I've just ground my own glass

vickersdc · Nov 27, 2009

I recently bought an 18cm x 24cm FKD camera, and when it arrived the lens had not been securely packed; during transit it had smashed the original ground glass into hundreds of pieces.

To be fair to the seller, he is sending me a new one, but in the mean time I thought it was a good opportunity to make my own. My wife has just taken up making stained glass, so she cut some 2mm glass to size and clipped the corners.

Using 600grit Silicon Carbide, it took about 1/2 hour to do, all that's left is to draw the lines on. The glass is really bright and it'll be interesting to compare it against the new one that it on it's way to me!

keithwms · Nov 27, 2009

This procedure works quite well with plexiglas (a.k.a. perspex, acrylic) as well, which is very nice for travel. It's not as bright as glass but... totally unbreakable!

RalphLambrecht · Nov 27, 2009

Is there a way to do this chemically too?

Thanks for posting the pictures by the way. Makes it much easier to understand. How do you get them into the post?

Greg Heath · Nov 27, 2009

Thanks for the pics and the info...

Dave Pritchard · Nov 27, 2009

RalphLambrecht said:
Is there a way to do this chemically too?

Yes, there is. The traditional method uses hydrofluoric acid, something you do not want at home. There are other methods, though.

richard ide · Nov 27, 2009

There is a glass etching paste available. Try Lee Valley Tools.

vickersdc · Nov 28, 2009

RalphLambrecht said:
Is there a way to do this chemically too?

Thanks for posting the pictures by the way. Makes it much easier to understand. How do you get them into the post?

The images need to be stored somewhere else on the internet, Flickr for example. In this case, the photos are from a forthcoming 'article' on my LF blog.

Wherever they're stored, you'll need the http reference for the image (on Flickr go to "all sizes" and copy / paste it into the message editor here on APUG (there'll be a button that looks like some mountains, or a coupleof pyramids - click that).

Hope it helps,
Cheers.

clayne · Nov 28, 2009

vickersdc said:
The images need to be stored somewhere else on the internet, Flickr for example. In this case, the photos are from a forthcoming 'article' on my LF blog.

Wherever they're stored, you'll need the http reference for the image (on Flickr go to "all sizes" and copy / paste it into the message editor here on APUG (there'll be a button that looks like some mountains, or a coupleof pyramids - click that).

BTW: You can easily attach images to a post and use the image references for those as well. It's not absolutely necessary they're stored on another server.

Ian Grant · Nov 28, 2009

Well done David, I'm always surprised more people dont grind their own screen. I've made a few now and I finding cutting the glass the most difficult part.

Ian

vickersdc · Nov 28, 2009

It was quite therapeutic making the ground glass Here's a quick shot taken with a point & shoot this morning of the result...

RalphLambrecht · Nov 28, 2009

clayne said:
BTW: You can easily attach images to a post and use the image references for those as well. It's not absolutely necessary they're stored on another server.

How, exactly?

Ian Grant · Nov 28, 2009

Like this, go advanced (option under quick reply) & manage attachments, then upload the images.

Ian

RalphLambrecht · Nov 28, 2009

Ian Grant said:
Like this, go advanced (option under quick reply) & manage attachments, then upload the images.

Ian

Ian

That's what I do, but then they end up as an attachment just like yours. I was interested in having them right in the message, like in the original post.

clayne · Nov 28, 2009

RalphLambrecht said:
Ian

That's what I do, but then they end up as an attachment just like yours. I was interested in having them right in the message, like in the original post.

Ralph, just take the target link from the attachment and put it between two IMG blocks.

Ian Grant · Nov 28, 2009

Ralph, then upload them to a directory on your own website and just insert the link to the URL for the image, or upload to the Technical gallery here and do the same..

Ian

RalphLambrecht · Nov 28, 2009

Ian Grant said:
Ralph, then upload them to a directory on your own website and just insert the link to the URL for the image, or upload to the Technical gallery here and do the same..

Ian

To cumbersome. Post #8 talks about an alternative way to get them into the post directly.

brianmquinn · Nov 28, 2009

View Camera Mag. just had a how to make your own ground glass article.

vickersdc · Nov 28, 2009

Without wishing to be a grump, this post is about ground glass screens... not how to post images into a thread!

brianmquinn: thanks for the info on the article.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 28, 2009

vickersdc said:
Without wishing to be a grump, this post is about ground glass screens... not how to post images into a thread!

brianmquinn: thanks for the info on the article.

Sorry, I thought we were done with the ground glass.

canuhead · Nov 28, 2009

To get them to show up as large photos and not thumbs, they have to be hosted somewhere else. Upload them to your site, maybe make a subfolder (darkroomagic.com/apugpics/) for example, then link to that using the little postcard looking icon (mountains and sun) beside the quote icon above the text box.

Jim Chinn · Nov 28, 2009

Several years ago I tried to make a 4x5 screen with a chemical for etching glass. I tried various methods of coating the glass including floating but could never match the eveness and brightness I could get with hand grinding.

vickersdc · Nov 28, 2009

The only thing that 'surprised' me was that after 20-odd minutes of grinding, there was still a small area of glass that was untouched. At first I thought it was me not grinding properly, then I realised that the glass couldn't have been perfectly flat to start with!

Christopher Walrath · Nov 28, 2009

In any event, very well done, David. I might have to do one for my 4x5. One day just to tinker.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 28, 2009

canuhead said:
To get them to show up as large photos and not thumbs, they have to be hosted somewhere else. Upload them to your site, maybe make a subfolder (darkroomagic.com/apugpics/) for example, then link to that using the little postcard looking icon (mountains and sun) beside the quote icon above the text box.

Thanks for the info. There does not seem to be an easier way. I'll just stick to adding them as attachments.

Let's go back to the ground-glass discussion. Sorry for hijacking the thread.

BetterSense · Nov 28, 2009

what did you use for the grinding surface? Where does one get 600 grit SiC paste?

I've just ground my own glass

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