[Neptunia]

Dear All,
I'm just beginning but I'm already noticing how quickly glass scraps accumulate. For now I am sorting them into boxes by size - big, medium, and small. Is there any point in keeping the ones less than an inch in diameter? Do you save them up for some future projects like mosaics or do you learn to let them go without regret?

[Dawnt]

I generally don't keep readily available glass that is less than 6" square, unless it is particularly fabulous and I can think of a specific jewelry application for it. If it is a rare, antique or expensive glass and I have enough scrap that I'm sure I can use it for another panel, I'll keep it, too. I have plastic shoe boxes and small plastic storage containers that I use, sorted by color family. Every so often, I sort through them and either give it away or pitch it. It can get away from you pretty quickly.

[Dennis Brady]

There's more pleasure then regret in disposing of scraps. It's a huge bloody nuisance that I'm glad to get rid of. The longer you work with glass, the less you're inclined to save scraps. I'm in line with Dawnt and wouldn't consider saving anything less then 6" square and often little that's less then 12" square. We toss it into buckets and dumpster at end of each day. Average a couple of 5 gal buckets each day. Used to save it for mosaic artists but got fed up with the requests, "Save it for me and I'm come pick it up" that usually took several weeks to show up.

That applies only to art glass (for stained glass). The compatible glass for fusing is different. We use EVERYTHING all the way down to the powder. Although fusing glass initially costs more per sq ft then art glass, because there's no waste it ends up costing less.

[Dawnt]

I forgot about the fusing glass, Dennis....I save every last bit of it, too. Tiny scrap in coffee containers, bigger in the shoe boxes, clear in a big old plastic storage container.

[Dennis Brady]

Dawnt, on 07 February 2010 - 03:04 PM, said:

I forgot about the fusing glass, Dennis....I save every last bit of it, too. Tiny scrap in coffee containers, bigger in the shoe boxes, clear in a big old plastic storage container.

I bought a quantity of stacking plastic vegetable bins to keep scraps sorted. Not only do I manage to use up all of the scraps, I now do so much casting I buy pallet loads of Spectrum Systems 96 cullet in 5 gal pails.

I predict kiln casting glass will be one of the fastest growing glass art interests over the next few years. I'm sufficiently convinced of this, I've made a significant investment to produce a variety of molds for that purpose.

[Chantal]

Once a gopher kept digging a hole under my cement stairs.

I poured glass scraps into it until I couldn't stuff anymore, put in more dirt, and covered it with big rocks.

Hey Dennis, what we need is a "beach glass making machine." AKA a rock tumbler

[Dennis Brady]

Chantal, on 08 February 2010 - 08:54 AM, said:

Once a gopher kept digging a hole under my cement stairs.

I poured glass scraps into it until I couldn't stuff anymore, put in more dirt, and covered it with big rocks.

Hey Dennis, what we need is a "beach glass making machine." AKA a rock tumbler

A while back I had a lady come into the shop asking to buy "authentic beach glass" but only wanted it in bags of red, blue, and purple. I told there was no such thing but suggested I could make her tumbled glass in whatever colours she wanted. Her response, "I'm a true artist and won't use "made" glass but use only authentic glass collected on a beach".

I did manage to find the strength to not tell her what I thought of "true artists" that made stuff with beach glass and for some strangely deluded reason thought there might be someone somewhere that patrolled beaches collecting glass and sorting it by colour to sell.

However ..... it did provide another reason (to an already lengthy list) to why I hate the word "artist".

[cdngardener]

Dennis Brady, on 08 February 2010 - 11:00 AM, said:

A while back I had a lady come into the shop asking to buy "authentic beach glass" but only wanted it in bags of red, blue, and purple. I told there was no such thing but suggested I could make her tumbled glass in whatever colours she wanted. Her response, "I'm a true artist and won't use "made" glass but use only authentic glass collected on a beach".

I did manage to find the strength to not tell her what I thought of "true artists" that made stuff with beach glass and for some strangely deluded reason thought there might be someone somewhere that patrolled beaches collecting glass and sorting it by colour to sell.

However ..... it did provide another reason (to an already lengthy list) to why I hate the word "artist".

