Satin snow ground glass
Argon3
I was going to order some groundglass from Satin Snow....the original glass on
my camera seems a lot dimmer than I think it should be and I hear that a finer
groundglass can give a brighter image.
Has anyone used a Satin Snow glass and found it to be an improvement? I've
seen links to Photo.net wherein there's a thread about making one's own
groundglass and using finer abrasives than are usually used and this seems to
be what the Satin people are doing. Any experiences in this regard?
thanks
argon
Richard Knoppow
"Argon3" <arg...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040715205108...@mb-m28.aol.com...
Finer grain GG will make the illumination more uniform
and is easier to focus on but won't make the image much
brighter. Before investing in the glass try washing the
glass you have. If the ground side gets a bit greasey it
will become a bit more transparent causing it to have a hot
spot and look grainy. Dishwashing detergent in warm water
will work fine.
I am not familiar with Satin Snow. There are three ways
of making ground glass. One is to sand blast the surface,
this yields the coarsest surface, the next finest is
grinding it with rouge, the third method is acid etching.
The last gives the finest surface. That may be what this
outfit is doing.
I used to get very satisfactory GG from Edmund Scientific
but it was no longer in the catalogue after the company
split into two. I think Edmund Optical may still have it.
A tip, ground glass is best cut using a carbide scribe.
The familiar wheel type window glass cutters will cut it but
not very accurately. You can get a scribe from a hardware
store for less than $10 US.
--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dick...@ix.netcom.com
Richard Knoppow
I had a look at the Satinsnow web site. They are acid
etching the glass so its probably pretty fine grained. Their
prices are actually very reasonable, plus they will sell the
glass with or without cross-hatching and with or without the
corners cut.
Satin Snow
Hi This is Dave Parker, I own and operate Satin Snow(TM) Ground glass,
and I just wanted to clear something up....I do not acid etch my
glass, it is hand ground with a very strong empasise on ensureing the
focus plane is flat, which helps ensure that the light distribution is
even across the entire surface of the glass viewing screen. But I can
assure you, it is NOT acid etched glass.
Dave Parker
Ground Glass Specialties
Satin Snow(TM) Ground Glass
P.O. Box 10591
Kalispell, MT 59904
www.satinsnowglass.com
Argon3
I got the impression that you did hand-grind the glass from your website where
I think that there was an allusion to the possibility that acid etching would,
indeed, "frost" the glass but, if the glass surface wasn't perfectly flat to
begin with, it would not ensure that the glass surface would be a perfectly
flat plane.
argon
Satin Snow
Hi Argon,
We found through extensive testing, that Acid etch, even though it
produces a fine grained glass, still leaves a surface uneven and is
very difficult to produce great results due to the un-even surface and
light distribution, I am also getting reports back from customers who
own acid etched glass that our foucs screens are as fine and in some
instances finer grained than the acid etched glass, part of the secret
to getting a bright screen corner to corner is the flatness and even
light distribution across the whole surface of the glass, getting a
perfectly flat plane on a piece of glass is difficult, due to the
cooling properties when the glass is poured, the way we grind our
glass ensures a flat screen. I have had reports from several
individuals using both 8x and 10x loupes for focusing cannot really
see the grain, and I have done several screens for people who are
actually taking their fresnels out and are happier with the brightness
of our screens.
Again, thanks for the interest and questions.
I don't often frequent these news groups, so please if anyone has
questions feel free to email us at gglass(at)satinsnowglass(dot)com,
just replace the at and dot with the correct symbols and we will get
right back to you.
Thanks
Dave Parker
Ground Glass Specialties
Satin Snow(TM) Ground Glass
'Focus on the Picture, Not on the Glass'
jjs
"Satin Snow" <ggl...@satinsnowglass.com> wrote in message
news:d7ddb2ec.04081...@posting.google.com...
There is apparently an issue regarding the thickness of the glass. Can you
elaborate? Thank you.
Satin Snow
With over 500 pieces sold in the last 4 months, I have never heard of
an issue with the thickness of the glass that I have been selling,
could you please elaborate? I am not familier with any issues and
have a very open policy with people contacting me, both on the phone
and through emails, so I would really like to hear about any issues
that are occuring due to the thickness of our glass? I also have a
100% fit policy, so I can not fathom what you are talking about.
Please let me know where you heard this?
Dave Parker
Ground Glass Specialites.
Satin Snow(TM) Ground Glass
Satin Snow
For anybody that is interested, our glass on average is 2mm thick,
this we have found has been a very good thickness in most
applications...if for some reason this will not work for your
application, I can get other glass stock per the application and would
be happy to quote based on your needs.
Thanks again for all of the interest.
Dave Parker
Ground Glass Specialties
Satin Snow(TM) Ground Glass
jjs
> "jjs" <Nos...@please.net> wrote in message
news:<10i9r1f...@news.supernews.com>...
> > "Satin Snow" <ggl...@satinsnowglass.com> wrote in message
> > news:d7ddb2ec.04081...@posting.google.com...
> > > arg...@aol.com (Argon3) wrote in message
> > news:<20040819093433...@mb-m29.aol.com>...
> >
> > There is apparently an issue regarding the thickness of the glass. Can
you
> > elaborate? Thank you.
>
> With over 500 pieces sold in the last 4 months, I have never heard of
> an issue with the thickness of the glass that I have been selling,
LISTEN UP EVERYONE! I was in error. There are no issues with Satin Snow's
groundglass thickness. Bad memory on my part. I'm on my home computer now
where I found the info earlier. The glass that was allegedly too thick was
made by someone else with the name of Dagor* (protected because it's an
allegation)
No problems reported every with Satin Snow's groundglass, thickness or
otherwise.
Robert Miller
wrote:
>For anybody that is interested, our glass on average is 2mm thick,
>this we have found has been a very good thickness in most
>applications...if for some reason this will not work for your
>application, I can get other glass stock per the application and would
>be happy to quote based on your needs.
>
>Thanks again for all of the interest.
>
>Dave Parker
>Ground Glass Specialties
>Satin Snow(TM) Ground Glass
>www.satinsnowglass.com
Dave made a custom 8x10 gg for my Kodak 2D. It's about as bright as
my 4x5 Maxwell screen, but cost about $225 less! Plenty bright -
plenty fine. It's the biggest secret in LF photography. $20 -
awesome!!! I bought a 2nd one just for a backup.
Robert Miller
robert miller fine art photography
www.robertmiller.org