crystal salt and pepper

Waterford Salt and Pepper

New Tops

Replace missing tops

Tags: Crystal Restoration, Glassware Repair, Waterford Crystal Repair

Beveled Bent Glass Light Repair

broken bent beveled panel

Out door light with four broken curved beveled glass pieces .  The hard part is the metal  it got bent when the large piece of ice fell and hit the  light. First with a hammer and a piece of wood I repair the metal . On to the glass I made a mold and bent 1/4 inch glass to the pattern needed .Test fit each piece then hand beveled each glass panel.  Installed the new beveled bent glass panels and gave the light a bath.

Ice damaged metal

bent glass test fit

Hand bevel glass panel

Polish bevel and install

Tags: Antique Glass Repair

Waterford Crystal Repair

Waterford Vase Repaired Stem

Broken Waterford can be rpaired like this large cut glass vase with a cracked crystal stem.  I ground smooth the broken parts and polished them. The foot had a large chip and it was deep into the glass. I would have to make the foot a little thinner . This ment grinding the entire bottom and polishing it.

I am writing the following to attest to the great skill of the Bruening Glass Works, Inc. personnel.  Several months ago my wife, while filling a Waterford Crystal vase with clean water, accidently tapped the base of the vase against the sink. The base separated from the body of the vase and sustained a substantial chip when it landed in the sink.  We immediately called the jewelry store from where the vase was purchased to ask about its repair.  They referred us to an outfit in Los Angeles, CA.  We were told to send an email with pictures, and we would be instructed on how to proceed.  Several months and six emails later I still had not heard a word from the California outfit.  So, I did a goggle search for Waterford Crystal repair and the Bruening Glass Works, Inc. was one of the first entries.  Being there were some nice testimonials, I emailed Marc at Bruening Glass.  He responded immediately,  and based upon our conversations (both email & telephone) we shipped our vase to him.  In all honesty, we did not expect that much of anything could be done — we just wanted the vase to stand upright & hold flowers.  We had written it off as far as it looking really nice ever again.  We were extremely pleased and surprised when the vase was returned to us a couple of weeks later.  Knowing what March had told us about the repair, we knew it would be a little shorter than when it was new (the broken parts had to be ground down a bit).  Other than that, there was no evidence of any repair work. As far as we are concerned the vase is as good as new — the work is unbelievably good!!!  In short, please do not hesitate to enlist the services of Bruening Glass Works, Inc.  The craftsmanship is superb, its prices are reasonable, and the service is top-notch.
 
Thanks Marc for doing such remarkable work on an impossible repair.
 
Bruce & Carmen Mills

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Chipped Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Glueing Glass, Waterford Crystal Repair

Broken glass candlestick gets repaired

broken candle cup

yellowed adheasive

The age old question of whether hiring  a professional to make a repair or attempting to do it yourself is timeless. In this case, I was able to repair the original damage, and fix the damage from the attempted repair, as well.  The old glue had yellowed, and the super glue finger prints needed to be removed. This kind of glue may be able to stick a man to a steel beam, but it won’t repair a delicate glass candlestick. Super glue is the wrong adheasive for glass. By letting the candle burn too low the candle cup was cracked. This is a common repair, and easy for me to do- send it to a professional.

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Cut Glass Repair, Antique Glass Repair, Broken Glass Glued, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Glueing Glass

Antique Glass Repair broken dish

I was sent an antique pressed glass butter dish that was missing a corner. The note with the broken glass dish read “Please do something.” I was able to do more than “something,” the dish is now completely restored. Here’s what I did, I made a casting of one of the thee remaining corners and created a mold. I then cast glass in to the mold, and came up this a rough glass corner. The grinding and polishing came next, and then I glued the piece in place. One final grind and polish, and now the dish can be used to hold butter, and a lot of memories.

make casting of good corner

mold of good corner

pressed glass lid missing corner

That glob of glass I hope to make in to a glass corner to fit on this lid.

start grinding corner shape

grind / lap with 400 grit

glue glass on corner

Pressed Glass Butter Dish (with new glass corner)

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Broken Glass Dish, Broken Glass Glued, Chip Repair, Chipped Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Glassware Repair, Glueing Glass, Pressed Glass Repair

Painted glass globe

painted glass globe

broken glass globe

Repaired Globe

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Antique Lamp Repair, Broken Glass Glued, Chandelier Repair, Chandelier Restoration, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Custom Made Chandelier Parts

Swavorski train wreck gets repaired

What a train wreck! This swavorski crystal train came to me in about 25 pieces. It needed to be completely reassembled and glued into place, but I had not been given a picture of the original. Reassembling this train was a like a jigsaw puzzle. The fun part was creating a something beautiful from the pieces. I consider that crystal repair at its finest.

Swarvoski Crystal Train

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Broken Glass Glued, Crystal Figurine Repair, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Glassware Repair, Swarvorski Glass Repair

Antique Glass Repair- broken stopper

An antique glass decanter with a broken stopper was brought in for repair. The stopper broke off many years ago and was lost. The owners still had the silver top to the stopper, but a new glass bottom had to be made. I started with a glass rod a little larger than the neck of the decanter. I ground the end of the glass rod to fit the neck of the decanter. I made a stem on top of the stopper through heat and manipulation. This was fitted in to the silver top. The other chips on the bottle were left alone because they all had a story to go with them.

antique crystal decanter missing stopper

Starting with a solid glass rod I shape the end .

glass rod use for glass stopper

Heat and pull to create a stem to fit in to the silver top.

heat and pull ( stopper neck)

Keep it hot and on center

Decanter with new stopper (fill with rum )

Tags: Antique Bottle Repair, Antique Crystal repair, Antique Cut Glass Repair, Antique Glass Repair, Antique Glassware Repair, Broken Glassware Repair, Chip Repair, Chipped Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Cut Glass Repair, Glass Parts, Glass Stopper Repair, Glassware Repair, New Stopper, Stuck Stopper, Swarvorski Glass Repair, Waterford Crystal Repair

Glass Dome for clock with crack

An antique, glass, clock dome was brought to me because of a large crack. The crack will still be visible once it’s repaired, but the dome will be stable. I learned a long time ago from my old scientific glass blowing teacher how to control a crack. Now I can easily make cracks go wherever I choose.  In this case, I was able to make the crack turn to the bottom of the dome. If left alone, the crack would have continued going up, and around, and eventually it would have ruined the dome. Now the crack is no longer a threat, and it can be easily hidden behind the clock. I am currently developing a new way of making glass domes like this one. In the future, I plan to offer replacement domes for customers with this type of damage.

clock dome with crack

Crack going upcrack going downtwo piecesGlued and stable

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Broken Glass Glued, Chipped Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Glass Dome, Glueing Glass