HI Mick

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:01:04 -0000, "M"
wrote:

I have a good few lumps of old broken glass some up to about 3" thick and
would like to cut thin sections out but not sure if or how it can be done.
If it can would it be expensive and what percentage woulod be wasted
roughly. Who if anyone does that type of work. What thickness would be the
best to aim for.
It is pieces of a broken lighthouse fresnel lens which we would like in
slivers/sections so that a picture of the lighthouse could be etched onto
them.
Sorry there are som amny questions but hopefully someone may have the
answers.

Thanks Mick


It's the kind of job that somebody with a lapidary (stone-working)
workshop could probably undertake. A water-cooled, diamond 'slab-saw'
(as used for cutting slabs of stone) would do it - and would allow the
glass to be clamped to ensure that the slabs are parallel.

You'd probably need to get the slabs of glass polished afterwards
(lapidary job again, successively finer grades of abrasive followed by
a polish) before doing the etching.

As to wastage - the saw will take out a slot of maybe 1/8" inch,
possibly a little thicker....

Hope this helps ?
Adrian