This has actually turned in to a pretty cool project that we will be doing some research on and then maybe looking at producing and selling.

If we get enough interest and it sound and plays well we will be setting up a stand alone website and then launching with a kickstarter campaign to get it off the ground!

Stay tuned for lots more videos!

The post First introduction to the Glass Top Guitar appeared first on GlassShop.com.au.

I have just ordered a slightly damaged DIY guitar kit (only the body is damages this is going to be the glass bit) from DIY Guitars (a really cool company we have been following for a while) and as soon as it gets here ill make a little video showing the kit and how we intend on turning it in to a one of a kind glass guitar.

check out this kit with everything supplied!

If you want to stay informed on the progress of this project check out our facebook page for all updates and be sure to let any of your guitar or DIY enthusiast friends know

The post We’re building the glass guitar! appeared first on GlassShop.com.au.

Using glass to heat an area is definitely not a new technology and if you’ve eaten a tomato in the middle of winter chances are it was grown in a glasshouse.

Passive solar is the name given to the use of the sun to heat up or cool an area without any moving parts .

Let’s start with heating as its the easiest place to begin. I’m going to base all my directions based on the southern hemisphere as that’s where I live if you’re in the northern hemisphere it should be as easy as swapping north to south.

In the southern hemisphere the sun tracks on the northern side of a building and during the height of summer in most of Australia the sun is directly above your house, in winter the sun moves down to approximately halfway between the horizon and the peak height of the summer sun, which is at noon, the sun follows an arc across the sky.

One of the easiest ways to incorporate a passive solar design into your house is to find the north facing side of your house and if possible install as much high efficiency glazing as possible.

If possible the windows should be full height and as big as possible as this will let a lot of sunlight in which as soon as it is in the building is turned into radiant heat and stored in the floor and walls of your house.

Now this is all good in winter but if you miss the next step you could be turning your house into an oven .

The next step to make this a passive solar house is to make sure that the hot summer sun does not come in these new large windows.

One of the simplest ways to do this is an awning the awning should be installed at such an angle that the full winter sun will shine through the windows and into the house and then when summer comes along the awning should shade the full height of the window.

As a rough guide in Perth Western Australia the edge of the awning at the lowest point should be approximately 60 degrees from the bottom or sill of the windows use the horizon as your baseline.

Now using glass to heat a house is easy but how on earth do you use it to cool a house?

To cool a house using the sun you need to know a little bit about how hot air works in a house the first thing that you probably already know is a hot air rises this is what we’re going to use to cool your house.

Some existing house designs are better than others when it comes to retrofitting passive solar technologies and in some cases it may not be possible at all .

The first thing to look for when cooling your house with passive solar is the highest point on the roof on the ceiling line, this is the spot that you should look to vent the hot air that builds up in your house.

Hot air will naturally rise to this spot and if a large enough vent or window is in position air will escape from this point , this presents the opportunity to replace the escaping hot air with new cool air, the reason for this is all about air pressure, the escaping hot air creates a low pressure area that does not want to stay that way as long as there is a sufficient opening with minimal resistance air will be sucked in to equalize the pressure inside the house with the pressure outside.

But where should you put the intake vent or window?

The most simple place to put your intake is on the shady side of your house (in the southern hemisphere this is the southern side), this side of your house will be shaded all day.

You can increase this effect by having a shade house that you pull cool air from or even better if you’re really clever you can use the cooling effect of evaporation to cool the air down.

evaporative cooling.

This is how this works – basically when water evaporates it leaves the area colder than it was  so if you wet something and the air blowing on it evaporates the water it will cool it down, think wetting your shirt on a hot day and running in the wind.

This can be as simple as having your intake near a stone waterfall of a pond or you can build an intake box with highly efficient evaporative cooling pads and a recirculating water supply, one of the great advantages of this design is that if the natural air movement is not enough extraction fans can be added.

This has been a very quick intro to a subject that I am very interested in, it is not meant to be a complete ‘how to’ guide just something that might spike your interest in a new topic and take you on an adventure in sustainable technologies.

The elegance and simplicity of these designs is sometimes their downfall as we are a culture obsessed with the new tech gadget fix but if you look at nature for your solutions you will find that it rewards simple elegant solutions.

The post Using glass in your house to save money on your electricity bill appeared first on GlassShop.com.au.

The most important thing to know is whether you need a sturdy table “top” or simply a protective piece of glass to go on “top” of an existing table –  try and say that ten times fast.

Glass to go on top

Use when: You are after a piece of glass to simply sit on top of your table to protect it and you still want to see the table.

Glass to protect a table

For this task, the glass that you want is 6mm toughened safety glass with a polished edge or for smaller tables, under 1 square meter, you can use 5mm toughened.

