Friday, February 20, 2015

Salvaging Glass Items

A few years ago, I bought a set of hand-blown amber goblet stemware.

I have always loved the look of hand-blown glass. I love that every piece is unique and different. I guess I find it like people, no two pieces are alike. 

One day, the base of one of the goblets broke. I hated to throw out the entire piece. I had this wire holder that had a glass oil candle in it and it broke leaving this cool wire holder. 

I thought that perhaps, I could take the goblet to the local glass store and see if they could grind it down like they do the edges of larger glass table tops. 

I took it in and they were able to grind it down as you can see in the picture so it went from the goblet base you see to the candle holder.
 
This past week, I was rearranging some of my hand blown glass items and one of my very favorite pieces wasn't setting quite right on the shelf and when I walked away, it fell and shattered the base. 

It was a thin green pitcher with a clear glass handle. The bottom was ruined but the neck and handle section was still intact. 

I thought to myself, "I wonder if the grinder on my Dremel would be able to grind it down so the edges aren't sharp and make it level so that I could use it for a holder for a hand blown glass bulb?" 

I pulled out my dremel and put the grinder on it and made SURE to wear eye protection and put the piece inside a bag so that any little pieces wouldn't go anywhere in the kitchen but into the bag. 

I ground it down as flat as I could get it and it wasn't sharp at all. It looks white in the picture as the dust is still on it so you can see the edges but when I washed it, the white came off. 
 
As you can see in the top picture, grinding it down, making it level worked as it is a cute holder for the glass ornament I have. Something new for the day and I was glad my experiment worked. 

I had a pyrex lab beaker the I broke the top corner off that I wanted to have ground down and took it to the glass shop and they lost it. Now, if anything breaks, I can just grind it down myself. Nice to know something new. 

I just wish I could learn to blow glass myself. I think it is an amazing art. 

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