On 01/05/15 20:26, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Fri, 01 May 2015 08:33:36 -0700, wrote:

On Thu, 30 Apr 2015 21:42:45 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Thu, 30 Apr 2015 18:16:06 -0700, wrote:

On Thu, 30 Apr 2015 15:57:05 -0700 (PDT), Gerry
wrote:

On Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 5:25:46 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Not exactly metalworking. I needed to make a replacement glass piece
for a camera because I removed the IR/UV filter and the space needed
filling for proper focusing. I used a 1mm glass slide, the type made
for microscopes. The piece needed to be 8 x 9 mm. I mamaged to get one
and then discovered I had scratched it. So I tried again and was
rewarded with a scratch free piece. I was surprised how hard it was to
cut this glass, for it to break where I wanted it to, and finally
figured out how to score it properly. I hope I never need to do this
again.
Eric
Years ago I did lapidary work. While most everything was done with stone I used to play with glass sometimes. I was able to cut glass with a diamond saw, grind to shape using grinding and sanding wheels with water drip to keep things cool. The glass was mounted to dop sticks using what was called dop wax which was almost like old style sealing wax used with stamps for letters and such. Maybe you can find someone close by that is into lapidary work for help? A designing jeweler may point you in the right direction. I'd bet that your local glass shop has wet belt sanders with different grit belts for finishing glass edges. Maybe they would let you use their belt sanders for your project?
Greetings Gerry,
I have done lapidary work and even have the stuff still to do it. My
stone saw is just not set up to cut stuff so small and the glass is
more brittle than the stones I have cut in the past. I did finish off
the piece by using one of my diamond wheels on my slow speed carbide
grinding/lapping machine. I was actually surprised at how fragile the
glass was. I have cut glass tiles in the past year with one of my
diamond cutting discs cooled and lubricated with water and had no
trouble. But the little pieces I just did were much more prone to
chipping and cracking than the tiles and the diamond cutting disc
caused too much edge chipping, even when run quite slow.
Thanks,
Eric
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that there are fused-quartz slides, too.
You generally can't tell the difference by looking at them and you'd
know it if you bought them in a package. They have very high UV
transmittance but I have no idea how they cut.
I wish they were quartz because of the toughness and UV transmission.
The filter I removed was a two piece affair. At first I wondered why
two pieces of glass were cemented together and I thought maybe it was
for strength. But I think it is because the clear piece of glass is to
filter out UV. This would be good because CCD sensors also see into
the UV spectrum a ways and I would like to get some pictures of
reflected UV from flowers and such. Tonight I will be installing the
glass and doing any adjusting of the sensor location that may need to
be done. Tomorrow night I hope it will all be back tohether so I can
try it out at a bonfire.
Eric
Good luck. I never priced the quartz slides before but I just looked
them up -- which I should have done before posting. Yipes, they're
expensive.

I see that they're also said to be available in borosilicate glass
(the stuff old Pyrex was made from -- today, it's tempered soda lime
glass), but I didn't look for a supplier. Borosilicate is still
another kettle of fish.

I posted this before, apparently Pyrex is still made with borosilicate
in Europe, it seems the US made stuff is tempered soda lime glass, I
guess to reduce the price. Certainly all the Pyrex I have here in the UK
is clear and doesn't have the green cast often seen in soda lime from
iron and when dropped doesn't break like a tempered glass DAMHIK.