Bob demonstrates laminating glass using HXTAL NYL-1 epoxy. We show measuring and mixing the epoxy and application to your glass using accessories like digital scales, glass stirring rods and A-1100 Amino Silane.
I used XTAL Nyl-1 about three years ago with great success. My wife had just purchased a beautiful large Vase from a furniture store. It had been broken where the glass vase was attached to a large square glass base. Someone had tried to re-attach the upper part to the base using what appeared to be a clear silicone adhesive. Given the weight of the item it had come apart rather easily. She bought the broken vase as-is for very little money, came home and asked me to "fix it please!". I researched various glues and came to the conclusion that HXTAL might be a decent choice. I purchased the smallest size of HXTAL for this job. I did thoroughly clean the two parts of the vase and roughened up the surfaces a bit. I mixed the two parts of the glue and skipped the air removal part (shown on this video). After mixing the glue, I let it thicken for a few hours, then applied it to the base and placed the top part exactly where it needed to be, being very careful to align it correctly and making sure that the whole joint had glue coverage. After leaving it to cure for about 3 days, I carefully lifted the vase and placed it on a table where we wanted to display it. It looked like a factory perfect joint, clear and no bubbles visible. 3 years later the vase still looks perfect. We have moved it, cleaned it and even bumped it. This vase weighs about 15 pounds. HXTAL seems expensive but if you are looking for a really top-notch glass epoxy, this is it. And no, I'm not paid by the manufacturer to say any of this!
Oh thank you so much! I'm looking into repairing my expensive Italian vase which has split many years ago during earthquake aftershocks. It looks like I have finally found the right glue.!
This guy is a professional. He knows what he is doing. Sure, accidents will happen. It would be that much harder to record this video with him wearing gloves. Some people just HAVE to hate on other people!
The A-1100 used with HXTAL is a mixture comprised mostly of Reagent grade Isopropyl Alcohol. The actual amino silane component is very minimal. It is not a full strength amino silane, but it should still be used with gloves when possible.
Great video, thanks! What's the advantage of using a two-part epoxy instead of one of the UV bonding agents? Okay - I see that you addressed that question in another one of your videos - the UV agents tend to shrink and yellow, correct? Is that a problem with bonds that are NOT further exposed to UV? Or would it happen indoors in complete darkness?
Yes, UV adhesives will still activate under UV radiation. If there is no UV, then they should be more stable. They do have a higher shrink rate than most epoxies.
If you put a T fitting into your vacuum line, you can tap in a valved vent to let atmospheric pressure back into your vial. That should give you more precise control when removing your degassed adhesive from the vacuum apparatus. Perhaps an aquarium air line control valve would be suitable. Nice vid.
Casting glass is a bit outside the realm of what we do. It's also very dependant on the type and size of the glass as to the schedules for casting. We do carry a book on firing schedules for all types of glass: www.hisglassworks.com/accessories/books/firing-schedule-for-glass-by-graham-stone.html
Hello, any idea where I can buy thick epoxy that will not run. I'm using for installing glass into small doors. The reason I'm using epoxy is that it will give continuity of strength between the mildly flexible wood frame and the glass so that the frame is more rigid with the glass. Silicone will still allow slight flex at the junction which I don't want. But the export has to be tint able and thick so as to not run out of the wood-glass inlay junction and make s big mess. I figure that granite places would have the epoxy I'm looking for? Thanks for any sources.
You can actually allow HXTAL to sit and thicken up where it can be molded or put into a joint with very little run-out. One of the advantages of a longer cure time. You can also tint HXTAL with dry pigments like Orasol dyes.
Your frame will, I presume, attach to a wood door, which may have a great deal more flex than the glass frame. As such, I would just use a pin nails to attach the frame, to allow the frame and door some independence from each other, to allow for the shifts caused by humidity and temperature changes. Keep in mind, if your glass is glued to the frame, the frame will be lost if the glass needs to be replaced. Like hisglassworksinc says, you can allow the epoxy to set and thicken, which I do regularly when using it on wood cylinders and other surfaces from which it would tend to run off. Experiment on something expendable to get a feel.
