Opal Glass

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

I need a piece of opal glass such as those for sale here:

http://www.anchoroptics.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=282

Do you know of an online store in the EU that sells the same?
I searched Ebay for "opal glass" but a huge number of weird jewelry showed up Rolling Eyes

Sure I can buy from that US store, but that would mean high shipping costs and customs charge. Mad

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Opals are a Type of gemstone from Australia...hence the jewelery showing up in your search... Very Happy

Sorry I can't help with the glass you are looking for.

sichko · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 2475 Location: South West UK

Does it have to be glass ? Opal acrylic is readily available from ebay.

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Scheimpflug · Expire: 2011-11-18

sichko · Joined: 20 Jun 2008 Posts: 2475 Location: South West UK

You could always use a sheet of glass as a rigid support and the acrylic as a diffuser.

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Thanks Scheimpflug, I will examine Edmund's Optics.
And Sichko, that's a good idea also to make a layer.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Orio, several months back, I built a light table from a wooden wine case and a sheet of translucent, milk-white acrylic, about 1/8" thick. Inside the box I located a couple of fluorescent light fixtures. I use it for illuminating slides and for backlighting small objects for close-up photography. If you don't require something dead flat, a sheet of acrylic will work just fine.

Mine wasn't very cheap, though. Got the wine box for nothing. The hardware -- hinges and a latch -- cost me a few bucks. The two fluorescent fixtures are the cheapo ones that cost about $8 each and are meant for attaching under a cabinet in a kitchen or shop or such for extra light. But the shop that sells the plastic stuff charged me almost $20 for a 2 foot square piece of the acrylic. That was really expensive, I felt, but they don't have a lot of competition around here, so I just paid it. I cut the acrylic to fit the box, then tried gluing it to the sides of the box, but that didn't work, so I used a drill and screws and mounted it that way.

So anyway, the project was a success. I probably have a little over $40 in it, but it ended up costing me a LOT less than a store-bought light table.

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

A shop that specializes in stained glass supplies may have a sheet of opal glass.

Some folks have made excellent ground glass by sanding one side of a sheet of plate glass, starting with 400-grit and progressing to 800-grit sandpaper.

greg · Expire: 2012-12-03

If you have a company near by that sandblasts metal, such as car repair or building restoration, they might simply sandblast a piece of flat tempered glass for you. The tempered glass would support quite a bit of weight as it is usually 1/4 inch thick.

marty · Joined: 09 Apr 2009 Posts: 767 Location: Italy

I used opal plexiglass to make a lightbox for reviewing slides. Comes in 2mm sheets from home improvement store. I don't know if it's rigid enough for your purpose, of course it bows a bit. This is not a problem for me since it sits on a wooden frame, but your setup may be different.

Cheers, M.

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productid=1671 select ITALY as country, they have a representative there (at least they let you select Italy).

I would also talk to companies that make glass windows, mirrors as they often buy from glass wholesalers that may have opalized glass in their program. Much cheaper usually...

Opalized Plexiglass is also available thicker (5mm), but it prone to scratching and easily bends under weight.