New to the game. Need advice on how to cut glass, make percs, slits etc. Best method?

I've never forgiven Delta for those crappy bagels they were serving on the Boston > NYC shuttle years ago. 6 in the freaking morning and that was not what I wanted to deal with.

As for the other stuff....

I think you'll find as you gain more experience, you'll begin to puzzle out the harder stuff based on what you've learned. There's a metric sh** ton of stuff on here that I see that I can't figure out after 7 years, and there's stuff that makes sense now that didn't make sense even a year ago. When you're ready skill-wise to make a perc, you'll realize you have a basic understanding of what might be involved. Until then, even if someone tells or shows you, you likely won't be able to pull it off with any degree of skill, so work on the basics.

Oh, and I've love to see a video of someone trying a laser on clear boro, but I sure as heck wouldn't want to be in the room.

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Originally Posted by menty666

Oh, and I've love to see a video of someone trying a laser on clear boro, but I sure as heck wouldn't want to be in the room.

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ask and you shall receive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Q2F9To21M

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Originally Posted by VertigoGlass

ask and you shall receive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Q2F9To21M

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Darn it, that was just really interesting and a crazy clean weld. I was hoping for an industrial accident worthy of the Darwin Awards.

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Originally Posted by VertigoGlass

ask and you shall receive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Q2F9To21M

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There you go 303, just hit up that company and get one of those, You'll be cutting mothership percs in no time!!! hahahahaha :dieslaugh

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Originally Posted by aLLsTyLEs541

As crazy as that might sound, it is actually quite believable. Last year I did quite a bit of research into laser etching machines that worked on glass, and there is a wide variety available for many different uses. Some even etch inside a chunk of glass like those kitschy crystals you can get in a mall kiosk.

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That would be our American tax dollars hard at work, thee military developed the technology for possible HUD use and was a miserable fail. The Technology was then released to the general public, thereby creating the worlds most expensive glass paperweights!!

To the OP, Welcome to the forums ................ may your stay be both enjoyable and informational!!

Typical desktop lasers used for etching and cutting wood, paper, thin metal, and plastics will only crack and shatter tubes... it's nasty, someone brought one to AGI years ago and we played with it a bit, couldn't get it to cleanly etch boro.

I would suspect the laser HA is using on that machine is not your typical ebay laser, probably something made for the machine and costs in excess of $250,000...

I'd like to see proof that MALL KIOSK paperweights are glass and that lasers are used to create the little sTinkerbell inside.

I think they are Lucite or Acrylic.

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Originally Posted by VertigoGlass

ask and you shall receive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Q2F9To21M

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Wow that just made this shitty thread worth something !
Thanks

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Originally Posted by FredLight

I'd like to see proof that MALL KIOSK paperweights are glass and that lasers are used to create the little sTinkerbell inside.

I think they are Lucite or Acrylic.

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Seriously? They are glass go find out yourself. Maybe it's just because I live in FL but you can find these at gas stations everywhere not to mention mall ,flea market ,airport ,etc.

I know I saw a video of one of the cnc laser machines in a promotional vid.. I was,surprised to find out they are not as crazy expensive as one might think.

From what I read, lasers that work on boro use a succession of short bursts of laser to help alleviate stress, and the technology is mostly fit for thin wall ~1mm.

The kiosk kitsch lasers cut into "crystal" whatever that may mean, but the material is definitely a glass like substance.

Keep in mind this shit advances really fast, and what may be true today might not tomorrow...

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Originally Posted by aLLsTyLEs541

The kiosk kitsch lasers cut into "crystal" whatever that may mean, but the material is definitely a glass like substance.

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"Crystal glass: Its content includes 55％ of silica sand, 30％ of lead oxide, and l5％ of potassium carbonate. It was called crystal glass due to having the same transparency and lustre as crystal. Since there is 30% lead content, the weight is relatively heavy. If you tap the glass by finger nail, it will sound like metal. It is much easier to produce lustre by polishing due to high refraction rate. It contains more lead so that it tends to be soft and much easier to cut and polish. But it also tends to get scratches and needs to be handled carefully."

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Originally Posted by VertigoGlass

"Crystal glass: Its content includes 55％ of silica sand, 30％ of lead oxide, and l5％ of potassium carbonate. It was called crystal glass due to having the same transparency and lustre as crystal. Since there is 30% lead content, the weight is relatively heavy. If you tap the glass by finger nail, it will sound like metal. It is much easier to produce lustre by polishing due to high refraction rate. It contains more lead so that it tends to be soft and much easier to cut and polish. But it also tends to get scratches and needs to be handled carefully."

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Your thinking lead crystal and what your saying only applies in the UK.
Any clear glass is considered crystal by us standards.

Yeah well US standards are stupid =0) no way would i ever consider quartz boro or anything below 114coe crystal but thats just me

I used to work at a mall "kiosk" by the food court.

We made roses,bears frogs,pigs, etc. I only made bears,pigs and turtles. Got paid a buck apiece. Pay sucked.

BUT....we sold those paperweights. The owner said he just ordered them from a catalog and they ranged from $3 to $5. From that info, I assumed they were plastic.

I have one here somewhere........

I almost bought one of those machines, I guarantee you they are not plastic.

Ok, paperweight weighs just as much as boro marble of roughly same size.

My Ti-pen doesn't want to write on it. There's a coating, I think.

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Originally Posted by FredLight

I'd like to see proof that MALL KIOSK paperweights are glass and that lasers are used to create the little sTinkerbell inside.

I think they are Lucite or Acrylic.

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I don't know what you would accept as proof....

I know someone with a business ( http://www.memories-in-crystal.com/web/intro.php )that makes the crystal image things like you see in malls and stuff, it is real glass. Most of it comes from Korea and China. The owner of the local company here called me a while back looking to see if I had any of it (I have a bunch of Schott crystal, no good for the lasers).

Some of the stuff you'll see at the mall and super cheap at gas stations IS in Lucite (plastic) but the better stuff is done in actual glass crystal.

New to crystal paperweight game, Need advice on what kind of saw I'll need. How do I specifically make every design? Can anyone tell me what I need to accomplish this ?

Please help. Iv read contemporary crystal paper weights volume 1 and 2 and Iv been to every mall around here to study these objects.

On an semi-unrelated note, how does Paul Stankard make his designs ?

Riley, you might ruffle some feathers around here if you try to cut through all the hard work of the crystal paperweighters that came before you. Browse alibaba.com, use the search feature, and learn to speak Chinese on your own so you can get the best deal. I don't think most around here rent a $2000 kiosk next to Hollister so they can just spoon feed you the game.

The problem with those books is they are incomplete. You want "The Crystal Paperweight Bible" by a guy named Greg Hellinger.

Paul Stankard's designs are made with a particle accelerator, stump sucker, and a coloring book. That is how he gets such detail into his lucite encasements.

Classic!!!