U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: Alt print on Glass?

Re: Alt print on Glass?

I have used carborundum (fairly fine) to give a very nice matte finish to glass.  If you mix a little oil with it, or water, you can make a slurry that will do the trick.  You need something that provides a hard, flat surface to grind the glass with.  A flat, hard wooden block with a handle will do—or you can use another piece of glass or metal.  Just keep going over the surface evenly in circular motions until you have the surface you want.

Another trick for cutting holes in the corners to hang a piece of glass it to use an electric drill with a short piece of copper tubing substituting as a drill bit.  you cut a couple of notches in the the business end of the copper tubing "bit" to aid in the cutting action of the carborundum.  Next you use clay to make a little dam around the spot where you want to cut the hole. in the dam, put some carborundum and oil and then start drilling away with gentle pressure.  Soon you have a nice round hole cut in the glass without it breaking.  This method can also be used to cut holes in other items that are made of glass, such as bottles, etc., though I find just popping the cap off a bottle of beer is a lot easier and less messy method to get to the contents.

On May 18, 2009, at 10:51:13 PM, jefulton1 <jefulton1@comcast.net> wrote:

From:jefulton1 <jefulton1@comcast.net>
Subject:Re: Alt print on Glass?
Date:May 18, 2009 10:51:13 PM CDT
To:alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Carborundum is very hard and used for grinding tough stuff. You can
buy a carborundum block to aid in the
sharpening of knives and it comes in various grits.
A quality sandpaper of fine (600 or slightly less) grit like that in a
wet-or-dry type can give a slight texture
to glass. I use a grittier version to sand the edges of glass cut for
framing photographs.
Also, you can purchase hydrofluoric acid (of course wear gloves and
eye protection as well as a high quality
mask if you work indoors) to etch glass.
Jack F




On May 18, 2009, at 8:30 PM, Jacek Gonsalves wrote:

> Hi Tom,
>
> Thanks for the information. Can you elaborate more on carborundum? 
> Is there a specific product I can get? Is it this by any chance?
> http://www.hoskindiamond.com.au/prod2016.htm
>
> Ammonium to clean glass, will try some Windex, that i'm sure has
> ammonia in it ! :)
> Ta
> Jacek
>
> Quoting Tom Sobota <tom@sobota.net>:
>
>> Jacek,
>>
>> Printing on glass is not very difficult but the exact procedure
>> depends
>> on the process.
>> I have made three-color gums on glass, but gum doesn't stick very
>> well
>> on plain glass, so I first 'frosted' the glass surface with
>> carborundum. Well, actually a valve-polishing compound that has
>> carborundum.
>>
>> I use carborundum because just 'sanding' the glass is, in my
>> experience,  very slow.
>>
>> On the other hand, gelatin sticks to clean plain glass very well, so
>> any gelatin based process such as carbon works very well without the
>> need of any additional substrate. But the glass has to be VERY clean,
>> and that means at least some ammonia-based detergent. You could also
>> consult instructions for preparing glass for collodion. Glass is
>> notoriously difficult to clean well :-)
>>
>> For maximum adherence of gelatin you could use some sodium silicate
>> substrate as used for collotype. However, for a quick test a
>> reasonably
>> clean glass will do.
>>
>> You don't need to brush the gelatin on the glass. Just flow it from a
>> flask, and help to spread it with a finger (or a glass rod). The
>> gelatin will dry to a nice transparent thin coat. Keep the glass warm
>> while spreading, and then cool it on a very level surface.
>>
>> cheers
>> Tom Sobota
>> Madrid, Spain
>>
>>
>