What type of Glass to use and how to get a Bore in it: Yesterday and this morning I concluded that the thick walled Boro glass will not work for two reasons: the Index of Refraction is unlike that found in the original flutes. The second is how it is made. A tube of Lab Glass is sandwiched with the next size of glass smaller with an air pocket in between. In this pocket all sorts of “glitter” etc. are added. Sometimnes another 2 or 3 layers is done in this fashion. The entire assembly is then rotated on a Glass Blowing Lathe which drives the glass from both ends. One end is sealed and a vacuum is applied from the other. The glass is heated up and drawn apart as it rotates and everything is fused while the air is sucked out of it. The thick wall remains at the end. The middle is pulled thinner. Its impossible to get a tube with an even wall thickness.
They charge $190 a pound for this. Geesh!!!
So it was back to Square One but only for a moment. This morning I called up my friend Bob who makes lenses and asked if he knew of any kind of way to drill a bore in glass as he once talked about it. I asked about a rotating copper tool with diamonds. He said if I want to take a month or more. Instead he said that I should use a “Diamond Disintegrating Drill”. These consist of a steel shank with a slightly offset hole through out the length. at the end is a chunk of bronze stuffed densely with whatever grit industrial diamonds that are sintered - not plated - into the bronze. One can then set up this assembly in a drill press. The glass has to be held rigidly in a fixture such as box bolted down with the glass vertical and entombed in plaster. There is another part at the top that allows the bit to be driven while allowing water soluble coolant into the bit. The glass is stationary but the bit rotates at 1000-2000 and cuts at a rate of 1” every 2 or 3 minutes.
I will be ordering what I need to make a foot joint for Robbie Lee’s flute as my first project. My milling machine is too short to do this so I need to find a drill press. These are usually cheap and widely available. Per flute I am paying much less than $190/lb for the glass and everything at Olympic Color Rods in Seattle is useable with this project.
Infrastructure and Moving these heavy mills. There is no industrial buildings available in Kingston and if they were, they are large and would cost a bunch. Insurance would cost as much. Thus we have no other choice than to pour a slab and get a 192 square foot building installed. My concrete guy Jorge is onhis way over around 6 and I am shopping for a building.
The mills will be moved in a rental with a 3000 lb lift gate. I have a few friends who will help. There will be no heavuy lifting. So as soon as I can get that building up and running and the mills over here and tooled up, I am closer to cutting glass flutes! I gotta go make dinner I just realized. More later!!!