Cutting glass globes

I have quite a few cut globes in regular use for some years now and not one has cracked yet. You can sand down the cut edge with 100 grit sandpaper and water on a flat surface. If you have an oxy-acetylene torch, you can flame polish the cut edge by rotating the globe on a turn-table and gradually heating up the edge with a soft flame until it just starts to melt.

 

That's exactly what I want to do!

 

i will have to look more into this.

 

Yesterday, I made a hole in a Coleman glass (for practice).

I have a badly cracked Coleman glass (chimney) that I wanted to practice glass cutting on.

I recently bought a hole-cutter for making holes in glass.



I drilled the hole with plenty of water. It was tricky getting the hole started. You can see the scratches from the drill slipping in this photo:



I then used a MAPP torch to soften the glass around the hole:





I’m quite pleased with the result. Mind you, I won’t be trying this on an irreplaceable glass.

Cheers

Tony

 

@Tony Press

Tony, did you use a hand held drill or use a drill press?
Nice first hole.

 

Yes, Willis & Bates gave up drilling holes in Vapalux glass globes way back in the 1940s. Apparently, far too many broke and it wasn't economically viable - especially when the solution was simply to have the globes made slightly shorter so they could be lifted within the globe cage to allow priming and lighting.

Good effort, Tony...

 

Thanks, David.

@ROBBO55

I used a battery operated hand held Ryobi 2-speed drill as it was it had lower RPM than my drill press. I’ll try the drill press next on this broken glass.

Cheers

Tony

 

As for a hole : would heating the globe up and punching a hole through not be a better way ?

 

@Tony Press

Tony, you did very well to drill the hole by hand and not shatter the glass.
A drill press should significantly reduce the scratching. Slow and steady without a lot of pressure.

 

@ROBBO55




Cheers

Tony

 

thankyou for posting this. just cut a Veritas 350 globe. turned out very nice. cut down a helix hurricane lamp glass. search robert welch uk if anyone wants one. thanks to Phil.

 

This is great! Thanks so much. Drilling holes in the glass can drive you nuts! I have two E41 lanterns and they take the glass with the hole. Fortunately, both have holes. I can't imagine trying to drill holes in globes with my hands! Arthritis took care of that endeavour years ago.

 

The usual method of drilling holes in glass is to make a small putty or plasticine ring a bit larger than the hole size , put a few drops of oil in the ring and use a tile hole drill on slow speed . Obviously laying the glass or globe horizontally and best laid on a small sandbag , it steadies the glass and also absorbs the tiny vibrations of the drill cutting into the surface of the glass. Give it a try.... the holes are very clean and true. not too much pressure , let the drill cut without pushing it .

 

The classic carbide drill technique is tried and tested, but the new tech diamond coated hole saws are very fast and neat, using the technique in the video.

 

Phil

The hole in the plastic bottle is a great trick!

That is the kind of drill I use to make holes in glass.

Cheers

Tony

@phaedrus42

 

Okay, Gang, I will see if I can make the cut this weekend. It will be for the globe for the 1943, 300 Vapalux. Got to work up my courage for this "operation"! It looks like a rather "safe" method may be to hold the glass in a bucket of water and then drill the hole.
One youtube guy used molded plastic on the outside of the bottle as a guide to keep the drill from wondering all over the glass in the water while he was drilling.
I have a variable speed drill (if I can find the damn thing!) and will use that. Boy, what a kabuki dance this is going to be! I think I'm going to see if I can "bribe" my son to do this maneuver!

 

Very informative post @phaedrus42
You got me thinking and I’ll be now attempting to trim a globe or two.
Thank you for sharing.
Cheers
Pete

 

Only issue I can see is that globe glass is a lot thinner than the glass used in the video. Won't globe glass break ?

 

Careful, careful, don’t press hard:



This attempt would have worked better using the template method shown in the video (less scratching).


Tony

 

Yes I'd be scared the glass would just crack. Good one.