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Re: clear blue neon
Posted By: neontek In Response To: Re: clear blue neon (SVP Neon Equipment)
Date: Friday, 24 May 2013, at 4:17 p.m.
> I think Tony is correct that your bender
> most likely has little to no experience
> working with colored glass. After a bend,
> you CANNOT leave the glass laying on the
> table. This applies to ANY type of glass,
> not just colored glass. You must get the
> glass off the table ASAP. What I use is a
> cooling "rack", which is no more
> than a piece of 2x4 or 2x6 with 5/8"
> holes drilled in it and screwed to the end
> of the bending table. Unless you are going
> to immediately make another bend, after the
> bend is complete, stick the unbent end in
> one of the holes in the rack so the glass
> will cool as evenly as possible. And make
> sure there are no fans or other air movement
> across the glass that would cool it too
> fast. I also flame anneal every heat with
> colored glass. If your bender does not know
> what flam annealing is, they should learn.
> It is somewhat explained in the book
> "Neon Techniques & Handling".
> In the 3rd edition of the book by Samuel
> Miller it is on page 130. It is in the 4th
> edition by Strattman also, but I don't have
> the page number. It also helps to have a
> warm shop. In other words, if you walk in
> and it's 50 degrees inside the shop you are
> only making things worse.> A couple rules of thumb:
> 1) Some suspect bad glass in situations like
> this. But if you get the glass to the
> softening point it is no longer a bad piece
> of glass. At that point it is entirely up to
> the bender to keep it together.> 2) If the glass does not break evenly when
> cut, or a split occurs along the length of
> the tube when cutting a ribbon heat, then
> the glass has not cooled properly.> 3) If a hot piece of glass is left on the
> table and it breaks, it is because too much
> stress was induced into the glass from
> uneven cooling. Even if the glass doesn't
> break, it will be next to impossible to make
> a clean cut due to the amount of uneven
> stress in the glass.> Mark
************
More good points, that I neglected to mention.
I've used a 4x4 with holes as a cooling rack from day one. Although, for ribbon heats I prefer laying glass on my "glass grid table". It all depends on the shape of the piece of glass. Sometimes there is too much weight hanging off to the side when in the hole rack, and it creates a strain... or actually twists off a "flat plane".
And yes... Flame Anneal !
Have a good Memorial Day Weekend.
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