polishing glass

[rlandersn]

I am a kiln-fired glass artist. When I fire glass in a mold, the surface touching the mold surface is matte-to-rough, which I want to polish to a shine. I am totally new to buffing and polishing, but think this may be the solution to my problem. What I need to know is what compounds would be best to use on glass to (1) remove the rough surface, and (2) buff the glass to a high shine. Also, I have a bench grinder - can it be used for this process, with the right wheels and compounds? Thanks for helping a newbie!

[jrow]

Originally Posted by rlandersn

the surface touching the mold surface is matte-to-rough,

I would think you would be better off polishing your mold prior to forming the glass. Is this possible? What is your mold made from?

Try this: http://www.facetingmachines.com/polishing_glass.shtml

John

[KCV6]

The link provided by jrow is pretty much spot on. First grind with wet and dry paper ensuring you regulary rinse then machine polish with cerium oxide mixed with water. If the parts are small I'd use a dremel tool or equivalent with a felt buff. I'll check with the glass shop guys here for other faster cut componds. (we do precision optics).

Cheers

Mark Smith

OK, the cheaper and possibly more readily available compond is to simply mix clay (potters clay works fine) with water. As with the cerium oxide, the more solids you mix in the faster the polishing cut. The less you mix in the finer the polish.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by rlandersn

I am a kiln-fired glass artist. When I fire glass in a mold, the surface touching the mold surface is matte-to-rough, which I want to polish to a shine. I am totally new to buffing and polishing, but think this may be the solution to my problem. What I need to know is what compounds would be best to use on glass to (1) remove the rough surface, and (2) buff the glass to a high shine. Also, I have a bench grinder - can it be used for this process, with the right wheels and compounds? Thanks for helping a newbie!

If molding glass is a common practice, what do the other artists do?