Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is Float
Glass and where can one get it? Barring Float Glass, what is the next best
thing to use. Something I can buy at a Home Depot or something.

Thanks,
Daniel
--

In article . net,
DANIEL HENEGHAN wrote:

Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is Float
Glass and where can one get it? Barring Float Glass, what is the next best
thing to use. Something I can buy at a Home Depot or something.

Forget about the Borg, you need to go to an industrial type glass shop.
I got a piece of plate glass about 3/4 inch thick by six by 16 inches.
He just happened to have that sitting in his bin. The guy sanded off
the edges(!) so I wouldn't get cut, and that was it. About $8.00
because he didn't have to cut anything.

You can also use a machinist's surface plate but those are big and
very heavy. About $75-$100 plus shipping from Enco.

I got a flat piece of 12" floor tile. cost about $9 from a
tile store located in the parking lot of...drum roll,
please...Home Depot.

dave

DANIEL HENEGHAN wrote:

Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is Float
Glass and where can one get it? Barring Float Glass, what is the next best
thing to use. Something I can buy at a Home Depot or something.

Thanks,
Daniel
--

In article . net,
"DANIEL HENEGHAN" wrote:

I believe that this is the method commonly used for much of the glass
that is on the market today. The molten glass is floated on a bed of
molten tin. It is allowed to settle into a nearly flat configuration.
It is a relatively inexpensive way to produce large amounts of
reasonable qualilty glass. We used to get plate glass for more critical
applications. The plate glass was actually ground and polished to get
an optimum surface. It was extremely high quality and flat. Your local
glass shop can tell you much more about the glass that is available.

Dick

Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is Float
Glass and where can one get it? Barring Float Glass, what is the next best
thing to use. Something I can buy at a Home Depot or something.

Thanks,
Daniel
--

On 29 Apr 2004 03:09:52 GMT, Ed Clarke brought
forth from the murky depths:

You can also use a machinist's surface plate but those are big and
very heavy. About $75-$100 plus shipping from Enco.

If you can wait until they have their special times (right
now is one of them) shipping is free.


================================================== ============
Like peace and quiet? Buy a phoneless cord.
http://www/diversify.com/stees.html Hilarious T-shirts online
================================================== ============

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 22:31:22 -0500, Australopithecus scobis
brought forth from the murky depths:

To add to the discussion: There's some squish in sandpaper + 77. Why
get a surface plate good to 0.001 when your paper squishes more than
that? Not that I'd object to owning one, mind you.

Right. The kitchen formica or a spare hunk of BB ply is good.


Go easy with the Super77 spray adhesive. When I started, I used too
much. It globbed out onto the glass. You'll want to smooth the paper
when you glue it down. Use a dowel or something (ever heated an MRE?)

Or just wet it and lay it down.


================================================== ============
Like peace and quiet? Buy a phoneless cord.
http://www/diversify.com/stees.html Hilarious T-shirts online
================================================== ============

"DANIEL HENEGHAN" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is Float
Glass and where can one get it?

Float glass is made by floating the molten glass on another liquid
(oil?, lead?, I really don't recall at the moment) to cool so gravity
can smooth it out.
If you really want it and your local glass shops don't carry it I'ld
suggest asking at antique shops. Don't buy antique glass however,
glass distorts over time.

Barring Float Glass, what is the next best
thing to use. Something I can buy at a Home Depot or something.

A piece of marble or granite floor tile should do nicely.
The local HD all most always has some sub $2 marble tile.

Ed Clarke writes:

You can also use a machinist's surface plate but those are big and
very heavy. About $75-$100 plus shipping from Enco.

Grizzly has their 9x12x2 granite for $17.95, plus shipping. Total is under $25.

Charlie Self
"For NASA, space is still a high priority." Dan Quayle

Almost all glass is floated, even if it will be tempered or polished later.
It would be an old plant that did otherwise.

They flatten that granite plate by making random orbits with "rocks" that
have grooves in 'em.

Amazing what advertising can do with reality, isn't it?

"Australopithecus scobis" wrote in message
...
I asked for float at a local glass shop. They said "there used to be a
difference, but now all glass is made the same way."


To add to the discussion: There's some squish in sandpaper + 77. Why
get a surface plate good to 0.001 when your paper squishes more than
that? Not that I'd object to owning one, mind you.

Check granite installation shops. Got mine as cutout for sink,
gratis.

On 29 Apr 2004 09:05:54 GMT, otforme (Charlie Self)
wrote:

Ed Clarke writes:

You can also use a machinist's surface plate but those are big and
very heavy. About $75-$100 plus shipping from Enco.

Grizzly has their 9x12x2 granite for $17.95, plus shipping. Total is under $25.

Charlie Self
"For NASA, space is still a high priority." Dan Quayle

John Keeney wrote:


"DANIEL HENEGHAN" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is Float
Glass and where can one get it?

Float glass is made by floating the molten glass on another liquid
(oil?, lead?, I really don't recall at the moment) to cool so gravity
can smooth it out.
If you really want it and your local glass shops don't carry it I'ld
suggest asking at antique shops. Don't buy antique glass however,
glass distorts over time.

You're not going to find it in antique shops since the float process was
invented sometime in the 1950s. Generally speaking if you encounter a
piece of recently-made flat (as opposed to curved or rounded) it will most
likely be float glass--flat glass made by other processes is a specialty
item. Basically you just need a piece of window glass thick enough to
stand up to handling.

