Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1900-02-17
BEVELING OF GLASS.
PROCESS LITTLE UNDERSTOOD
BY LAYMEN.
How the Edge of Glass Is Cut Away
and Refinished-A Very Simple Pro-
cess, but One Requiring Skill in Its
Execution.

Rsgeled glass i s3t zew, hut !. IS
now far more extensively used than
formerly. Twenty years ago beveled
mirrors were comparatively rare, now
they are common, and are seen in many
shapes and sizes. Beveled plates, large
and small, and both straight and bent,
are used for various other purposes.
The process of glass beveling is very
simple, but the work calls for skill on
the part of the operators.
The plate to be beveled goes first to
the roughing mill, which is a solid,
heavy steel wheel about two feet and
half feet in diameter, set horizontally,
and turning at high rate of speed. The
upper face, or top of this wheel, Is
slightly roughened. Suspended over
the wheel is a big hopper containing
sand, which is fed down through n
spout in such quantity as may be requir-
ed upon the top of the rough-faced
steel wheel. The grinder holds the
plate to be ground in his hands, with
the edge to be ground off upon the face
of the roughing mill; he shifts the plate
along as the glass is ground away. The
expert grinder, holding sheet of glass
against the roughing wheel In this man
ner, will grind true bevel, with a per-
fectly straight line along it's inner edge,
and he brings the side bevels together
with perfectly true angle at the cor
ners.
In the roughing mill the bevel is
wrought to shape, but it's face is rough
looking and feeling. In fact, like what
1t is, ground glass. The plate goes then
to the enemy wheel, also of steel and
set horizontally. Suspended over this
wheel is little hopper filled with
emery, the emery. feeding down upon
the wheel. Upon this wheel the rough
face of the beVel as it comes from the
roughing mill is again ground, the plate
being held in the same manner by q
grinder, and the surface is brought
nearer to smoothness.
From the emery wheel the plate goes
to the smoothing stone, which is also
set to turn horizontally. The smooth
ing stone, which Is of an extremely
fine sandstone, is made with its upper
surface, that against which the glass is
brought, very slightly convex This
stone is finished perfectly smooth and
it is so fine grained that to the touch it
seems almost to be polished. A tiny
stream of water. enough to keep the
face of the stone wet, is made to
trickle down upon it and the glass is
held TO this wheel just as it was to the
others, and here the beveled edge is
brought down to a smooth surface, but
not polished. The plate gees then to
polishing wheel made of wood and set
to turn vertically; the bevel edge of the
glass is held against the edge or face of
this wooden wheel as it rapidly re
wolves The face of the wheel is kept wet
and constantly supplied with pulveriz-
ed stone. Upon this wheel the beveled
edge gets it first polish. The glass
then takes the final step in the bevelng
process. 1t goes to another wheel, also
of wood, and also turning vertically,
whose face is of felt. The face of this
wheel also is kept wet and it Is suppl
ed with fine polishing meterial called
from it's color, rouge. Here as at the
first polishing Wheel the glass Is held
with the bevel against the edge or face
of the wheel. On the rouge wheel the
bevel gets it's final polish and finish and
the surface of the beveled edge, which
after the first operation was rough like
ground glass, is now as smooth and as
polished as the fiat surface Of the plate.
Great plates that are too big to be
held by hand are locked into a frame
that can be so moved as to bring the
edges TO be beveled against wheels adj
iuSted for the nnrnOSe New York Sun.