Best way to crush glass? ...

[Cosmic]

Well I've been thinking about a good way to represent snow, and I've seen examples using 'Secret Weapon Miniatures' special crushed glass snow effects and it looks AMAZING!!

The trouble is that I don't want to order it from America, so I was I've been thinking.....how hard can it be to crush some glass?

I was thinking about literally breaking a pane of thin glass into shards, putting them in a container with something heavy like a ball of metal, and then just shaking it really hard for a while.

Would that work do you think?

[treadiculous]

Having spent a decade or so working behind a bar (meaning a pub not prison)... I have broken many glasses.

I wouldn't recommend using glass. smashed glass, even safety glass, can contain tiny slivers that can get beneath the skin and stay there for a long time until your skin grows it out again.

I've also had the joy of a glass shard going all the way through my finger from one side to the other.. it looked cool! - I wish I'd taken a photo!.. errm, by which I mean, don't use glass its dangerous.

I would recommend getting some from a UK based hobby company, there are absolutely squillions of scenic providers, from hornby railways to scalextric to all the various battlefield games and models... I'm sure you can find a better version.

If not, try using baked sugar - this will make glass like in the movies (you know, the big pane of glass that always gets smashed during the chase scene just before they get to the market of oranges etc).. I've only ever made toffee, but you can make all sorts of cool stuff out of sugar and it breaks up like glass too.. though I guess it'll get really sticky in summer, and if you have any pets they may eat your diorama...

hmm...

[Cosmic]

Hi Tread,

What if I was REEEAAALLLYYY careful with it?

Also, I've had a look but there are no UK based companies that sell it for model making purposes :/

And the problem with sugar glass is that apparently, homemade stuff starts to melt and go sticky at room temperature

[Trooper One-Nine-Seven-Four]

I too would advise against trying to make crushed glass yourself. Powdered glass can be pretty dangerous. I'm fairly certain that it's an inhalation hazard, especially if you've got pets about, and God-Emperor help you if you get any in your eyes!

[Cosmic]

Hmmm supposed...

Ok....how about just normal Sugar? It's white....and crystal-like.......I wonder if crushing it into a powder works better..

[The Guardsmen]

Salt might work... although it has a rather large crystal structure, maybe a combination if sugar and salt would be effective

[AshotNINJA]

i think rock salt would be good for ice... plus its not to soluble if it comes into contact with moisture... and if you crush that a bit in a mortar and pestile it would be fine for snow... just dont paint on it or it might dissolve.

[horrid74]

This is something I've been wondering about for a while myself. Apart from the safety concerns already mentioned by other posters actually pulverizing it to a point that is powder seems pretty daunting. Initial smashing and crushing is pretty straight forward. A tool/ method that would safely allow you to render it down to a powder escapes me. Anything I've considered as I've run it through my mind typically ends with me wearing or respirating it and bleeding externally or internally as a result.

The alternative I'd suggest is to mix scatter snow, a dab from a tube of white acrylic paint and a gloss gel medium (I use liquitex gloss heavy gel). The compound can be applied directly onto your otherwise finished bases and can be shaped and spread about nicely with a wet brush. The presence of the scatter give the "snow" a granular/powder texture when the gel hardens and leaves you with a glossy sheen . I throw in the drop of acrylic to tint the transparent medium to a white; I don't know if removing this would give you "ice" in your snow or not. It's not something I experimented with because I was pretty pleased with the results as they were.

If you give this a try maybe it will work for you; the materials are fairly easy to come by and look pretty nice. If nothing else your lungs may thank you for it.

[commissarbob]

I am going to make this suggestion... Try looking at fine grit glass sandblast medium. This is literally tiny glass beads, minus the sharp bits. Depending on the grit you find will determine the bead size (the higher the grit number the smaller the beads). You can get this stuff CHEAP and when used on a base, it will reflect whatever color is under it very well giving you a splendid icy snow texture.

[DadCRO]

I'd use salt. Alternatively, sand painted white and blue, etc.

[Cosmic]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I've started experimenting with different sugars and salts, but you'll have to all wait til after the Golden Guardsmen competition for the winning recipe, this will from now on be hush hush

[Grizzly]

Have you thought about possibly using microballoons? micro glass spheres used as fillers for making resin parts lighter mainly by R/C plane modelers, you want ot keep your plane as light as possible and the hobby shop I worked in, the owner built R/C planes to order and any parts we had to scratch build and then make resin molds we used 1/2 resin and 1/2 microballoons to keep the parts light. I have used this material in small vignettes to represent snow. Looks like hard packed snow, doesn't yellow, after all it is a glass product.

[3ff3ct]

Use a pestil and mortar for the glass

If not, bicarbonate of soda works a treat

[emptyhat]

If you are using salt could you spray it with purity seal?

[The Hawk!]

If you really want to crush glass, I'd suggest a Metal Weed Grinder......

