Making your own ground-glass, made easy

By: George S. Pearl, QPP

You know, I made some ground glass once upon a time by just getting some clear 1/8 inch or 1/16th inch clear glass and then applying some frosted sticky overlay film to the glass. Sounds like it could not possibly work, but the results were terrific. There was no difference that I could tell between the real ground glass and my invented stuff.

The film is applied using some soapy water sprayed onto the glass and then pull the release paper off of the overlay film and stick it on. Just set the sticky side of the film onto the glass and then squeegee out all of the water and bubbles. Let the glass and film dry overnight before you trim around the glass any film hanging over. Just cut/trim it off with an Xacto blade. There you have it… Pearl’s secret recipe for making your own ground glass!

The name of the overlay film to put on the glass is called: Scotchcal Electro Cut Marking Film made by the 3M company. Just find a 3M dealer in your area to order some. I would think that other “frosted” overlay films of this type could also be used the same way. Check out a good art supply store for other types of these plastic optically clear films.


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