Kevin,
I am not sure what the “woman” was talking about concerning sealants
for glass, or “water glass” but I DO have a great sealer I swear by
for glass AND stone that is archival, dries perfectly clear, mixes in
a 3 to 1 by weight/2 part mixture and lasts up to or over 100 years
once cured. I use it to “stabilize” stones and as my adhesive for ALL
of my glass that needs to be sealed or have a tiny fractures glued.
It’s called Hyxtal NYL-1. It is more expensive than other adhesives,
but in my mind that is okay because I know the stuff WORKS!
I learned all about this “epoxy” type adhesive during my glass
blowing classes in college. It is about the only glue that my
professors would consider at all acceptable for an archival piece of
art. This is because of its archival nature and the fact that it has
no yellowing at all. I actually used to order it from a place that
specializes in museum service products. I now get it through Talas. I
have used it many times to stabilize wood and stone, even on an
almost life size sculpture of alabaster! It seeps into and loves
cracks actually like it seeks them out. The only disadvantage I have
found with it is that is has a long cure time, (up to a week for
total hardness, depending on how deep it has to go into the stone or
glass you use it on). I just love this stuff, and because it is an
approved archival adhesive, it’s the only one I trust. Not to sound
like a commercial, but here is what the rage is all about for this
product:
XTAL NYL-1 is a crystal clear, non-yellowing epoxy adhesive
formulated to perfectly match the index of refraction of most glass.
It can be tinted to match the coloring of porcelain and ceramics as
well. Used correctly, it can withstand the ravages of time for the
long term preservation of art pieces of various media.
Also, it is grind-able on lapidary equipment, polishes to as high a
shine as any stone I have ever cut & polished, I have used it to
stabilize many cut stones and it polishes up as if there is nothing
there. You definitely would want to note that any stones you use it
on have been stabilized (just good business practice as a lapidary &
jewelry professional to ALWAYS note when a stone is enhanced or
stabilized)
A few other things that are nice about the long cure factor:
A) After mixing it, it is kind of runny for some time, so you can
put your item under the vacuum bell and remove even the tiniest of
bubbles! (This is real important for filling larger fissures in
lapidary work and repair of broken glass)
B) It stores up to a week in the fridge in a sealed container so I
don’t have a lot of waste. I can just pull it out and use what’s left
on other stones I am cutting that need stabilized
C) You can file items with your files and it cleans up really easy,
not harming the files at all
D) Its practically INVISIBLE: where-as when I have used regular
epoxies I can always see the epoxy.
E) Hyxtal can also be thinned down easily with the correct solvents
(kerosene), so I can pull it up into a syringe to inject deep into
tiny fissures, and cleans up easily.
F) Once cured it holds stone & glass together even when used on an
outdoor sculpture. And because it does not yellow in the sun you
can’t even see that it is there.
Hyxtal can be found all over the web, but I order mine from
Talasonline.com.
They seem to be the cheapest, and also have reasonable shipping. You
can order in just a small to medium bottle, or get it in much larger
quantities, there. Also to keep in mind: If you are mixing more than
a few drops at a time, you should weigh it with a scale. It really
does require accurate mixing to cure properly. That is the only draw
back I can think of with Hyxtal, and a small one in my opinion, I
don’t mind pulling out my digital scale to weigh it while mixing for
such a fantastic and virtually invisible bond.
Anyway, hope that helps!
