[SEL] Need Oiler Sight Glass

William Young wmlyoung at yahoo.com
Mon Mar 19 16:31:06 PDT 2007



Ray Freeman Portable Line Boring <plb at iinet.net.au> wrote:  So tell us how you cut them Bill. I've often wanted to have a go at doing it
Ray Freeman, Perth WA
   
    Ray-san, Curt asked me the same thing off net.  Here is my response to him.  I'm always looking for inexpensive ways to get things done.  Japan is EXPENSIVE.  Keep in touch; let me know if you have a go at it.  If anyone is interested, I'll pass the word along about the mechanical "Gauss quantifier" I built and used for years -- before I finally broke down and bought a proper, commercial Gauss meter. Now I have Gauss numbers; before, I had inch-pounds, foot-pounds, or m-kg numbers which represented the force necessary to  pull magnets apart, as in Wico EK magnetos.  I was not interested in the units, only the comparative magnetic force.
  Curt-san,   There are several ways to learn to cut glass -- all good.  Get a book and find out what that author says.. Other glass men may not agree 100%.  Go watch the local vendor at work.  The only problem there is that he will probably be cutting only big, flat, constant- thickness panes into smaller pieces; we will be working with round stuff which will probably have a great variation in thickness..  
    Suppose we have found a beer glass ( jelly glass, vinegar bottle, anything ) with the outside diameter we want.  Better buy several of them at first; I guarantee we ( you ) will not get 100% straightaway.  Set the glass aside and invent some way to make a system which will allow the glass to rotate while lightly in contact with the roller on the cutter..  I have made several such systems for cutting various items.  
    A piece of 3/4 in. plywood with 1" X 1" wood strips screwed on to form a VEE of appropriate size will usually allow the glass to rotate evenly.  The glass cutter must be securely fastened so it does not move during the scoring process.  And that is where the art and experience come in.
  Most beginners, especially me, want to try to make the glass cutter bite deeply into the piece being cut.  When you hear a sound like a faint electric spark as you cut, you are getting close.  And JUST ONE good cut is enough.  ONE ONLY.
   It is impossible, I've been told, to get a second cut in exactly the same place.
   Also try to remember that glass is a "liquid."  I have trouble with that one but all of the old pros insist.  Two more points.
  Do the first one or you will surely fail:  ALWAYS have just a tiny drop of light oil ( I use 3 in 1 brand or anything similar.) on the cutter.
  Next, more skill is applied.  We are going to make a tool: Imagine a 5 gallon steel can filled with transmission fluid.  Forget the contents and
   concentrate on the heavy wire bail use for carrying.  From that material ( or something similar ) we will make a tapper.  We are going to tap the INSIDE of the glass ever so lightly, so gently around and right under the score made by the cutter.  Sooner or later a fracture will occur. If we are lucky ( but it's skill rather than luck ) the fracture will be along the score mark.  We continue the process around the inside of the glass .until the fractures meet. Sounds easy yes?  It ain't.  But you will learn.  I used to like to take those 5 gallon Culligan Water bottles and cut a small circular piece out of the side -- and then plant a whole biosphere inside,  The purists did everything from the mouth of the bottle.. 
   
   One recommendation:  I suggest you make your first 50 attempts on glasses that you have gleaned from the local county dump and obtained for free.  But it's fun.  Let me know if you follow through and what results you had.
  Your man in Japan,   Bill
   
  wmyoung at juno.ocn.ne.jp 




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