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Sunday, November 25, 2018

Fantastic Profits in Surface Testing and Protection




3D Optical Microscope Measurement of a Textured Glass Surface

The Glass Smart Insider will help you learn how to test glass for scratch sensitivity and how to protect glass from scratching.  This is a brand new science for window cleaners.  It is a very much needed service, and is potentially very profitable.  According to the Wikipedia metrology is, "the science of measurement, embracing both experimental and theoretical determinations at at any level of uncertainty in any field of science and technology.".  What we are concerned with in this article is the science of measuring the physical characteristics in 3D of the surface of window glass.  So 3D surface metrology.  Why?  Simply because this measurement will tell us exactly how sensitive any window is to scratching.  You see it is in fact the microscopic and possibly even the nanoscopic roughness of the surface that determines how easy windows will scratch.  I have proven this by simply polishing one half of a brand new mirror plate with a cerium oxide slurry and a felt pad.  This is the typical procedure that window cleaners will use to remove hard water spots.  Then dragging a broken piece of glass from one edge to the other.  The half that has been polished will show a perfect scratch.  The other half will show some scratching but not much.  This can also be done with acids that etch glass such as hydrofluoric and sulfuric.  To desensitize a polished surface it is necessary to treat it with a long lasting sealant.  Not one that is degraded by UVC in only a month.

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What is fascinating about this condition is that it does exist on brand new float glass.  Obviously something is happening during the manufacturing process to alter the microscopic roughness.  Right now we do not know what that is.  But we have learned that it can be created both mechanically and chemically.  In other words it can be a mechano-chemical process.  We have also learned that this type of surface can be changed.  It can be made scratch resistant.  That kind of technology opens up a brand new market for window cleaners.  Especially on post construction sites.  We can first test glass to learn which glass is scratch sensitive.  Then we can offer protection.  Both at a cost.  Which will be explained in the Glass Smart Insider.

Written by Henry Grover Jr.
henrygroverjr@gmail.com

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