Crystal Repair Project Repair Gallery

Crystal Repair Antique Glass Chandelier Arm

The movers packed the chandelier like they always do ” wrong”.  They hung the chandelier in box fully assembled . You must take the arms off a chandelier before shipping. I have repaired hundreds of arms .

Crystal Chandelier Arm

The antique glass chandelier arm will be as strong as new after it is repaired .  When photographed on black you can see the repair if you look close .  When installed back on the chandelier the repair will be very hard to find.

Antique Glass Chandelier Arm

This repair could have been avoided if the mover had removed the arms before shipping.  Never ship a chandelier with the crystal arms attached.

Tags: Antique Crystal Chandelier Repair, Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Chandelier Repair, Crystal Repair, Glass Chandelier Repair

Crystal repair chipped and broken glass fish

The glass fish was broken  years ago and they didn’t save all the pieces.  There was a large part of the tail missing.  I was able to shorten the tail and make the bottom fin a little smaller so it looks proportional.   I tried to cast a new part of the tail but matching the color was not an option.

A lot of pieces but not all of them

Repairing broken crystal and antique glass takes a little imagination.

The tail is about 3/8 of an inch shorter now .  I

This is one of a pair.  The client was very happy with the restoration and her husband was even happier .  He’s the one that broke it.

Tags: Antique Glass Repair, Broken Glass Glued, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Glass Figurine Repair

CRYSTAL REPAIR WATERFORD BOWL CHIPPED GLASS FOOT

The Waterford Bowl had a large chip on the base.  The chip was to large to grind and polish out.  I found a broken candle stick that had the same shape base.  I removed the base from the damaged candlestick to use on the bowl.

Waterford Bowl chipped base

Rough grind the bottom flat and polish.

Waterford Bowl with damaged foot removed

Polished the bottom

new foot

Waterford Crystal Bowl new base

Tags: Chipped Crystal Repair, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Waterford Crystal Repair

Crystal Repair Antique Glass with chipped foot

The antique  Lalique  Crystal cigarette  jar was broken years ago.  The foot had a very large chip out of it.  The chip was to large to be ground out so replacement  was the only option. Over the years I have saved many pieces of glass. My basement is like a junk yard of glass.   I found a Lalique Crystal foot in my glass junk yard.

Chipped Lalique Crystal Foot

The chipped glass jar was gram’s and sat on the coffee table for many years .  The antique glass jar held cigarettes back in the day when every one smoked.

Lalique jar and new crystal foot

I cut off the damaged foot and prepared new foot.

Signed Lalique foot for repair

Bond the new foot to old crystal jar.

Lalique Crystal Lion Head Cigarette Jar Restoration

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Broken Glass Repair, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration

Antique Glass Repair Broken Crystal Stopper

The cut glass stopper was stuck in the decanter when it fell over and broke.  The break was in the center of the stopper were it necks down .

Broken Crystal Stopper

I decided to make a new center section and plug .  I used a glass rod to make the new part.

The new plug was ground to fit the antique glass decanter.

fire polish plug

The glass rod was make of borosilicate glass ( pyrex )  so I was able to fire polish the new stopper.

Old Stoper Top and the New Stopper Bottom

The antique crystal decanter is made from lead glass so I had to hand polish the neck were the new plug fits

The stopper is finish and the decanter that has been in the family for many years can be passes on .

Tags: Antique Glass Repair, Antique Glass Stopper, Crystal Repair, Crystal Stopper Repair, Glass Stopper Repair

antique crystal repair broken glass handles

The cut glass sugar bowl was missing two handles.  They broke off years ago.

crystal bowl missing handles

Using the handles of a old broken glass bowl I replaced the missing glass pieces.

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Cut Glass Repair, Antique Glass Repair, Crystal Repair

Antique Steuben Glass Candlestick Repair Broken Crystal Top

The Steuben Crystal Teardrop Candlestick is one of the largest candlesticks they made.  It is very common for people to forget to put out the candles after dinner.   When the candle  burns  down the heat cracks the candle cup.  I have repaired  many of these over the years by making a new candle cup.

