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Clifford Garrett
Starting Member
United Kingdom
31 Posts |
 Posted - 07/01/2009 : 18:37:43
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You will be able to remove the old putty if you first warm it so that it softens. The obvious problem is that you do not break the remaining glass in the process, so if you use a heat gun, then great care must be taken to protect the astragals and adjoining glass panes. A better method would be to use a soldering iron with a good sized chunk of metal attached that can be put in contact with the putty to heat it. You need a powerful soldering iron though. Once heated, the putty softens and can be carefuly chiseled away.
Once clean, suitable old replacement glass can be cut to size and fitted. However, if you use putty, it is messy, needs to harden before the glass is safe from being pushed back out and will be an obvious bright colour. It is better to fix the glass back in place with plaster which can be mixed with pigment to match the old putty colour (the colour match is done with the plaster dry as this is how it will look when it has dried out). To stop the plaster sticking to the glass and risking a potential break, a very light smear of mineral oil on the glass edge should be applied before fixing (don't overdo this or the oil will get on the astragal and the plaster won't stick and glass will fall out). Also, run a black felt tip pen around the glass edge before fitting as this will hide the new reflective edge when in place.
Clifford Garrett
Antique and Period Furniture
Restored & Conserved |
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Putty removal