Whilst it’s not essential to use toughened glass it is highly recommended for “table protectors” as it’s a lot safer to transport, about four times stronger on the face, and you can put hot stuff on it without worrying and these days the price difference is almost zero so it’s definitely the way to go.

Glass table top protectors are usually placed straight onto the table or desk but you can also use “bump ons” these are small clear rubber domes with adhesive on one side that stop the glass sliding around.

If your table is made from a 2,000 year old piece of driftwood with exquisite colors and you can see the small marks that sea otters made whilst using the wood as a floatation device then you might consider using a low iron content “extra clear” piece of 6mm toughened glass, basically this glass is completely clear and does not have the green tinge that standard glass has, it is quite a bit more expensive but is definitely worth it for the clean crisp ultra clear look.

Glass for a table top

English: Bronze and glass coffee table in the style of functional sculpture (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Use when: You want the the glass to actually serve as the table top, so it needs to be strong. In 99.9% of cases what you’ll want to use is 10mm toughened with a polished edge or for very large tables, like over 2.5 square meters 12mm toughened may be required.

For this scenario (where it’s actually going to be the table top) toughened glass is a necessity for safety reasons and no table top should ever be made with standard glass – way too risky if someone was to trip and fall into it for example.

There are many ways that table tops can be fixed to the table, some are just sitting on “bump ons” some are siliconed (glued), sometimes there are holes in the glass and it is bolted to the table and sometimes a UV (ultraviolet) Glue is used, UV glue is an extra clear glue that is ideal for use on glass although its price and need for specialty tools puts it out of reach for most DIYers. Worth considering though if you want to do a bit of work with glass and are after a really seamless look.

A quick tip on handling toughened glass

If you need to move your table top, here is how to do it safely, making sure there are no unwanted breakages.

The most important thing to know about toughened glass is that the edges are a bit fragile, so never hit the edges on anything and never place the glass down on its edge without something soft like rubber, carpet or soft wood underneath it. The actual face of toughened glass can take a fairly big hit but the edges are actually just normal glass in a border about as wide as the thickness of the glass. As toughened glass is under a huge amount of pressure if you chip an edge it creates a weak point and the whole piece will shatter into thousands of small square pieces about 1 cm by 1 cm .

If you’re moving house, I recommend taping thick cardboard to all the edges and wrapping the entire thing with blankets and sticking a big fragile sticker on it.

If you have any questions on glass for tables or anything to do with glass, get in touch by posting in the comments section below or on our Facebook page

The post Choosing the right glass for a table appeared first on GlassShop.com.au.

The thing with cutting a circle out of glass is you can’t have your cake and eat it too, you either get the hole or you get the circle. The reason for this peculiarity, that only occurs in glass, is that you can’t just cut straight through glass, you need to score the circular line first and then remove sections or else you risk the whole piece breaking. If done correctly the glass will break perfectly along the scored line, following the path of least resistance.

The reason the circle won’t just pop out, is that you’re not cutting all the way through, even if you did, the circular piece of glass would be the exact same size of the hole so it couldn’t be removed – there is no give, which is why you need to choose between either having the hole or the circle.

Image credit: By Hendrik Kueck from Vancouver, Canada (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

So you want to cut a circle of glass

Cutting glass circles is by far the easier of the two options, however, whether you want a circle or a hole the process is mostly the same. Things you’ll need:

1. A permanent marker
2. A circle cutter (looks a bit like a compass – order online or look for at hardware stores)
3. Spray lubricant oil (not essential but helps the cutting head glide along the glass)

If you need glass, go to my choosing the right glass page to make sure you are using the right glass for the right job.

Step 1:  First up mark the centre of the circle, making sure you leave at least an inch of glass around the outside of your circle, if you don’t the cut will run to the edge of the piece you’re working with.

Mark the centre point and diameter

Step 2: The next thing you want to do is set the diameter, use the sizes on the circle cutter to set this. Circle cutters usually have four marks on the suction cup, use these marks to line up the spot you marked for the center of your circle. I usually use a permanent marker to mark my lines, this can be removed from the glass with a bit of metholated spirits after you have finished cutting. After attaching the suction cap you want to lightly roll your cutting head around, making sure you have left enough room around the circle. It’s also a good time to check that your cutter is set to the right diameter. After this, if you have it, spray the glass and cutting head with spray lubricant and lightly roll the cutter around again, now you’re ready to score the glass.

Step 3: Scoring the glass and finding the right pressure takes a bit of practice but it’s close to the pressure you use when writing with a ballpoint pen. You want to push the cutter head down at this pressure and complete one rotation making sure to stop when you reach the start of the cut, after this you need to open the cut.

