Sir Issic Newton Contacting Wizard of Vaz 2020-12-31 | Sir Isaac NewtonEngraving buy Jiri Harcuba Cold Glass Working and Optical Contacting by Vaz Jiri Harcuba asked if it was possible to optically contact a piece of glass over top of an engraving which would eliminate the problem of having glue run into the hollows created by the engraving. Jiri engraved a piece of polished glass and I did the cold working and contacting. The piece was spectacular! Please see my photos for the video slide show of "Suzannah" which looks like one piece of solid glass with an engraving floating inside. I have continued to work with Jiri on other engraved, optically contacted pieces. We have collaborated on an engraving of Sir Isaac Newton who was one of the first to observe this phenomenon and I have also optically contacted a multi layer piece that Jiri engraved with different engravings between each layer. Optical contacting is a process by which two surfaces are adhered at room temperature through molecular attraction without the use of adhesives. It is a procedure used primarily in a precision optical shop. This process is necessary when specifications call for very tight tolerances, very accurate angles, or the parts have to be polished parallel to a few arc seconds. This special method is also used to eliminate the dimensional uncertainty of wax or when adhesives cannot be used. The technique requires skillful polishing, a very clean environment, and unlimited patience. Optical contacting involves polishing the parts extremely flat on the sides to be contacted then cleaning the surfaces of the glass to an exceptionally high degree. The optician then brings the two surfaces together, and they literally bond to each other on a molecular level and become one. Optical contacting is a skill and like any art, one only becomes proficient with practice. Once the 2 sides of the glass piece are polished extremely flat, the parts are first cleaned with a very fine polishing compound applied on a folded up tissue then rinsed with water. Next the parts must be thoroughly cleaned with laboratory grade acetone followed by a cleaning with fresh methanol. A soft lint-free cloth or lint free tissue carries the cleaning solvents. Each surface to be contacted is cleaned, following that, the work piece surfaces are brushed dust free with a camel hairbrush or blown off with compressed dry air or nitrogen. For best results when contacting, a filter type clean bench with a fan should be used so that filtered air is constantly flowing across the work area. The pieces are then placed on top of each other and must be able to move freely back and forth without getting hung up. They should freely float on the entrapped cushion of air like a puck on an air hockey table. If there is even the slightest resistance, the contact surfaces are not clean enough and should be re-cleaned before proceeding. While the 2 pieces can still be moved, they are moved into the desired position. A light pressure is then applied to the top piece so that the entrapped air is forced out. This causes the interference fringes on the flat surfaces to move towards absolute zero in separation and a white color appears uniformly over the surface. The actual contacting takes place when further constant pressure is applied. You are able to see the white coloration suddenly change where the greatest pressure is applied and piece can no longer be moved. Once the contacting process has begun, and especially when the contact surfaces are truly clean, it will continue to contact across the entire piece without further external pressure. Frequently, however, it is necessary to assist the process with light but constant pressure. Modern day uses of this improved optical contacting include composite high-power laser optics, micro-optics, cryogenic optics, aerospace optics, underwater optics and of course, art. the application of this technique for the glass artistThe intermolecular forces that come into play include various modes of van der Waals force that exist for all material in close proximity. The magnitude of the force between these two solid bodies is a function of the separation distance and surface area. Optical contacting can be easily learned with practice. It is the highly developed knowledge and skills of the optician in grinding and polishing the glass to the highest levels of flatness and cleanliness that is the biggest challenge in mastering this technique. That being said artist can use plate glass that is all ready polished and can be contacted as in one of my previous videos.I look forward to sharing this little-known technique with other glass artists and hope that I can bring a bit of "Black Art" into the glass art world.
Racing The Rideau BIG BOAT little boat 2018 Wizard of Vaz 2020-05-13 | Always wanted to do this....more to come.
Opical contacted Engraving ,Suzannah Slide Show Vaz456 Wizard of Vaz 2018-04-15 | Description.....Vaz Zastera Optical Contacting at Corning Museum of Glass, Studio with Jiri Harcuba
NVEExport1 Wizard of Vaz 2018-04-15 | Optical contacting window glass with engraving inside.You don't need to know how to precision grind and polish glass to do this, window glass will work . More videos to come so you too can do this...
Optical contacting The Wizard applying his magic 20150421 082334 Wizard of Vaz 2016-08-20 | Optical contacting The Wizard applying his magic Two large optical flats optically contacting to each other
Genesis On Deck Cam Wizard of Vaz 2016-06-25 | Genesis R/C boat with Garmin Virb Elit action camera on board..note speed not accurate new camera coming .
