Glass Real Flat Glass

Stuart Ablett

Member
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Location
Tokyo Japan
I went down to the local glass shop to pick up some glass for lapping the bottom of the #5C Stanley I'm working on, and much to my surprise, the glass shop had closed :huh: :eek: Seems the guy retired. As you can tell, I don't buy a lot of glass :D

I then had to go to the next closest place, but this is out of my neighbourhood, which is no big deal, but, I'll have to break in a new guy, to dealing with the foreigner :D

On Tuesday, I went by the shop and the guy was out, but his wife was there, I explained to her what I wanted, as best I could, but from the 'Deer in the headlights' look I got from her, it was obvious she had no clue what I was talking about, but she wrote down the sizes, my name and cell number and said he would be back around 7PM. I went back around 7 PM and he was there, putting stuff away off his truck, as he had just got back from a job, he stopped and we chatted, at first I could see him looking kind of sideways at me with a 'Oh Brother, here we go' look, but once we got talking and I was making myself understood, he was fine. He said he was busy the next day, but would have time on Thursday, so why drop back around the same time then.

Today was Thursday, and around 6PM he called me to say he was done, and I could come by anytime. I'd just finished deliveries, so I scooted on by.

I wanted three pieces of glass, one the narrow width of a piece of sandpaper and two times the long length of a piece of sandpaper, about 22cm wide by 60 cm long (8.6" x 23.6") and one piece the same size as a piece of sandpaper. These two I wanted out of the thickest glass he had, in the garbage pile. I also wanted another piece for a buddy, a photographer, he wants it to put stuff on top of and light from below :dunno: that piece is 45cm x 45cm and 5mm thick (17 3/4" x 17 3/4" and 3/16" thick)

It turns out that he did not read the list right and had not cut the one smaller piece I wanted the same size as a piece of sandpaper. No worry he said, I'll cut one now.

The glass is 1cm thick (13/32") and he cut it by hand, boy is that slick, did not take him long at all, he sanded the sharp corners off the piece and then said "There is enough in that off cut to make one more, do you need it?" I said sure thing, and so I got one long piece, and two short pieces, plus the piece for my buddy, all for 3000 yen or about $25.

Good deal says I :D

I'm making up a sharpening box to carry or at least keep together all of this stuff.....

sharpening_box_1.jpg
Here the two pieces of glass are in the box, the smaller piece on the bottom.

sharpening_box_2.jpg
The long piece is out of the box....

sharpening_box_3.jpg
...and so is the short piece. The sharpening stones will go on top of the glass, so I'll have one place for all of my sharpening stuff.


Got to be flat.

When lapping the bottom of the plane, it does little good to lap it, unless the glass is really flat, and one a long piece like this, if the table or work bench is not real flat, then the glass can bend a bit.

flat_glass_1.jpg
I put my straight edge on the glass and it looks real flat but.....

flat_glass_2.jpg
Checking it with feeler gauge the right side is fine, but.....

flat_glass_3.jpg
.... I found that the left side was down a bit, just a bit, 0.03mm worth.

flat_glass_4.jpg
To fix this I put a sheet of newspaper under the one end and checked the whole length of the straight edge again, this time I could not slip the 0.03mm feeler gauge under it anywhere.

That is flat :D

Now if I only had some spray on glue for the sandpaper :doh:

Cheers!
 
Nice, all the way around!

Boy, 1cm glass... that's dauntingly thick. He just scored it & snapped it like windowglass? Took a lot more force to snap it, though, I'll bet - right? Like a LOT more force?
 
Nice one Stu. Another to do project.:eek: for me.

By the way i get that "Deer in the headlights" look from a lot of stores since i started on this forum trying to find all sorts of things to "make my own". Everyone is so used to people just buying what there is as DIY kits or existing product made in China that when you start at the raw material level they really look at you strangely. Add an accent to that and many times i just give up and go and search the store myself.

What can be hard about a craft store carrying some leather, I ask you.? :rofl::rofl::rofl: Does no one do leather work in Canada these days.

Have to get it online from the USA. Dont believe that so still searching.


Great idea the sharpening kit. I am struggling with this issue myself having set up all the strips of sandpaper for sharpening on several different sheets of melamine coated chipboard. Yeah not flat.

Think its time to go to my glass shop. Hey wonder how laminated glass would perform. Any idea what they use to glue them together. Must be a real thin fuid clear adhesive. I am thinking that a laminated piece might avoid the glass following the contour of the work surface its place on. Get it to say 25mm or 1 inch thich with several layers.:huh::dunno:
 
Nice, all the way around!

Boy, 1cm glass... that's dauntingly thick. He just scored it & snapped it like windowglass? Took a lot more force to snap it, though, I'll bet - right? Like a LOT more force?

Tim, he just laid the ruler on the marks he made, took his glass cutter, and it is one with the oiler in the handle, did a quick solid swipe down the ruler, then he picked up the piece of glass (it was about 20" wide by 40" long) and he put just the very end of his small wooden hammer handle under the glass at the score mark and pushed down slightly, while snapping making a snapping motion with both hands, quick as could be, and this fellow, while bearing in mind he is a pro, he is only about 5'4" tall, and NOT a big guy at all.

Not so much donw to force, but technique :thumb:
 
Great solution Stu. Here is what I use it's a piece of Marble 1x12x12.Marble Plate.jpg I got it from Tandy leather years ago when I used to do leather craft. And Tim they are still around. Their web sit is www.tandyleatherfactory.com


Rob, is there a saddle shop in your neighborhood? That's a pretty good place to buy leather. The days of real cobblers' shops and Tandy are gone now, though, I think.
 
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Does no one do leather work in Canada these days.

One of the guys on CWW forum owns a custom furniture shop, and they upholster with leather. I have a garbage bag full of his off-cuts if you want some. It's probably too soft (chair leather) for a strop, but ok for lining a vise.
 
Stu, I got lucky and found a piece of 3/4" plate glass, about 18" square that I use for honing. Checked with a Starrett straight edge and it is FLAT.

I have a couple pieces of granite that could work too, but I have not tried yet.

How are you planning to secure your sandpaper to the glass? Spray adhesive? That just might defeat the flatness of your glass. I just use water. I use "wet-or-dry" paper and it stays where I put it.

Aloha, Tony
 
In the past I've used water, and it works OK, but with the temp 3M spray adhesive, I still get a very flat surface, but the trick is to check for flatness after you have used it a bit, as the sandpaper itself is not that flat to start with, you need to knock off some high spots on the sandpaper.

Cheers!
 
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