Can you do something with this?

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Charlie_W

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
5,918
Location
Sterling, VA USA
That is what a friend asked me some years ago as he showed me a piece of art glass he had.....it was broken.
We were recently going to see him as he had some beef for sale so I thought I needed to find this and get it done.
The glass is approximately 6" wide and 12" tall and was broken on a line of which looks like some glass stringer (thin glass rod) which must have been thrown onto the glass along with some other thin pieces of glass as the glass had either come to the first roller after being poured or certainly before the texture rollers. These pieces were mashed into the molten glass but not fused or slumped as in a kiln. This is also a head piece of glass meaning after it went through the rollers, the top edge had not been cut off...."natural edge".

I decided to feature the flaw by leaving about 1/2" space between both pieces of glass. I carefully sanded the broken glass edges and polished to a matte sheen.
The frame is zinc channel which holds the piece so it can hang and be secure.
On the back, I used some 1/16" brass rod for cross bars to hold the frame in place. These were bent to follow the curvature of a couple of the green glass stringers, tinned and soldered right behind the stringer so they didn't show through. A small spacer separates the two glass pieces.
Instead of traditional polishing of the zinc, I created a brushed finish with a steel wire brush and protected it with some renaissance wax. The offset height of the frame was Wifey's idea and allowed the glass head to stand out. On the back, I used some clear acrylic caulk to seal the glass to the frame and prevent rattle.
Our friend was really surprised and pleased as he thought I had completely forgotten about it.
I think it turned out pretty nice!

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GAW9576

Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2020
Messages
12
Location
Michigan
That is a very cool use of the glass. I really like that you kept the "Natural" edge exposed. Also your wife's suggestion of the offset of the tops of the side rails was well implemented. It really dose accentuate the freeform of the glass quite well.
 
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