Clear irid: Which side is coated?

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Cliff Swanson
Posts: 65
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 10:36 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Clear irid: Which side is coated?

Post by Cliff Swanson »

I'm about to fuse a blank that will include clear irid as one layer for the first time. I know the iridized side won't fuse. Frankly, I'm having difficulty discerning which side of this sheet is coated (it's Uro 65-00-96IR). Is there a sure way to figure this out? I've held it up to various light sources and examined the texture, etc. Mystery to me..

Thanks for any suggestions.

Cliff
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Jo Holt
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 6:02 pm
Location: Maine USA

Post by Jo Holt »

Cliff,

Hold it at an angle so you're peering across the surface; and look at the edges, too. When you catch the angle right you can see one side has depth and the other (iridized) side reflects.

Clear as mud? :roll:

Jo
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Tony Smith
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Location: Massachusetts, USA
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Re: Clear irid: Which side is coated?

Post by Tony Smith »

Cliff Swanson wrote:I'm about to fuse a blank that will include clear irid as one layer for the first time. I know the iridized side won't fuse. Frankly, I'm having difficulty discerning which side of this sheet is coated (it's Uro 65-00-96IR). Is there a sure way to figure this out? I've held it up to various light sources and examined the texture, etc. Mystery to me..

Thanks for any suggestions.

Cliff
Actually Cliff, the iridized layer will fuse. This is a common misconception. The iridized coating will fuse to glass quite well, it will not fuse to another layer of iridizing though unless some of the coating is removed to expose bare glass.

Tony
The tightrope between being strange and being creative is too narrow to walk without occasionally landing on both sides..." Scott Berkun
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charlie
Posts: 961
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 3:08 pm

Post by charlie »

same way you test which side has the dichroic on. put your fingernail to one surface. if the coating touches your fingernail that's the surface. if there's a gap the thickness of the glass, then it's the other side.
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Cliff Swanson
Posts: 65
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 10:36 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Post by Cliff Swanson »

Thanks... I've messed around with this and made a decision about which side is which. It's a bit tricky with this piece because neither side of the sheet are flat...it's quite unevenly textured.

Tony...Thanks for clearing up the issue of whether or not the irid surface will fuse. Come to think of it, I quite possibly extrapolated the idea of it not fusing from the previous threads related to the double irid design technique.

Cliff
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Brock
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Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 1:32 pm
Location: Vancouver, B.C.

Post by Brock »

Actually Cliff, the iridized layer will fuse. This is a common misconception. The iridized coating will fuse to glass quite well, it will not fuse to another layer of iridizing though unless some of the coating is removed to expose bare glass.

Tony

It WILL, however, often leave a needled or puckered edge. For best results fusing dichro or irid to other glass, it is still best to sandblast
a thin perimeter off the metallic coating. Brock
My memory is so good, I can't remember the last time I forgot something . . .
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