Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass Paperweights => Topic started by: christinewalling!2364 on October 10, 2021, 07:29:47 AM
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Having been learning from this forum through replies and also i am learning much from reading a lot of the previous queries and answers, and being at the beginning of my knowledge, I note some queries, do seem to be often only answered in certainty with the use of a uv light, and also note that there is short wave and long wave light. Can anyone shed a bit more light, excuse the pun, on this methodology? Which type of light is for what info? Are these lights expensive? Is it worth acquiring them or does one need an infinite amount o& knowledge of the weights anyways before a light would be of any use. Interested to hear any thoughts behind this?
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Hi. There has been quite a lot of discussion over the the years about the value of UV testing. Some people believe it can help with ID, others think it is so unreliable it is a waste of time. What you do is shine UV light (of whatever wavelength the light you buy emits, and this can vary) onto the glass. This can excite fluorescence in the glass, depending upon what metallic elements it contains, and how these are bound within the glass structure. Users then look at it and make a purely subjective assessment of the colour and strength of any fluorescence(with descriptions such as 'pale straw colour' or 'misty blue' etc). So different people (with different eyes) can give very different descriptions, especially if they use different make lights. A detailed scientific study around 50 years ago showed that the UV fluorescence of the same glass can vary, depending on the gases in the glory hole at the time of production. In my view, it may be useful for telling you whether something is lead glass, but that is about it.
alan
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Many thanks for you4 intersti g info, it is partly as I had thought, and I think I will need a lot more knowledge anyways before embarking this route, many thanks, alan