It is fashionable to decorate clothes, hairstyles and even nails with rhinestones. They are imitations of precious stones and are sometimes used in the museum business to replace losses on inexpensive but important exhibits, as well as to design awards. Rhinestones are made from glass using a special tool. They can also be made at home. This process is quite laborious and requires skill in working with glass.
It is necessary
- - high quality glass;
- - grinding and polishing machine with a set of discs and saws;
- - abrasive materials;
- - mandrels and holders of blanks with the ability to set a given angle;
- - chemical vessels;
- - spirit lamp or gas burner;
- - reagents for the reaction of the silver mirror;
- - magnifier;
- - microscope;
- - respirator;
- - glasses;
- - gloves;
- - water.
Instructions
Step 1
Select a preform from the most uniform piece of glass. Cut a piece of the desired shape with a diamond disc. Clip it into mandrels and finish the back. It must be sanded and polished.
Step 2
Transfer the workpiece to the mandrels with the other side and machine the second half. It is necessary to take into account the angle of refraction of the material, since the main task is to obtain a characteristic gloss. Grinding is carried out with an increasingly fine abrasive until large scratches are eliminated and a maximum matte surface is obtained.
Step 3
For optical control, clean the workpiece from abrasive and, having moistened it with water, check the correct path of the light beams using a point light source and measuring instruments. Surface cleanliness control is carried out using a magnifying glass.
Step 4
Take GOI paste or strontium sulfate powder. Boron nitride is also suitable. Place a drop of water on the polishing disc, add a little polishing powder and polish while controlling the surface under a magnifying glass or small magnification of a microscope. Polish until all scratches on the surface disappear.
Step 5
Carry out a final control of the shine of the resulting rhinestone using a point or slit light source. If the rhinestone is intended to be mounted on a frame or fabric, use a silver mirror reaction to silver the back. You can cover it with a protective layer of paint.