Barring Float Glass, what is the next best
thing to use. Something I can buy at a Home Depot or something.

A piece of marble or granite floor tile should do nicely.
The local HD all most always has some sub $2 marble tile.

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

To add to the discussion: There's some squish in sandpaper + 77. Why
get a surface plate good to 0.001 when your paper squishes more than
that? Not that I'd object to owning one, mind you.

Right. The kitchen formica or a spare hunk of BB ply is good.

MDF is good too, cheap and ultra flat.

Find a hardware store that sells louvered glass windows. The individual
plates are perfect for SS use. My local hw store sells a 24x4x3/8 with
burnished edges for about $4.

HTH,

Vic
"DANIEL HENEGHAN" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is Float
Glass and where can one get it? Barring Float Glass, what is the next best
thing to use. Something I can buy at a Home Depot or something.

Thanks,
Daniel
--

On 29 Apr 2004 03:09:52 GMT, Ed Clarke wrote:

Forget about the Borg, you need to go to an industrial type glass shop.

Why ?

I got a piece of plate glass about 3/4 inch thick by six by 16 inches.

Plate glass hasn't been made in decades.

These days all glass that isn't decoratively figured or really low end
"greenhouse glass" is made by the float process. It's just cheaper
that way.

My sharpening plate is the glass top from an old photocopier. Useful
size, tempered safety glass in case I drop it, and the edges were
already bevelled.


For sharpening, especially when you're gluing a paper-backed abrasive
to it, then worrying about the type of glass you use is sheer
overkill.

--
Smert' spamionam

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:59:49 -0500, Australopithecus scobis
brought forth from the murky depths:

In article ,
Larry Jaques wrote:

Go easy with the Super77 spray adhesive. When I started, I used too

Or just wet it and lay it down.

I tried that, but the paper moved annoyingly. Use very light pressure
on the blade?

Yes, fairly light, and I usually have a couple digits holding
the paper in place. (But not in the trajectory of a Scary blade
edge.) Caveat Sandor.


================================================== ============
Like peace and quiet? Buy a phoneless cord.
http://www/diversify.com/stees.html Hilarious T-shirts online
================================================== ============

Float glass is standard window glass. Get it at any glass place.

"DANIEL HENEGHAN" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is Float
Glass and where can one get it? Barring Float Glass, what is the next best
thing to use. Something I can buy at a Home Depot or something.

Thanks,
Daniel
--

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
John Keeney wrote:


"DANIEL HENEGHAN" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is
Float
Glass and where can one get it?

Float glass is made by floating the molten glass on another liquid
(oil?, lead?, I really don't recall at the moment) to cool so gravity
can smooth it out.
If you really want it and your local glass shops don't carry it I'ld
suggest asking at antique shops. Don't buy antique glass however,
glass distorts over time.

You're not going to find it in antique shops since the float process was
invented sometime in the 1950s. Generally speaking if you encounter a
piece of recently-made flat (as opposed to curved or rounded) it will most
likely be float glass--flat glass made by other processes is a specialty
item. Basically you just need a piece of window glass thick enough to
stand up to handling.

Well, another "fact" I learned from that guy that was wrong.
I had all ready scratched off huge areas of what he had told
me but it looks like I have a few more to go.

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 04:14:13 -0400, "John Keeney"
wrote:


"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
John Keeney wrote:


"DANIEL HENEGHAN" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is
Float
Glass and where can one get it?

Float glass is made by floating the molten glass on another liquid
(oil?, lead?, I really don't recall at the moment) to cool so gravity
can smooth it out.
If you really want it and your local glass shops don't carry it I'ld
suggest asking at antique shops. Don't buy antique glass however,
glass distorts over time.

You're not going to find it in antique shops since the float process was
invented sometime in the 1950s. Generally speaking if you encounter a
piece of recently-made flat (as opposed to curved or rounded) it will most
likely be float glass--flat glass made by other processes is a specialty
item. Basically you just need a piece of window glass thick enough to
stand up to handling.

Well, another "fact" I learned from that guy that was wrong.
I had all ready scratched off huge areas of what he had told
me but it looks like I have a few more to go.




if you're talking about what you quoted above as attributed to John
Keeney, aside from being a bit vague it's essentially correct.

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 09:31:04 -0700,
wrote:

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 04:14:13 -0400, "John Keeney"
wrote:


"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
John Keeney wrote:


"DANIEL HENEGHAN" wrote in message
ink.net...
Hi all,

I read the essay on scary sharp and want to give it a try. What is
Float
Glass and where can one get it?

Float glass is made by floating the molten glass on another liquid
(oil?, lead?, I really don't recall at the moment) to cool so gravity
can smooth it out.
If you really want it and your local glass shops don't carry it I'ld
suggest asking at antique shops. Don't buy antique glass however,
glass distorts over time.

You're not going to find it in antique shops since the float process was
invented sometime in the 1950s. Generally speaking if you encounter a
piece of recently-made flat (as opposed to curved or rounded) it will most
likely be float glass--flat glass made by other processes is a specialty
item. Basically you just need a piece of window glass thick enough to
stand up to handling.

Well, another "fact" I learned from that guy that was wrong.
I had all ready scratched off huge areas of what he had told
me but it looks like I have a few more to go.




if you're talking about what you quoted above as attributed to John
Keeney, aside from being a bit vague it's essentially correct.



erp.
sorry, that was J. Clarke's post that was essentially correct, if
vague.

I think.