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I just start to play with glass and have a zillion questions .
Does someone know , What is the main reason of using a UV light , I know it's to find the tin side of the float glass but why.
Will this side stick to the shelf or mould , or does the color change ?
And what would be a good wash to cover the mould to achieve a smooth surface of the slumped glass.

Float glass (regular window glass) has been manufactured by "floating" a layer of glass on a layer of molten tin since the early 1960's, so most modern window glass has tin contamination on one side of the glass. This is detectable by illuminating the glass with a short wave (germicidal) UV light source and observing the "bloom" which makes the surface of the contaminated side look like it has a whitish haze on it.

There are some glass artists who feel that enamels don't adhere as well to the tin side as to the non-tin or "air" side of the glass. There are others who claim it doesn't make a difference. So you'll have to decide for yourself.

Wear safety glasses as long term exposure to UV light can cause cataracts. Also, the short wave UV light kills living cells, so minimize exposure to your skin. This process doesn't work with ordinary long-wave UV or "Black Light".

Tony

fekiln wrote:I just start to play with glass and have a zillion questions .
Does someone know , What is the main reason of using a UV light , I know it's to find the tin side of the float glass but why.
Will this side stick to the shelf or mould , or does the color change ?
And what would be a good wash to cover the mould to achieve a smooth surface of the slumped glass.

In my experience, the reason to know the tin side is that it resists sticking to my seperator, much like irid does for BE.

Hi,
In my experience at our Studio the Tin does effect cretin colors, making them look duller then normal, because of this we avoid the Tin at all cost.
I do agree with Tony that it is something you will have to decide for yourself because everyone has there own style and what works for one person doesn't always apply to the next one.
That's Glass For You!
Jon (Higgins Glass Sudio)

Jon-HigginsGlass wrote:Hi,
In my experience at our Studio the Tin does effect cretin colors, making them look duller then normal, because of this we avoid the Tin at all cost.
I do agree with Tony that it is something you will have to decide for yourself because everyone has there own style and what works for one person doesn't always apply to the next one.
That's Glass For You!
Jon (Higgins Glass Sudio)

Jon

What kind of colors are you using?

Back when I used lead bearing Thompson enamels, I got some aqua blues coming out with brown blotches due to the tin oxide.

Since I have been using Drakenfeld, Deguza, Ferro(all the same) colors, I have not seen this effect. I ignored the tin side for a couple of years until I realized that the random rough texture on the shelf side was being caused by no tin side.

Does someone know a reliable sourch to buy one of those UV lights from and which is a good model ?
Here in New Zealand I'm unable to find them ,

fekiln wrote:Does someone know a reliable sourch to buy one of those UV lights from and which is a good model ?
Here in New Zealand I'm unable to find them ,

Fekiln

The light that I have used is made by a company called UVP. It is a short wave UV (germicidal bulb) flashlight. They usually retail for about $40 US. Maybe you can find a local distributor?

I am laughing about my situation. I have blown through 2 of these units. The casing breaks and falls apart. I kept around the important parts like the bulb and the purple filter. Last week, I was staying at a lake house owned by a friend. There was a regular fluorescent flashlight that was exactly the same as my UV model except for the lens. I asked her about it and she told me to take it, she thought it was pretty much useless.

I cut a whole in the plastic lens and taped on the purple filter with aluminum tape. Now I saved myself another 40 bucks. I am a happy camper.

Here is an information page on how to make your own "tindicator":

http://arthur.sale.tripod.com/id106.htm

Here is a Canadian stamp company that sells small cheap shortwave units for $34.95 Canadian. I got one of these a few months ago - still working fine.

http://www.unitradeassoc.com/Supply/Lam ... ifiers.pdf

fekiln wrote:Does someone know a reliable sourch to buy one of those UV lights from and which is a good model ?
Here in New Zealand I'm unable to find them ,

Try a place that specializes in rocks and minerals. The shortwave units are used for displaying fluorescent minerals. Also, some water purification units use the shortwave UV. You can get 4" long shortwave UV fluorescent tubes to fit in a standard 4" handheld fluorescent lamp.

Tony

Jane Lindell wrote:Here is an information page on how to make your own "tindicator":

http://arthur.sale.tripod.com/id106.htm

Here is a Canadian stamp company that sells small cheap shortwave units for $34.95 Canadian. I got one of these a few months ago - still working fine.

http://www.unitradeassoc.com/Supply/Lam ... ifiers.pdf

Jane

I read Arthur's instructions and I have some questions about my experience verses his. I found that I had to cut away the plastic covering to the flaslight as it is essentially a UV filter. I also need the purple filter in place in order to see the fluorescence. I can see the fluorescence by placing the glass directly over the purple filter not at a 45º angle.

maybe some techies have a clue about what is going on.

BTW $35 Canadian is a good price. I downloaded their huge PDF but it had absolutely no information about how to conatact the company or even the company name.

[quote="Bert Weiss
BTW $35 Canadian is a good price. I downloaded their huge PDF but it had absolutely no information about how to conatact the company or even the company name.[/quote]

I just ordered one...it's so seldom I can order equipment without having to deal with border fees and such! Unitrade Associates in Toronto, Ont Ph: 416-242-5900

Carol

Sorry about the link with no contact info. Here is their homepage:

http://www.unitradeassoc.com/index.htm