forget meeting this man down in PA once. He was also testing this way. It was through him that I learned how HF causes orange peal and banding. Stage two dynamic surface etching. I get excited as I write this. Real excited. Those were the days. The early IWCA conventions. My affiliation with the big names in our industry. Never would change any of it. Now I am back working with manufacturers. The lab is going back up. Already I am learning things I didn’t know. Such as how to create glass surfaces that scratch with incredible ease. And use these surfaces to test various commercial coatings for scratch resistance. Which is the subject of the April issue of my final newsletter series, “The Glass Smart Mirror”. The lab will be where I do most of my videography. I am working on a video series called, “Breaking Glass”. My focus will be the Glass Smart Mirror. This is going to be the ONLY way that I will make any money from all of this. Journalism has always been my greatest love along with doing the research and making new friends.
I’m involved in rebuilding double pane sealed units with ruptured seals and condensation damage as well as recycling glass of units that can’t be repaired into glass art projects I also do. I haven’t had any problem with removing the white deposits but there remains a mottling on the side 2 and 3 of the glass. I’m not sure if this is burn on a low E coating or an etching into the glass surface. Polishing with cerium oxide has helped but not significantly removed it. I’ve seen advertised by different firms a chemical wash that is suppose to remove etching and sanding pads to be used progressively, but since I’m doing this for myself I don’t want to order a lot of different products to find some don’t address the problem. Interested in your thoughts, I guess one of the biggest and first question I need to answer is whether this is a lowE layer that is damaged and removed, or if this is a pitting into the glass surface. I was also wondering if this is an etching or pitting into the glass surface, if there is a liquid or compound that can fill those cavities and be polished smooth or any material that at least minimizes the appearance of the etching? Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Very very interesting. So sorry it took me this long to discover your reply to an old post. More than two months old! To answer. I am guessing it is a stage two static etch. Restoration will take a two step procedure. Silicon carbide first then a cerium oxide. Glass Renu has developed a series of pads based on different grades of SiC embedded into the plastic fibers. Alex Lambrinides is the expert on this system. Currently I just today received two samples of loose SiC both black and green which I am going to make compounds from and test. I am from the camp that believes in wet.
The Mirror never happened. But I am still working on the plan. Just started working on an online email newsletter called the Insider Weekly. Have written three copies so far. Every week I am producing it. I publish Sunday night. If anyone would like to know more about it just send me an email. This week I am working on silicon carbide grinding.
