Nose butter is the stuff you put on sandblasted surfaces to shine them up a little and protect them from finger prints. A lot of people use ArmourAll or stone sealant for this, but they both eventually evaporate off.
John Lewis, who does A LOT of glueing, taught us in a Pilchuck class, that you can use clear epoxy diluted with acetone for nose butter that will last as long as the glass. I've done some testing of it and it is working for me so far. I've just been mixing the epoxy first, very well, then mixing in acetone untill it is almost water consistency, then rubbing it on with a rag. Clean up with pure acetone. Throw away the rags when you're done. It can leave a very subtle pattern from the wiping but you have to look very hard to see it. You could probably spray it or paint it as well.
He also taught us how to fix checks in the surfaces of pieces with diluted epoxy. (You can also use UV glue for this.) Heat the glass first with a hair drier then paint on the watery mix. Capillary action will pull the glue into the check. It may help to start the glue at the leading edge of the check then work your way towards where the check started. This gives the air in the check a way to get out before it is blocked in by glue. Use a throw-away brush and leave it in the extra epoxy so you can wiggle the brush to see if the glue has set up, without disturbing the glass. I fixed a check in a piece on Friday that just completely disappeared.
As always, glue in well ventilated places, try to keep your skin away from epoxy and acetone and test these techniques on scrap before you do it on valuable pieces.
ch
Permanent nose butter and check fixing
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charlie holden
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Doug Randall
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Great info Charlie. Did John say anything about the nose butter yellowing as time passed. Sounds like a mixture I'd like to try as I've been the armor all, wd40 and watco wood oil route and havent been totally enamored with the overall results. Do you mix it up in small one use applications or can you make a batch to keep for a while? Sounded like you had quite a Pilchuck summer....Jeremy from Chicago stopped by the studio after session 5 and said you've been there most of the summer. Too cool! ...later
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Avery Anderson
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Re: Permanent nose butter and check fixing
im wondering in order to get rid of the marks, if you could use a fine spritzer, filled with acetone to give it a final spray, just before the stuff sets up, this could get rid of the tiny rub markscharlie holden wrote: then rubbing it on with a rag. Clean up with pure acetone. Throw away the rags when you're done. It can leave a very subtle pattern from the wiping but you have to look very hard to see it. As always, glue in well ventilated places, try to keep your skin away from epoxy and acetone and test these techniques on scrap before you do it on valuable pieces.
ch
thanks for the great tip
rodney
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Amy on Salt Spring
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I ran this post by my husband who has had extensive experience using epoxies for all kinds of things--here is what he said,
"You might want to mention to the board that most epoxies have little to no UV light resistance, so pieces that use these techniques should be kept away from natural light. UV light will eventually degrade the epoxy, causing it to discolor or otherwise break down. Epotek makes some epoxies specifically for glass repair that "may" be more durable. WEST System, System 3, and other high-end epoxies are likely to be more durable that the "5-minute" hardware store variety, which isn't really even waterproof. Some also have a more watery consistency to begin with. Also, there are some thinners made specifically for epoxy, that may work better than straight acetone. The "subtle pattern" from wiping may be an "amine blush"--a waxy substance that appears on the surface of cured epoxy. Soap and water removes amine blush from cured epoxy. Be very careful if you intend to spray epoxy! You _really_ don't want to inhale _any_ of it, and acetone is as flammable and explosive as gasoline."
"You might want to mention to the board that most epoxies have little to no UV light resistance, so pieces that use these techniques should be kept away from natural light. UV light will eventually degrade the epoxy, causing it to discolor or otherwise break down. Epotek makes some epoxies specifically for glass repair that "may" be more durable. WEST System, System 3, and other high-end epoxies are likely to be more durable that the "5-minute" hardware store variety, which isn't really even waterproof. Some also have a more watery consistency to begin with. Also, there are some thinners made specifically for epoxy, that may work better than straight acetone. The "subtle pattern" from wiping may be an "amine blush"--a waxy substance that appears on the surface of cured epoxy. Soap and water removes amine blush from cured epoxy. Be very careful if you intend to spray epoxy! You _really_ don't want to inhale _any_ of it, and acetone is as flammable and explosive as gasoline."
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PDXBarbara
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charlie holden
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I'm less concerned about yellowing than I am about the epoxy going opaque. It is so thin that I don't think it would be noticeable if it yellowed. Plus, most of my glass is colored anyway. I think using a mix that is formulated for glass repair makes sense.
According to John, the longer the curing time, the stronger the bond. He also talked about various modifiers -- like stuff that makes it more flexible, so you can glue glass to metal, etc. He is actually mixing dry pigments into epoxy and spraying it on glass to stain it. He says that the pigments don't weaken the epoxy enough to matter. The stuff he uses is much stronger than the glass.
As far as storing it, you can apparently mix it up then put it in a fridge to store it. The cold will stop the reaction. (I can't remember if he said you can freeze it or not.) Another thing he talked about is that you can reconstitute old resin and hardener by heating them in a double boiler. Apparently it will crystalize over time and won't work as well.
ch
According to John, the longer the curing time, the stronger the bond. He also talked about various modifiers -- like stuff that makes it more flexible, so you can glue glass to metal, etc. He is actually mixing dry pigments into epoxy and spraying it on glass to stain it. He says that the pigments don't weaken the epoxy enough to matter. The stuff he uses is much stronger than the glass.
As far as storing it, you can apparently mix it up then put it in a fridge to store it. The cold will stop the reaction. (I can't remember if he said you can freeze it or not.) Another thing he talked about is that you can reconstitute old resin and hardener by heating them in a double boiler. Apparently it will crystalize over time and won't work as well.
ch