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I have a piece of glass that is very important to me and would like to use it on a pipe. Anyone work with glass on their pipe shanks? It is a broken piece, 1/2" thick, and I think I could drill it easy enough with a glass bit, but how would I 'turn' it round? Any thoughts?

Very carefully?

Rad

RadDavis wrote:Very carefully?

Rad

I thought of just gnawing away at it with my teeth, but my dental doesn't cover it

I have thought about doing it on the lathe with a die grinder and a death wheel or sanding disc, but not certain how well that would work. I may be sol.

I'd say round it with a belt sander...

If you have a belt grinder, I think that might be easiest. Use a quality belt like Norton Blaze or an alumina-zirconia. Glass is going to be really tough to shape, and the only way I can think of to accurately shape it is to treat it like stone and use lapidary techniques.

If you do this... do it outside, wear a respirator, and cover all exposed skin.

You don't want to breath glass dust. Silicosis in no joke.

Do you know anyone who does stained glass? A glass grinder might work for you.

KurtHuhn wrote:If you have a belt grinder, I think that might be easiest. Use a quality belt like Norton Blaze or an alumina-zirconia. Glass is going to be really tough to shape, and the only way I can think of to accurately shape it is to treat it like stone and use lapidary techniques.

If you do this... do it outside, wear a respirator, and cover all exposed skin.

You don't want to breath glass dust. Silicosis in no joke.

Thanks Massis and Kurt! That does sound like a good way to accomplish it. I try to keep any machine dust out of my lungs, but I will take special care of glass.

BeatusLiebowitz wrote:Do you know anyone who does stained glass? A glass grinder might work for you.

Ahh, yeah. Someone that works with glass would have the equipment to manipulate it. Thanks Beatus!!

The difficult part may be keeping the glass flush with the briar. I would guess briar is going to wear/sand/buff away much more quickly than the glass. Good luck with that...

e Markle wrote:The difficult part may be keeping the glass flush with the briar. I would guess briar is going to wear/sand/buff away much more quickly than the glass. Good luck with that...

Very true. It will be for me, so I will keep that in mind.

Glass drilling and sanding normally is done with water. I agree, just get somebody in the business to help. Easier and less trouble!