Glue chipping with UV light
Introduction
The adhesive utilized for glue chipping glass has remained the same since its inception:animal hide glue.The techniques required for successful chipping with animal hide glue has caused glue chipping to be viewed as more of an art than a process.The introduction of QuickChip88® offers glass artists and glass manufacturers an easy and ready to use,one part adhesive that upon exposure to UV light will duplicate the results obtained with animal hide glue.The process takes minutes to complete. With the development of QuickChip88Gel® it is possible to glue chip 3 dimensional objects such as vases, bowls, pitchers and sculptures.The possibilities are limited by one's imagination.
Considerations
Although it has been our goal to transform glue chipping into a reproducible process it is important to realize that each individual glass piece that is subjected to this process will be unique:no two pieces will ever be identical.This paper is presented as a means of guidance and to help users identify variables that will influence the results obtained with QuickChip88® and QuickChip88Gel®. The variables we identify in this paper should not be thought of singularly; the final chip pattern will be dependent upon the sum of the variables.
Glass surface preparation
As with the original glue chipping process the glass to be chipped must be roughened by sandblasting. The glass should be cleaned after sandblasting to remove residual sand and possible contaminates. The glass should be dry. The final chip design can be influenced by the surface preparation:a deep or very rough treatment usually results in a large area being chipped. A very light surface treatment usually results in a very small amount of glass being chipped off with large areas not being chipped.
It is possible but much more difficult to chip glass that has been etched. As with the sandblasted glass the glass should be clean and dry. We do not recommend using etched glass with QuickChip88® or QuickChip88Gel®. Do not attempt to chip tempered glass with either QuickChip88® or QuickChip88Gel®.
Unique advantage: Glass chipped by the Quickchip process can be tempered. The ability to temper glue chipped glass will open up all sorts of architectural applications (shower doors, room dividers, windows and sliding glass doors).
Preparing the area to be chipped
QuickChip88® and QuickChip88Gel® can be used to chip entire sheets, specific areas or highly resolved images. To chip entire sheets QuickChip88® can be applied manually (pour and allow the adhesive to spread) or by a coating machine. To facilitate clean up it is recommended that the edge (1/8th of an inch) of the sheet be masked off with tape.
During the chipping process most of the adhesive will chip off the surface of the glass. Sometimes the adhesive at the very edge will not chip off. If the edge is masked the adhesive that doesn't chip will be removed when the masking is peeled off. If the edges aren't masked the adhesive remaining after the chipping process has finished can be removed by scraping with a razor blade.
To chip specific areas or images some form of masking is required. Masking tape is a very simple solution. The masking tape can be applied to the entire piece, a pattern drawn on the tape, a knife is used to score the pattern and the tape removed from areas where chipping is desired.
Apply QuickChip88® directly to these areas allowing the adhesive to spread over the edge of the tape.
QuickChip88Gel® can be used to chip specific areas or as a dam for QuickChip88®. Because QuickChip88Gel® doesn't flow it can be applied to vertical surfaces. This allows vases, bowls, pitchers and other 3 dimensional objects to be chipped.
Figure 1: Glue Chipped Bowl
If a mask was used during the sandblasting process it might be suitable for use as a mask with QuickChip88®. It is recommended that a test be run to assure that the sandblasting mask is compatible with QuickChip88®.
Applying the QuickChip88®
QuickChip88® and QuickChip88Gel® are supplied ready to use; no cooking or mixing is required. Simply apply the adhesive to the area to be chipped by whatever means is most convenient. The amount of adhesive applied will have great effect on the final chip pattern. The two easiest ways to control the amount of adhesive are (1) adhesive weight and (2) wet coating thickness.
After gaining some experience glue chipping with QuickChip88® one will develop a feel for how much adhesive is required for the desired effect. Two other important considerations are the area being chipped and the thickness of the glass.
Because of the great heat generated upon curing and the stress built up in the adhesive as it cools, large areas and/or thin glass require extreme care to avoid breaking the glass.
If the adhesive weight method is utilized it is important to have an idea of the surface area being chipped. The smaller the area being chipped the less important this measurement becomes. At some point this measure becomes very important. The thickness of the glass figures prominently into this calculation. The following data was derived using 3/16 inch thick float glass and is offered as guidance.
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