Now, that made me laugh out loud at the computer... I'm sure you were biting your tongue...

[Dennis Brady]

cdngardener, on 08 February 2010 - 07:25 PM, said:

Now, that made me laugh out loud at the computer... I'm sure you were biting your tongue...

I have a friend that teaches Art as a Business at a fine arts college that likes to start his class with the statement:

"Artist is a gift word. It can be given but not taken. If you call someone an artist, you're praising the quality of their work. If you call yourself an artist, you're masturbating your ego".

That's too long-winded for me. I prefer:

"Artist is a self-granted designation to explain why your work won't sell".

[bn_here_b4]

I found various clear glass vases at yard sales very cheap and use some of my smallish scraps to fill them up. I have managed to collect several of them now and use one for each color group. Once each color's vase is full, I throw away the additional small scraps for that color. They look pretty arranged on the shelves in my workshop and it helps me to limit the amount of scrap I keep. I don't feel so bad about throwing some away, because I know I will never use it all. If I do need a small piece, I will probably have it in the vase.

[Boris_USA]

Chantal, on 08 February 2010 - 08:54 AM, said:

Once a gopher kept digging a hole under my cement stairs.

I poured glass scraps into it until I couldn't stuff anymore, put in more dirt, and covered it with big rocks.

Hey Dennis, what we need is a "beach glass making machine." AKA a rock tumbler

Rock tumbler is too slow and too small. A small cement mixer would work just fine, loaded with gravel and scrap glass.

[Boris_USA]

Dennis Brady, on 08 February 2010 - 08:37 PM, said:

I have a friend that teaches Art as a Business at a fine arts college that likes to start his class with the statement:

"Artist is a gift word. It can be given but not taken. If you call someone an artist, you're praising the quality of their work. If you call yourself an artist, you're masturbating your ego".

That's too long-winded for me. I prefer:

"Artist is a self-granted designation to explain why your work won't sell".

The same thing could be said about some Teachers, Craftsmen and Artisans, when you think about it. Actually, that could be true for any Trade where one self awards a "Title" that implies claims of "Mastery" of said Trade, without qualified , unbiased, and verification and documentation.

[happy1]

Neptunia, on 07 February 2010 - 04:36 AM, said:

Dear All,
I'm just beginning but I'm already noticing how quickly glass scraps accumulate. For now I am sorting them into boxes by size - big, medium, and small. Is there any point in keeping the ones less than an inch in diameter? Do you save them up for some future projects like mosaics or do you learn to let them go without regret?

I save my scrap glass for mosaics. I realize however you can not save everything---- but I try.

[Boris_USA]

happy1, on 10 February 2010 - 09:09 PM, said:

I save my scrap glass for mosaics. I realize however you can not save everything---- but I try.

I guess I am like a lot of others and scrap glass builds up. Doing mostly lamp shade panels, anything under 10 to 12 inches qualifies as scrap. Besides, its a lot easier and faster to just get a new piece when you need it, instead of riffling through scrap, for the right color, shade, and texture. I always bill out a full square foot, regardless of how much I actually use of it, so its paid for anyway.The glass I use, mostly caramel, green, and white opals, has to match what is already in the shades, and there is such a variety of criteria it has to meet, that its almost impossible to have every piece you will ever need. For example, if you need to match a piece of caramel and white opal, it has to be the right shade of caramel, which can be one of six or so shades, the right shade of white, which can also be several choices, the right amount of white vs. caramel, the right pattern of the streaks and designs, and the right backing, which can be smooth, granite, cats paw, or anything else. Its easier to buy as you need it, and you have to pick it out yourself. I can keep 3 or 4 of the most common combinations, in smooth and granite backed, which will take care of maybe 75% of what I need, in each color, but I can not keep it all. As it is, I still have more glass and supplies on hand, than any "Hobby" shop should have, for one person. Such is life...for a "Packrat"

[shad]

O my how quickly we grow up. Seems like just yesterday I was saving every little sliver of glass. I remember having a 'scrap box', then two, three, four, six, ten....... I tried separating by color, then also by texture. Once fusing jewelry got invovled - watch out --then those 10 boxes became 30 smaller ones because naturally they had to be separated out by COE.
However, I have grown up and overcome my OCD (to a point). I now have a small box for 96 COE and a small box for 90 COE and otherwise, under 4"-6" is history. It was difficult and I believe I may have shed a tear or two the first time I threw away a piece bigger than 2"x2" and yes, I almost retrieved it from the garbage (really that one small piece would be perfect down the road as a center of a tiny flower or the eye of a dragon--if I remembered that I had it saved of course).
Now I enjoy not having to step over and around all the boxes. Besides, not having a small piece gives me the opportunity to run down to my local shop and ooo and ahhh a bit.

