Supplier of period glass?

[bamsefar1]

Got a 40-50s classic allwin with broken front-glass. The piece of glass has an "organic"/ period feel to it, being pritty thick and uneven. A modern replacement would not be right.

Is it possible these days to get hold of pieces of glass with that "old feel"?

[treefrog]

Old plate glass can be got from some glass suppliers, e.g. non-toughened as they all are now. Worth asking a few suppliers - people still demand this for old restorations. You can even get the type of glass they used to make, where it was spun - very expensive though. Maybe worth trying reclamation yards as well. Later plate glass I am sure has a different colour to it.

[badpenny]

For those not in the know, the glass that was spun into a big circle was called plate glass because of its shape.
Also the cheapest bit was the very centre where the pole had been attached for spinning it, that was the bull's eye used in old windows.

[pennymachines]

I'm less cavalier with old glass than when I started collecting. I used to replace anything a bit scratched or chipped, but now appreciate that it's "part of the antique". Apart from the difficulty of matching imperial thicknesses, the colour is different (tending more towards green than the blue of modern glass) and, on early machines, it has that lovely uneven, rippled surface bamsefar1 is referring to.

As such a commonplace material, I can't help thinking there must be somewhere you could find old glass in different sizes and thicknesses. The trouble is, once removed, it's invariably scrapped, and buying antique glazed doors from salvage yards would not be cheap.

[arrgee]

Also the cheapest bit was the very centre where the pole had been attached for spinning it, that was the bull's eye used in old windows

And if you want to buy a new piece of bullseye glass now, it is quite expensive. Interesting how things change, in the Victorian days tatty old 'down market' shops could only afford small pieces of glass for their windows, the glass had to be held in and separated by lots of bits of wood (transoms and mullions) whilst the up-market shops boasted large-ish sheets of glass so their customers could view their products with ease, this also served to make a statement of opulance.

............funny old world.

[gameswat]

I loathe new glass - as badly as brand new Chinese locks!!! But it's not hard to source cheap period glass for machines. I've been buying vintage mirrors for years from my dump recycling yard at a few dollars each and stripping the silver off once cut to size. I'm really picky and only go for the ones with nice aged pale yellow color, and they always show minor surface imperfections and scratches from age. Since I don't plan to use them as mirrors normally I get the really crappy ones with chipped corners, bad silver and/or broken frames, so extra cheap that way because nobody else wants them!

[pennymachines]

Brilliant Gameswat - I should have known you'd have an answer!
I even thought of old mirrors but my brain stopped at "you can't see through 'em".

[gameswat]

And the best thing is the glass is always more scratched on the outside than the inside, just like a machine would be! And worth investing in a top quality glass cutter. After years of good then bad results it turned out it was only the damn cutter that was letting me down! Cost $45 but paid for itself with a couple of jobs.

[jimmy55]

And how good to hear a dump/recycling yard selling stuff off. South Norfolk allows it and donates the money raised to charity ( less on landfill + money to charity = result ) North Norfolk actually puts up CCTV to STOP people salvaging anything. I could weep sometimes to see the good old wood and other treasures going in the crusher!

[badpenny]

Gameswat .............. Are there any tips you can pass on for de-silvering a mirror, or is it simply a case of scrape it off with an old fashioned razor blade?

BP

[jimmy55]

Gameswat .............. Are there any tips you can pass on for de-silvering a mirror, or is it simply a case of scrape it off with an old fashioned razor blade?

BP

One tip is don't breath it in while you are scraping BP, it contains Mercury. You don't meet many old mirror silverers!

[andydotp]

Possibly a tad late for BP jim, he's mad as a hatter already..
(Ohh, membership suspended again)

[gameswat]

Yes, was about to post about this anyway - always strip the mirrors outside and use a mask and gloves! I flake off any rough silver first with a blade. Then paint stripper will remove the back layer of paint used to protect the silver. Sometimes the paint stripper will remove some or most of the silver if it's a cheaper mirror without an extra layer of copper plating behind the silver. Though usually I pour some hydrochloric acid over the silvering and, after about a minute, it wipes off with a rag.

[treefrog]

I was after a piece of period thick glass for a clown catcher and period glass suppliers are very expensive and have yet to see a suitable mirror cheap enough available. By chance I was given a large sheet of 100 year old glass from an Edwardian shop display cabinet that had been broken at an antique fair. Well chuffed as it is large enough for two pieces and was a hassle for the stall holder to dispose of, so free. You would be surprised (or not) how many breakages occur through the antique trade and obviously is very distressing for the owner, but to our gain. Next job cutting to size, not sure It I should get a professional to do it or get my glass scorer out and have a go as only once chance at this..

[jimmy55]

You'll need a tungsten wheel cutter with a light oil for best result TF. Japanese make the best cutters something like a Toyo.

[treefrog]

Well bugger the tungsten wheel, bought the best and managed to chop the sheet into many small pieces, not a single one followed the line.......never mind......bought £5 sheet of normal glass for now. For some reason how ever many tines I tried on this old thick glass, it would not follow the rut. Once I got it close, seems better when only scoring it a single time. Anyway, while in the glass shop they suggested you can get old style glass in a completely clear finish (eg no blue or green effect), but costs 4 times the amount, but if it is £20 maybe worth it and it is saftey glass as it all has to be now. It seems as with everything if there is a demand the manufacturers will produce old style glass for the market

[gameswat]

You shouldn't scribe the glass more than once otherwise it usually goes bad. I bought a good japanese cutter from my glazier which is what they use. Then squirt a small amount of Turps along the line to be cut. After cutting tap along the line to help it weaken. If it's thinner than about 5mm I'll use leather gloves and flex the two halves from one end and it breaks really easy. But over 5mm is hard with just your hands, so I place it on the floor over a long length of 3/8" angle with the angle facing up right under the scribe. Then again you just put pressure on both sides at one end and pressto! With a good cutter it should make little difference about the age of the glass and should cut like butter. Took me years to figure it it was the cutter and not me!!