It seems like everyday that I learn a new skill about reconstructing
parts of the house. Today
(e:Jim) gave me a lesson in glass cutting.
I had some old glass in windows I rescued from my parents house when they had new windows installed in the spring. I wish I had kept more.
Although extracting the old glass was a pain, it makes the panels
being replaced reflect the sun the same. New glass doesn't do that.
Plus the whole recycling aspect and that a part of the house I grew up in will now be part of my house.
It so neat to see how each piece of glass was cut. There is a story
in each panel. I couldn't help but wonder why some of them were
replaced before as indicated by the modern glazing points.
The windows we are rehabbing have three types of shapes, two types of triangles and diamonds - none of them are 90 degrees do every cut was tricky.
I think I am now a master glass cutter. The secret it appears to be
using torch oil on the wheel and to press hard on a clean class
surface when cutting.
Then the snap needs to be one single quick snap. I cut twelve
replacement shapes from my parents old windows and still have some old glass leftover.
Afterwards we removed all the remaining glass and putty and sanded all the old paint off. Then
(e:Terry) primed with oil paint. Tomorrow we
reglaze, reputty and paint.
They were manufactured using some other process compared to modern sheet glass. Modern glass is perfectly even and transparent. the old style glass I'd not. It almost has a waviness to it that catches light differently. It is really obvious to the eye. You can even tell in my picture of the cut out shapes above.
How is old glass different from new glass? I am just wondering about what kind of weathering would make them reflect light in a different way...
Since your house is older than (I presume) your parents house, then wouldn't the even-older original glass actually reflect light differently than your parents' window glass (if your theory is true)?
If this comment makes your head ache - good, the whole question made mine ache as well. Haha
Looks good, only eleven zillion more panes to go ^_^