great work..! and amazing detail in the process too. i have a small car emblem, I'm hoping you could help me with. I've been told its made of glass would you be able to glue the pice back together for me? i can send you pictures
We actually don't do any custom work any longer but you can contact Grit City Coldworks. You can find them online as I don't want to publish their contact info here
Kristina Adams We have an old vacuum pump that we purchased from a hardware salvage company years ago. You can also purchase smaller vacuum pumps from Amazon. You don't need to pull much vacuum so they don't need to be scientific grade pumps
I have a 1/4" thick 15" glass round that broke due to a stress fracture (I laid it on a "too cool" surface after removing from the kiln at 65degrees)... the break is clean, without missing splinters. Can I clean with alcohol or acetone instead of A-1100 (which I don't have)? I've been using the HXTAL for years.. it is the BEST!
of course. The A-1100 is really more of a pre-treatment for the epoxy to bond better with the glass. It's not really meant as a cleaner. You should still clean your glass well before using A-1100 as well.
hisglassworksinc Thanks for the reply.. I have already glued the piece but am leaving it alone for the full seven days. I am dismayed to find that I can still see the entire crack.. and I had "full coverage" with the glue. I am not concerned about the piece coming apart, but I had hoped that the crack would not be noticeable... while I can keep this piece for myself, I will have to make another for the client.
Karla Elvis It's often difficult to get cracks to completely disappear as you have several things that need to happen. First and foremost is matching the index of refraction between the glass and the adhesive. HXTAL matches the index of refraction of borosilicate glass so it will effectively disappear when bonding that type of glass. If you have a different glass, it will have a different index of refraction and therefore the light will bend differently when it hits the repair and it will make the crack more visible. The second issue is how deep the crack goes and how close together it is. The molecules of the HXTAL can only penetrate up to their size into the crack. You can warm a crack to spread it open some when applying adhesive to allow it to seep deeper into the crack, but you have to be careful not to increase the crack by heating it. Crack repair can be very tricky sometimes. Overall, you can defy physics by making the piece whole again. It is a repair and the most you can hope for is to minimize the appearance of the crack as much as possible.
hisglassworksinc It was not a "crack" but a complete fracture... so I guess that this has been a learning lesson as regards my expectations of the adhesive. I am quite certain that the bond, while visible, will not fail... so I will creatively camouflage the area and know that all will be well!
There isn't really as it just depends on the type of work you're doing. Our pieces are completely coldworked after bonding so we don't deal with any cleanup on our pieces.
This piece was made and sold several years back so we don't have it any longer. It would have eventually ended up in a piece similar to these: www.his.glass/cubes.html
This piece was made and sold several years back so we don't have it any longer. It would have eventually ended up in a piece similar to these: www.his.glass/cubes.html
It depends on the amount of epoxy you are mixing. For small amounts like drops, you can go by volume or number of drops, but the larger the amount of mixed epoxy, the more exact weight measurement will be required.
@@hisglassworksinc I'm sorry for my comment. My life's so difficult now and I get easily annoyed by... anything really. Thank you so much for this excellent video. All the best.
Amino silanes can be pretty toxic. Don't know what product you have there, but I bet it says you should use gloves. If you don't have a degasser you can pop it in the fridge for a few days.
This product has become absolutely insufferable. It used to come in two squeeze bottles, so for small amounts you could simply squeeze three drops of one and one of the other. Now, it comes with ONE dropper and NO INSTRUCTIONS. So, you're supposed to pay fifty bucks for a scale to use it?! No, thanks. Absolute crap support.
John Doe We have actually always sold our HXTAL in glass bottles with no dropper. There are other suppliers of HXTAL who do offer it with a dropper, but we never have. Our kits always include instructions with it as well. While we offer videos and support for HXTAL, we are not the only suppliers.
You can try our newer HXTAL video. Still no finished piece at the end though. The particular work is still in progress. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b9W3e0tq0xI.html
About the worst repair video I've ever seen. Should have started off with a explanation of what he was trying to do. So much minutiae about mixing and vacuuming the air out, and stabilizing it while it cured. The jist of the procedure was lost in a flurry of needless words. Then no results shown.
It would be very difficult to de-gas after the joint is made as it would have a hard time getting any bubbles out of the joint and could pull too much adhesive from the joint and cause glass to glass contact which would create a bond failure at that point.
You could but it would depend on the size of your piece and the size of your vacuum chamber. You'd want to be careful not to cause too much negative pressure though as it can pull air into the joint when you release it
@@starstrikexxx We built our vacuum pump from an old refrigerator compressor in this video. We have a new one that we built from a small vacuum pump we purchased off Amazon.
