Guardian Inspiration Glass

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stshof

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Sep 16, 2002
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1,194
Location
Ohatchee, AL
Guardian glass has finally made it to my area of Alabama! I did a search and read the last post a year ago. I'm really anxious to try it and wonder what y'all think of it?
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Guardian is one of the largest glass manufacturers in the world. They supply base glass to many of the suppliers we already use.

A great advantage of the conservation products is that it has a plastic film in the coated side, this protecting it from scratching when shorts are stored.
 
We have used the 2 mm clear glass for years and now use the clear conservation glass.

I'm not crazy about the non glare, but then I'm not a fan of non glare a all.
 
I tried some of this stuf....really liked how thefilm protects the glass----HATED how much trouble it was to handle/cut the glass... mount it in the cutter(make real sure the film side faces away from you, cut to size, take everything out og the cutter, put it on prep table(bend it at the break so it'll stand better on its own, refind the razor blade to cut the film, hold everything with 1 hand while trying to cut the film at the break(it likes to wander into the glass if the angle isnt JUST right), hold both pieces of glass while figuring out just what to do with the 'unwanted' piece, put everything BACK into the cutter and go thru the entire process for the next cut......just toooo much trouble for the benifit
 
The rep from Michigan came by yesterday and said it will be paper packed; the plastic film was not cost effective anymore. I'll try the UV clear first - thanks for your replies!
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I think the plastic film makes it hard to handle the cut off too. I stock only a few sizes so often have fairly large pieces left dangling and not enough hands to hold both pieces and wield a razor. The instructions in the box say to score the film side but it doesn't work for me? Price and clarity are good but it does look different than Tru Vue. I wonder if this will cause any problems in the future if a customer hangs the two types side by side? The info also also explains how to minimize the little chips or flakes of glass that could scratch the the coated side but this has not worked for me either. I think it definetly chips more than Tru Vue. I hope they start providing those nice little stickers for the dust cover too. I like to use them. Right now my Gaurdian glass gets a Tru Vue sticker (sorry) as I'm too lazy to print up labels for them.
 
OOps! Maybe I'm not talking about the same glass? Recently one of my suppliers started sending me a new c.c. glass. I see it is Artist Choice by Knight Industries. It sounds similar but maybe not the same thing? Above comments apply to this glass. Anyone else?
 
Terry, Ive used that glass. When scoring it apply a little extra pressure to the scoring wheel and it should go through the film.

Or you could use the plexi blade. JUST KIDDING!
 
No, this is not Artist Choice. This is called Inspiration UV Glass by Guardian. It looks very different than the Tru Vue - it's not green for one thing and the UV coating is not rolled on so there is no texture like on Tru Vue. The sample I have(4"x4")is gorgeous! ;)
 
stshof....you beat me to this thread. We had a Guardian rep come by yesterday with a sample. It is the same thickness as TV and it looks great b/c you can't see the roller marks like with TV. I am gonna try it.

Oh yeah, and it's a little cheaper than TV!
 
You can't see the roller marks, but you will see a rainbow under some (too many I think) conditions.

The guardian UV is sprayed on and the TV is rolled. The roller can give you the "orange peel" effect, but the spray (because the technology doesn't enable absolutely perfect uniformity) can give you the rainbow effect.

DenGlas has a UV clear that is dipped with neither of those signature atributes, but it is more expensive from most distributors.

This explanation was given to me by an engineer at Guardian.
 
Oh yeah, the "new" TV is "less green" than the old. Look for a case with "ExtraClear Low Iron" on the tape sealing the box.

Guardian has those stickers for the back. Ask your sales rep.
 
G'day all,
My business is distributing Guardian glass in South Australia, and I'd like to make the following remarks . . .

Do cut it on the film side (UV coating is protected under the blue film).
This is a huge advantage of the glass . . . not having any overly special handling, storage issues etc.

If using a wall cutter (Fletcher 3100 etc) : Ok,ensure wheel is fairly new and sharp, tungsten ones give longer life.
Film to you, hold the little lever (that you depress to bring up the cutting arm) up with gentle thumb pressure.
This keeps the wheel cutting through the film nicely.

To give you an idea of what I mean, bring the cutter up like normal, bring down onto the glass edge, and release thumb lever.
You can still lift the spring loaded arm off the glass with your finger.
Now gently lift the lever with your thumb, and hold up lightly as far as it will go, the spring loaded arm will now not lift off the glass.

Ok, keep the thumb lightly upwards on the arm as you bring the cutting unit down along the glass to cut.
Then run as normal.

The offcut goes in the rack, protected, identifiable, etc.

When using the glazing piece, leave the film on right up to assembly.
With the frame held up at an angle to the bench, pre peel a corner of the film up a little, put the glass (film to artwork) in the frame, peel off the remaining film SLOWLY to avoid static, hold the frame and glass there in mid air for 10 or 15 seconds (any remaining static dissipates) and the package can then be brought straight into the package and assembled.

No cleaning of this side is required, unless you go and touch it.

Ensure dust free package etc (as you usually would) to avoid having to take apart again.