Step 4: Opening up the cut can be done in a few different ways, the first option, and the way I do it is to turn the glass over and using your thumbs push down on the score mark, if you do this on a carpeted bench or a towel or something similar it will open up the score mark, this will be easy to see and if you move along the line, pushing as you go, you should see the score mark open up. Keep doing this until you get back to the start of the cut. It usually makes a click sound when it’s completely open.

The other way you can open the cut is by lightly tapping the line with a hammer on the opposite side from where you scored the glass, this can sometimes leave a rough saw tooth edge, it is, however, a good way to start a cut and I will usually use this technique on thicker glass.

Step 5: After completely opening the cut you want to turn the glass over and repeat the process on the other side. This makes sure the glass is completely separated, this can be done by pushing or tapping.

Step 6: The next step is to release the circle, this is done with a normal glass cutter, make four score marks in the waste glass in a cross shape and open the cuts in the same manner this will release the circle.

Score four lines out to each edge

Tap out the unwanted pieces

The post Cutting glass circles appeared first on GlassShop.com.au.

The post Where can I buy glass? appeared first on GlassShop.com.au.

I’ll provide more detail in future posts, but these tips will give you an idea of the things to consider, if you’re not sure, please ask a professional glazier in your area for advice or drop me a line.

Have a think about where the glass will be installed – is it near a door? Could someone easily fall through it and get hurt? The glass industry has a set of Australian Standards, which outline the minimum requirements for creating a safe place to live or work when installing glass. They’re pretty detailed and a professional glazier can give you a hand if you have a tricky question, or just leave a comment below and I’ll get back you.

These pointers cover off the basics – I’ll provide more detailed information in future posts.

• Windows – should they be 3mm or 4mm?

Recently there was a change to the Australian Standards and now 3mm annealed glass is only to be used in residential windows were the pane size (each individual piece of glass) is less than 0.85 square meters, most residential windows over that size are to be glazed in 4mm glass.

• So, are all windows OK to be 4mm glass if they are glazed? 

No, any spot that’s risky, where someone might fall into the glass should not be in 3 or 4 mm annealed (glazed) glass. That includes doors, low light windows (close to the ground), highlights (pieces above doors), sidelights (pieces next to doors) and sliding doors. These should not under any circumstances use 3 or 4mm glass – it’s just not a safe option. Again, if you’re not sure, drop a comment below.

Other tips:

• Low light windows: A window close to the ground that someone could kick their foot through or a child could run into – usually I recommend you use 5mm, unless the piece is above 1.2 square meters, then we’d look at other ways to make it safe.

• Doors: All doors must be made from Grade A Safety Glass, this includes door highlights (above the door) and sidelights (you guessed it, to the side of the door) as well as any widow less than 300mm from the non-hinge side of a door.

• Sliding doors or patio doors: All must use Grade A Safety Glass.

What is Grade A Safety Glass?

In Australia, Grade A Safety Glass means either toughened (tempered) or laminated glass.

• Toughened Glass: This is the stuff in the side windows of cars, it has undergone a heat process and is slightly stronger but most importantly it breaks into small square pieces usually about 1cm square which is safer than the big shards left when annealed glass breaks. Toughened glass usually comes with a small stamp etched on to one of the corners of the panel, though if you’re ordering a small piece from your supplier you may not get the big with this stamp on it.

• Laminated Glass: Laminated glass is actually two pieces of glass stuck together with an interlayer, this is the stuff in windscreens and it breaks in the same way as annealed glass however the interlayer holds all the broken pieces together.

As I mentioned above, this is just a very basic introduction to the Australian Standards, if you’re not sure what to use, please get in touch or contact your local glazier. Whilst I encourage you to have a go at installing glass jobs yourself, it’s worth it to have a chat to your supplier before you order, to make sure your choosing the right glass for the job.

You’ll be glad you did.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanghaidaddy/3208106453/sizes/m/in/photostream/

The post Choosing the right glass appeared first on GlassShop.com.au.

Thankfully you don’t need to understand it’s chemical structure to work with it, but you may find a bit of advice along the way helpful, which is where this blog comes in.

A glass pool table as featured on http://www.wired.com

I’ll share some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned over the past seven years, working as a professional glazier. I hope to demystify this clever material that seems to be used for just about anything, even pool tables, and help you make use of it, whether you’re renovating or just doing a simple repair job.

Over time I’ll cover off all sorts of topics, from fixing a broken window, to installing a frame-less shower screen, to making your own picture frames and fish tanks, or using the right adhesive to attach mirrors and much more. I’ll also be on the look out for great glass projects to share with you from around the world.

As a domestic and commercial glazier I have been lucky enough to work with all kinds of glass from 2mm used in picture frames all the way up to the 19mm custom-laminated, digital-printed glass. With this blog I’m hoping to help out any one who wants to know a bit more about glass and how to best use this wonderful material.