[commissarbob]

Dec 3, 2011 13:38:28 GMT -5 3ff3ct said:

If not, bicarbonate of soda works a treat

Unfortunately that tends to yellow after a number of years (I am having to re-base an entire army as a result of this...)

[ltbailey]

Dec 2, 2011 17:15:16 GMT -5 Cosmic said:

Well I've been thinking about a good way to represent snow, and I've seen examples using 'Secret Weapon Miniatures' special crushed glass snow effects and it looks AMAZING!!

The trouble is that I don't want to order it from America, so I was I've been thinking.....how hard can it be to crush some glass?

I was thinking about literally breaking a pane of thin glass into shards, putting them in a container with something heavy like a ball of metal, and then just shaking it really hard for a while.

Would that work do you think?

This is what you need; recycled crushed glass media. It is used for blasting finish off of wood and metal. In England you can get it from this company;
www.macants.co.uk/glass_grit.htm
It won't cut your fingers as it is basically like sand texture. In the states we pay about $11.50 US per 50lb bag. That's right 50lb bag. Good luck, now you know what to look for, it even comes in white.

[Yeti's Yell]

I would caution you to be wary with many of these crushed glass examples. The dust from crushed glass can be defined as anything between irritating to your lungs to completely dangerous.

I have a snow recipe I can send you if you want. Let me know.

[Cosmic]

Thanks for the advice Yeti, but if you look back a few posts I've already said I'm using salt and sugar :-)

[Rook]

Though I am no expert at crushing glass I have used an extensive amount for nefarious deeds.

First you need to know that there is 'blue' glass and 'green' glass. I'm assuming you would want 'blue' for snow. The easiest way to tell is to look at the glass in its deepest dimension. If it looks green...then it's green. If it looks clear then it will have a bluish sheen when you finish.

Other than that I used to crush my glass between 2 bricks. 1) Get a glass cutter and cut into manageable pieces. 2) then place a brick on a tray or even a cloth will work. Ideally you need something that will hold the brick without allowing it to slip and also be used to collect your glass shards. 3) then just grind away slowly. It will take a while to get enough to use. And a lot of it will be bound up in the bricks...this is normal.


Or, you could contact custom frame stores in your area and ask the employees if you can have the glass from the bottom of the trash can they use strictly for glass. Mind you the owner or manager will probably not be compliant as I'm sure you can imagine the liability. That's why you ask the underlings.

[Cosmic]

And again, thank you Rook for the advice......but I've already said I won't use glass and I'm using different salts and sugars.

[cheminhaler]

Well if you are going to do this:

A) Don't do it in the house (or near the cat)

B) Use thick garden style gloves

C) Buy safety goggles

D) Tie a scarf around you're face

And that should do it for the Mad Max look.


I've found that putting something glass in several plastic bags and then crushing it with an improvised baseball bat works a treat (maybe in a bucket). I have lots of improvised bludgeoning implements.

Finally I'd like to add that you're a total lunatic, but only in the best way.

[Cosmic]

Gaaahhhh! People! Read the thread, pleeeeaasssseeeee! Before I start to cry

All of these suggestions are great and I really do appreciate them, but I've already stated that I'm using the safer option of crushing rock salt......

*walks off gently crying, sits at his desk and starts to paint*

[cheminhaler]

I did, but for a moment you convinced me that this insanity was viable; thin glass could work with a lot of care and attention. Then I thought about what would happen if you scraped your finger across a jagged network of superglued spiky glass bits.. :s

But rock salt or maybe even very fine sand could also do it. I'm not sure if sand holds with PVA, though.

[colonelnothus]

Cosmic, I have a method that is perfect!

++++Begin Transmission++++

"Welcome to Nothus' Order that Xenos Into Space! programme. Today, we're going to talk about anti snow/glass devices, for people who keep getting pestered!


What you need is:

-three sheets of paper, preferably squared,
-a big marker pen
-three squigs
-a door
-the odd piece of plastic
-blue tac
-duct tape
-blender.

Method:
1-Pick up marker pen
2-Write one large, offensive, word on each sheet of paper
3-Pick up blue tac
4-Put blobs onto the corners of each of your sheets
5-Put two squigs into the blender.
6-Duct tape the lid onto the blender
7-Turn on the blender onto full power
8-Wait ten minutes
9-Turn off blender
10-Remove duct tape
11-Place the final squig into the blender
12-Duct tape the lid
13-Turn the blender onto full power
14-Wait 20 minutes.
15-Position sheets of paper onto chosen door
16-Apply pressure onto the corners, until the paper is firmly afixed onto the door
17-Position yourself behind the door
18-Unplug blender
19-Position blender into hand
20-Wait...


....25-Throw contents of blender onto next person who mentions glass and/or snow.

Jolly good show chaps, until next time, you've been watching Nothus' Order that Xenos Into Space! programme."

++++Transmission Stop++++