I think Art Guard / Artists Choice might be the same product . . . TruVue are now using Guardian low iron base glass, I believe, so whiter like the Guardian Inspiration UV.

Wanna know how to hand cut it ?
 
It's exciting to see new glass products and some competition in the market. For a very long time, you could choose between regular and "non-glare" (i.e. shower door) glass, and even those products have been vastly improved in quality and packaging.

It seems like glass, matboard and fomeboard products are getting better and moulding is heading the other direction (with notable exceptions in all four areas.)

Sorry, my mind just took one of its side trips.
 
Well, the Artista Choice instructs you to decrease wheel pressure to keep it from flaking so badly but even with decreased pressure it still flakes badly (is this the case with Gaurdian?)so I'll try increasing the pressure and cutting through the film. Anyone else carrying both brands right now? What are you going to do? Either one is ok by me but side by side on a white mat....
 
Terry,
The instructions we get here with the glass say have the screw in pressure knob about half way.
I find this too much usually, though older springs will be weaker etc.
Usually just a little pressure is fine (I've actually almost taken all pressure off the wheel and found it fine), by holding the lever up you keep it cutting through the film anyway, and this eliminates 'spalling' pretty much totally.
9 out of 10 framers here use wall cutters, and generally no problems at all with this method.
Still, if anyone wants to know the secrets of hand cutting, let me know (to save a number of paragraphs explaining in detail
!).
 
Terry, HotGlass,

If I used only Artist / Guardian I would be tempted to crank up the pressure on my Fletcher 3000. But since I cut all kinds of glass and mat and fome on it I don't feel justified in dedicating the machine to any one product!


I just learn the cutting needs and characteristics of the materials I am using and proceed accordingly, know what I mean? Like using a fresh slipsheet with the Bainbridge browns 'cause anything less doesn't work! Or scoring CCGlass on the uncoated side and filmed glass on the film side ;) Raising the air pressure on hardwoods and dropping it on softwoods.

We all do this, just costs us a little in the learning period. I can't guess how many frames I've crushed because the pressure was too high on the v-nailer, or how many sheets of glass I've trashed because the cutter wheel was dull!
 
When I first used the Guardian product, I found that the pressure adjustment on our Fletcher 3000 wall cutter required adjustment, but also found a setting that was acceptable for both Tru-Vue and Guardian.

Our 3000 pressure adjustment has a range of 10 full turns.

Using a 124 degree carbide wheel:
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  • Tru-Vue could be scored with a setting range of 1.75 to 8.5 turns</font>
  • Guardian, scored through the blue film scored with a setting range beginning at 4.75 turns.</font>
We chose to set the pressure adjustment to 5.5 turns and all worked fine for us.

We also found that the score was much better if we used a 114 degree carbide wheel, but none of our regular suppliers stocked that cutting wheel. Additionally, the 114 degree cutter only lasted about 1/10 the time of a 124 degree carbide wheel. (1 month vs 10 months)

We liked the Guardian product, but it's just one of those things that cannot be obtained in our area. If memory serves me, Knight and Aetna are the two packagers for Guardian.
 
I don't know what degree my cutting wheel is. I can't even remember it coming up before. I'll have to look into it. It doesn't seem to say on the packaging. All I know is that they are Fletcher wheels, fit my cutter and cut glass. No one is using both TV and the other and is concerned about the color difference between them?
 
Rick
The 114 is for "Art" glass, not "Art under glass".

Because of the the tides and grains in artglass, the cutter needs to be "sharper" for a deeper score. But like hollow-grinding chopper blades, the thinner cutting edge wears quicker.

Use the 124 self oiling for a longer lasting tool.
 
Terry,
TV is switching to low iron glass, actually supplied be Guardian I believe (!), and this is likely rolling out there now already.

Guardian will still give a smoother finish, without the grain though, so still some aesthetic benefit there.

Actually, I have had feedback that using TV, and doing regular work for collectors etc, you have to remember which way you glaze a particular clients work, so the grains all run the same, either horizontal or vertical.
 
I'm the guy that uses four brands of matboard. Well, three, now that Miller is Crescent. I like variety.

But, except for dabbling in Image Perfect for a while, I've used Tru-Vue glass exclusively for so long that trying anything else seems nearly sacrilegious and a little scary.

I'll get over it, but it'll take some effort.
 
I don't think it matters which cutting wheels have been used in the past for scoring various materials.

Guardian was recommending that the 114 degree wheel be used for best performance in cutting the film and scoring their product but noted the 124 degree wheel also yields acceptable results.

Fletcher part numbers which can be used to determine the cutter angle for those who are interested.

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  • 03-111 = 134 degrees</font>
  • 03-125 = 114 degrees</font>
  • 03-126 = 124 degrees</font>
 
Can anyone tell me if they are noticing any color shift in the Guardian product. When it first came out they were touting a 98% UV filtering and to my eye there was a color shift towards yellow, a natural result of beginning to filter some of the visible violet range.

It would be nice to know though fairly moot since we, too, have no delivery.
 
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