The post What is glass? appeared first on GlassShop.com.au.

The golden rules of glazing

The first rule applies to a lot of DIY projects – measure twice cut once. This is especially important with glass as unfortunately you can’t easily cut a few millimeters off glass and it doesn’t like to bend, whether your cutting it yourself or ordering it from a glass shop, always check it twice.

The next golden rule of glazing is don’t let glass touch metal, if you’re repairing a timber window then the glass can be placed straight on the wood, but there should always be something between the glass and any metal on the frame, you could use rubber gasket, silicone, double sided tape, putty or plastic bead.

Another important thing is to make sure you are putting the right glass in the window, this varies from country to country, if you live in Australia check out my choosing the right glass page, if not check your local building standards.

OK so you have a broken timber window (I’ll explain other types of windows in future posts) the first thing you want to do is put on your safety gear, check out my handling glass safely page, then you want to clear away any broken shards from the area. When removing broken glass from a window always start from the top, being very careful not to accidentally touch any sharp bits, stay calm and focused while doing this, it’s a moment of panic that will cut you. If you have a glass cutter it’s helpful to make cuts in the broken glass, making small triangles and removing one piece at a time. For stubborn pieces lightly tap them with a hammer whilst holding the piece that you want to remove in your gloves. Never force a piece free, that’s a sure fire way to get cut.

Once you have removed all the broken glass, unless you’re very lucky, there will be a lot of putty still left in the rebate, professional glaziers use a special tool to remove this called a hacking knife, for the DIY-er an old chisel will do the job. Lightly tap the chisel with your hammer being careful to only remove the putty and not gauging into the wood. There will also be small diamond shaped metal glazing sprigs or small nails in the side rebate, these hold the glass in place, remove them completely as well.

So you should now have a clean rebate. If you haven’t already, measure the size for your glass and either cut it or order it. Make sure you check three points when you measure, for both the height and the width, some windows will be bowed or made out of square (in other words crooked!), make sure your glass is going to fit.

There are two ways you can go from here to complete the job, you can use back putty or silicone. If you want a nice, clean paint line then back putty is the way to go, but if you just want the quick and easy way then use silicone.

1. Using Back Putty – You should use a linseed oil putty for windows, it’s designed for this purpose and is easier to work with.Knead your putty for a few minutes before starting, it will soften it up and make it easier to work with, roll the putty into long worms about the thickness of a pencil and push it firmly into the rebate, keep going until the whole rebate is filled.
2. Using Silicone – Before you open the tube of glazing silicone, make sure the surface is as dust free as possible, then open the and lay a fine bead of silicone around the whole rebate making sure there are no gaps.

Once you’ve done this step, push the glass into the rebate (and onto the silicone or putty). If you’re using putty, carefully push until you have about 2mm of putty between the glass and frame the excess should ooze out to be cut off later.

Glaziers will use a sprig gun now to secure the glass but I’m guessing you may not have one, so what you’ll need are some small nails, carefully nail them into the side of the rebate – they should be hard up to the glass, you can use your chisel to tap them right in, hold the face of the chisel on the glass and tap one side with your hammer and the other side on the nail, this is the one time that metal can touch glass, you should put a nail every 200mm.

Now you’re ready to “putty up”. This is a bit of a practiced art for those in the professional glazing game, I’ve seen some guys from England that could putty a window in one minute flat, blind folded whilst humming God Save the Queen, standing on one leg! Now that’s great if you’re making a living doing it, but all you want is a window that doesn’t fall out and looks the same as all your other windows – right?

So – knead your putty for a few minutes before starting and then push the putty into the rebate so you can “face it off” with your putty knife (I’ll get to this in a second).  You can roll it into a snake or hold it with one hand and push it in with your other, you just need to make sure the whole rebate is filled, next grab your putty knife – if you want to, hold it by the side of the blade – start at one corner, press your putty knife into the putty, cutting the putty about 1mm in from the inside rebate and on the outside edge of the rebate and you want to drag the face of the knife down the putty.

The corner of the blade will cut the putty on the glass and the face of your putty knife will smooth the putty, remove any excess putty. Continue doing this until all sides are smooth, don’t worry too much about the corners they can be neatened up at the end, by starting in the corner and blending back into the finished section.

When you have “faced off” the whole front you can cut away all your back putty excess, if you used it.

There you go – you’re done, it’s not easy to get a perfect edge on putty but you should be able to get a neat enough job, I have seen some professional glaziers that are very messy with putty. The secret is to know when to stop playing with it. I hope this has been helpful and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have just add a comment below and I’ll get back to you.

The post Fix a putty window appeared first on GlassShop.com.au.