Broken Steuben Crystal Candlestick Repair

Glass Replacement Part

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Broken Crystal Repair, Broken Glass Glued, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Steuben Crystal

Antique glass eye cup repair broken foot

This is the first antique glass eye cup I have ever see and repaired .   I tried it to see if it worked. I get pumice in my eye some times when polishing.  When this  piece was sent to me it only had a half a foot.  I cut off  what was left of the foot and ground the stem flat.  I made a new green glass foot. When making a new foot it is important to add some imperfections.   The old foot had seeds and cords in it.  Seeds  are small bubbles and cords are  lines of  distortion created from impurities in the glass .

Green Glass Eye Cup With New Foot

Antique Glass Eye Cup

I made a new foot for the vintage glass eye cup.

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

Crystal Repair broken frosted glass figurine

The broken  glass leopard is made from  borosilicate glass  ( pyrex ).   This type of glass  has a very low expansion coefficient so it  can be reheated .   There is a small piece missing were the leg broke.

Most pieces of glass can not be fused back together so I use UV cured adhesive .

fusing glass leg

I used a torch and fused the broken glass leg .   I shaped the leg and fill in the area were the chip was missing.   I frosted the area to matched .

Repaired Glass Leopard

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Broken Crystal Repair, Crystal Figurine Repair, Crystal Repair

Antique glass tray repair engraved mirror

The antique glass tray was broken and repairing the pieces was not an option.  I used the old glass for a pattern .   Then using a variety stones , grinding wheels and diamond wheels I recreated a new engraved glass tray.

Engraved Glass Tray

The replacement etched glass tray may not be a perfect match but it is close enough to hold the memories.

Tags: Antique Glass Repair, Crystal Repair, Engraved glass repair, Etched glass repair, Vintage Glass Repair

Antique Glass Repair Broken Cut Crystal Decanter

The neck of the decanter was broken in many pieces and was repaired .  The repair was unacceptable and I needed a plan B.  The design engraved on the antique glass decanter gave me a good place to cut off the broken parts.

I fabricated a new neck and stone cut the  design .

Stain on the bottom of decanter " sick "

A new neck for an antique glass decanter

Stone cut design on new neck

Antique Glass Decanter

New neck antique glass decanter

The replacement part looks good and makes the antique  cut glass decanter usable again.  The set is complete and ready for the next party.

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration

Antique Glass Repair broken stopper

The antique decanter had a  stopper broken off  in the neck .  I drilled the stuck  stopper out of the crystal decanter.   Then I make a new stopper and had to fit it in the neck.

Antique Glass Decanter fit new stopper

The frosted area is were I ground the new part of the stopper to fit the antique glass decanter.  I used  # 120 grit first to hand lapped  the stopper .  I repeated the lapping process using  # 220 grit  , # 400 grit , and # 600 grit followed by polishing .   The antique glass decanters had polished stoppers.

Antique Crystal Decanter with Polished Neck

Bringing the the family heirloom back to its original beauty  is very rewarding.  They need to clean the stopper when there is sweet liquor being stored in the antique glass decanter .  This will prevent the stopper from getting stuck again.

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Glass Stopper Repair

Antique Glass Repair Seuben Crystal Penguin

The antique glass penguin was broken and put away years ago.  The glass was discovered and the search was on to find some one to repair it.  The one fin was broken off and many of the small pieces were lost.  That  Steuben Crystal penguin held memories of years go by.

Steuben Crystal Penguin Repair

A piece of Steubn Crystal from a broken ashtray

new wing

Remove broken wing

Sizing Up New Wing

New Wing

I used a piece of Steuben Crystal to sculpt the replacement wing because of the color . Steuben is forty nine percent lead and very clear.  The lead also makes it very soft so I have to use the very best cerium oxide for the final step in the polishing process.

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Steuben Crystal Repair

Antique Glass Repair Chipped Daum Turtle

The rare Daum Glass turtle had a chip on the shell.  Grinding and polishing the chip is not an option. The difficulty is matching the density when filling the chip.  Antique Daum cast glass has a lot of detail and color . The translucent glass is very beautiful.

antique chipped glass repair

Tags: Antique Crystal repair, Antique Glass Repair, Chipped Crystal Repair, Crystal Repair, Crystal Restoration, Daum Glass Repair