[Spotteddot]

I recycled mine, trying to be earthy, and did I get in trouble for that! The garbage company sent me a letter telling me not to do that as I had ruined their load with all the colored glass and to only recycle brown, green & clear glass. I now sell the scrap glass. Made $100.00 off it last month, shipped some and some of it was a pick up. Everyone was happy. End of story.

[Fox]

Spotteddot, on 11 February 2010 - 12:37 PM, said:

I recycled mine, trying to be earthy, and did I get in trouble for that! The garbage company sent me a letter telling me not to do that as I had ruined their load with all the colored glass and to only recycle brown, green & clear glass. I now sell the scrap glass. Made $100.00 off it last month, shipped some and some of it was a pick up. Everyone was happy. End of story.

Yes, garbageman also don't like sharp surprises when they heft your bag. I've never sold scrap, but I've bought it and always made more from it than I paid. I've never minded doing small stuff --prefer it in some ways, especially if I have a few boxes of scraps to rummage through to find the best combinations. When I bought sheets for bigger projects, I'd try to get something I knew would work well for ornaments. It does pile up though, and nowadays I save with a few specific items in mind rather than keep anything and everything; the other thing I finally did was to build a rack of big shallow drawers, like the kind they call "specimen" drawers. No point in having the stuff if you can't see it fairly easily: when it piles up too high, I start thinning it out.

[Boris_USA]

Fox, on 11 February 2010 - 09:40 PM, said:

Yes, garbageman also don't like sharp surprises when they heft your bag. I've never sold scrap, but I've bought it and always made more from it than I paid. I've never minded doing small stuff --prefer it in some ways, especially if I have a few boxes of scraps to rummage through to find the best combinations. When I bought sheets for bigger projects, I'd try to get something I knew would work well for ornaments. It does pile up though, and nowadays I save with a few specific items in mind rather than keep anything and everything; the other thing I finally did was to build a rack of big shallow drawers, like the kind they call "specimen" drawers. No point in having the stuff if you can't see it fairly easily: when it piles up too high, I start thinning it out.

I thought about seperating primary colors, like greens yellows, blues, reds, and such and then loading a crucible full of one color, and melting it to a pouring state, and pouring them in molds to make Turtle back, medallions, tiles, and slabs. Was not sure how the COE would play into that, or if at the liquid state, it would even be an issue. Maybe Dennis could answer that one. Sure would be a good way to get rid of scraps. The slabs and Tiles would be great in a garden setting too.

[Dennis Brady]

Boris_USA, on 11 February 2010 - 10:49 PM, said:

I thought about seperating primary colors, like greens yellows, blues, reds, and such and then loading a crucible full of one color, and melting it to a pouring state, and pouring them in molds to make Turtle back, medallions, tiles, and slabs. Was not sure how the COE would play into that, or if at the liquid state, it would even be an issue. Maybe Dennis could answer that one. Sure would be a good way to get rid of scraps. The slabs and Tiles would be great in a garden setting too.

Dennis can't answer. All his experiments with melting art glass were such consistent failures, he's no longer willing to waste any more time on futile efforts. It's like throwing a ball into the air in the hope that enough attempts will eventually get it to stay up and not fall back down.

[Boris_USA]

Dennis Brady, on 12 February 2010 - 06:27 PM, said:

Dennis can't answer. All his experiments with melting art glass were such consistent failures, he's no longer willing to waste any more time on futile efforts. It's like throwing a ball into the air in the hope that enough attempts will eventually get it to stay up and not fall back down.

Ask Dennis if he melted any of the experiments to a liquid pourable state and tried casting with it...