Posted by Gary Dodge on September 14, 2002 at 00:41:37:
In Reply to: Excess water from grinding posted by Heather on September 12, 2002 at 17:43:26:
Hi Heather,
I have heard of the technique that you are using and the best advice I can give you is to learn to do things differently.
Try using a waterproof paint pen to mark your glass for cutting. Learn to cut the glass to the proper size to start off, if necessary, use a pattern shear to adjust your patterns before you trace them onto the glass so that you have an allowance for your copper foil to fit and even room for a bit of uneven edges.
Once the glass is cut close to the proper size, if you need to grind a touch here or there you won't need a pattern on the glass to do it. The remainder of you marked lines will be enough and if you really mess up, you can dab a bit of Mark-Stay on the lines so they won't wash off.
The grinder is a wonderful invention but it has become a crutch for many stained glass hobbyists. It is great for smoothing out an edge here and there or for adjusting for the occasional error but was never intended to be a basic glass working tool. Today there are a lot of know-nothing instructors that are teaching folks to cut all the glass too large just so they can grind it down later. (I think a lot of them are just trying to sell grinders by presenting them as an essential basic tool rather than as an optional tool that is a great convenience.) That was never what stained glass was meant to be about. I'm not sure when the grinder was invented, but I'd been working in glass for over 10 years before I ever saw one.
Aside from everything else, all that grinding takes a lot of time and is not a pleasant chore. Grinder heads can get expensive too if you grind that much.
Gary Dodge
: I am having a problem with excess water when I am grinding. The water soaks my pattern piece quickly and makes it difficult to accurately grind. I find the piece slipping and have to guess as to where I need to grind to. Any suggestions on what's going on? I use an Inland Wiz. Thank You.