Cutting glass & Turquoise Inlay

[mrGeeze]

I filled a few knot holes in a couple of roughed out & dried bowls.
In one I used epoxy & turquoise powder
In the other i used epoxy & ground glass

Same brand & ratio of 2 part epoxy for both
The glass/epoxy mixture was perhaps slightly thicker than the turquoise/epoxy. I did it by eyesight. Peanut butter +-.

Anyway, I let it sit overnight & chucked it up this morning. Turquoise went first. I really didn't notice anything out of the ordinary working the piece. Cherry bowl. Should be pretty with some finish on it.

The glass was another matter. The gouge flat out wouldn't cut it. I realized this after dulling 3 different 5/8 gouges. Didn't want to try the carbide easy rougher on it. Those replacement disks are some $$$.

I did a little reading and I find glass rates anywhere from 5 to 7 on the Moh's hardness scale. At 5 it should cut with a steel gouge. 5 is also about what turquoise is. However, at 7 its clearly harder than the steel in my gouge.

Could the heavier concentration of glass or perhaps just the particle size have anything to do with this. I like using the filling- glass is cheap enough, little packets of turquoise will put me in the poor house.

Comments, experiences, or cheap sources of powdered turquoise would be appreciated

Thanks,

 

[gary rock]

If you have a rock shop near by, go there an see if they have any turquoise. If so, buy the nuggets and grind your own powder. Or you can order the nuggets from Craft Supply and then grind your own powder. To get the glass mixture cut, you need to use carbide cutters or take a place heat on the mixture (epoxy and glass) to make it solf-{be careful while doing this} and dig out the mixture and replace with a mixture that the high speed steel can cut. If you use carbide cutters to do this and they get dull, they can be sharpened with diamond sharpeners.

Gary:cool2:

 

[Mark Mandell]

Glass "cuts" nicely with aluminum oxide. Use a small powered disk to level the fill as part of your final sanding of the piece. You do have to be careful when sanding the piece as the fill can be left proud of the surface. Same reason I wait to use fill until I've finished sanding, then it's easy to blend the fill into the surrounding area. IIRC, this is the way Steve Hatcher does his plique-a-jour and inlay work.

 

[Bill Boehme]

My curiosity has gotten the best of me -- looks like a new trick that this old dog needs to learn. Can somebody point me to information about ground glass inlay. I am mostly interested in seeing what it looks like. I have used Inlace plastic "turquoise" inlay and other Inlace mixtures and they are fairly easy to use although a bit messy. I have also used just a bit of epoxy and metal filings and while it is easy enough to turn, I wasn't pleased with the results.

 

[Joe Greiner]

I think glass particles would give a better appearance if they're broken off instead of cut. More reflective that way. Ground glass of any color usually looks more gray than the color itself.

Usually, I use fresh ground coffee for additive to epoxy. Fill proud of the final surface, cut and sand. The coffee grounds have light and dark components; when sliced off, the final appearance resembles miniature terrazzo.

 

[Steve Worcester]

You can buy ground glass at any of the art glass stores, it is called frit and comes in particle sizes from dust, where you want to wear a mask when you use it, to smaller BB and up. And a vast array of colors.

Here is a great example from Bullseye, a manufacturer of art glass in Portland


You could mix with epoxy and pour in like any other item. Sanding is best done with silicon carbide paper, but ideally, diamond disks. Sanding glove sells velcro backed diamond disks, up to 320 I think, or the best guys are His Glassworks.

If you just want a satin finish, you are probably ok stopping at 1000-2000 grit. But glossy is best polished up to 4K then cerium oxide or diamond sprays.

Granted, I don't have experience wit inlay, but have done a lot of frit,casting and warm glass.