How to Make Landscape Glass
Tumbled glass is a colorful substitute for natural rock or gravel in a water-saving garden or desert landscape. Landscape glass comes from recycled glass bottles, plates and jars, or new glass sheets that are cut and processed to create smooth-edged glass that is safe for landscaping. Make landscape glass in batches at home by using a rock tumbler the rock collectors use, or buy a vibrating tumbler that uses ultrasound to process large amounts of glass faster.
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Things You'll Need
- Work gloves
- Safety Glasses
- Newspaper
- Used glass
- Pillowcase
- Hammer
- Grozier pliers
- Specialty glass sheets
- Glass cutter
- Rock tumbler
- Water
- Grit
- Petroleum jelly
- Bins
Instructions
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1
Wear safety glasses and heavy work gloves before working with any glass. Cover the work surface with a couple of layers of old newspaper.
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2
Place the used glass items in a pillowcase. Break the glass with a hammer. Empty the glass onto the newspaper. Clean up the glass edges with grozier pliers.
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3
Cut new sheets of glass into small pieces or shapes with a glass cutter. Fill a rock tumbler to no more than 2/3 full of glass, and add 2 to 3 tbsp. medium fine or coarse grit. Add enough water to cover the glass, apply petroleum jelly to the lid to prevent leaks, then close and secure the tumbler lid.
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4
Carefully discard the old newspaper and any residual glass in the pillowcase. Move the rock tumbler to a garage or a basement floor to minimize any noise, and turn it on.
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5
Tumble the glass for two to four days, adding more water or grit as necessary. Check the tumbler daily to see if the glass edges are smooth enough to use for landscaping.
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Place the finished glass in a bin or a container until you make enough glass for your landscaping project.
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Tips & Warnings
Experiment with different types of grit or sand to see what effect they have on the glass.
The longer the glass tumbles, the smoother and rounder the cut edges become.
If you want to take off the glass’ sharp edges without completely smoothing them, add a drop of liquid dishwashing detergent instead of grit, and tumble the glass for 30 minutes.
Rock and vibrating tumblers are available in home models up to 12 lb. fill capacity and industrial models up to 57 lb. fill capacity.
Do not overfill the tumbler, check the manufacturer’s instructions on the correct level to fill the rock tumbler.
Do not reuse the pillowcase for bedding as a safety precaution.
Do not cover the tumbler with a blanket to minimize noise because of the potential fire hazard.
References
Resources
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