Old Putty/Old glass

[FrankS]

I'm attempting to replace some glass panes with glass fom old windows I bought at an auction sale.No need to cut the old panes...they happen to be the right size and successfully cutting old glass is practically impossibe even for a glazier.The cost of new glass must be next to the price of gold or platinum..hence, the re-cycling. But, chipping old,hard putty is a bear!! Is there anything that will soften old putty? I'm not too keen to use heat.
At the moment I have about 8 panes (380x710mm) to replace and my unbroken glass success rate is about 50%.
Open to any and all suggestions
FrankS

[jackiew]

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread/t-7060.html has a discussion on putty :) a heat gun looks like the way to go.

[FrankS]

Thanks jackiew... guess I'll give the heat a try in the absence of any other putty-softening suggestions.
FrankS

[Grue]

Having done a lot of leadlight in a past life, I've removed a lot of glass from windows to use the glass.

The advice in the older thread is good but I'd shy off the heat gun. Very easy to crack the glass if it is locally heated.

I got the best results with a sharp chisel. Blade flat against the glass and at about 30 degrees to the edge. Dont try to take all the putty out in one go. the chisel edge takes the putty off the glass and a small scrape at a time will get you down until you can see the edge of the glass. Older houses, the glass was held in with brads, more modern ones, the glaziers use little diamond shaped retainers. Be careful as the brads / diamonds will play havoc with your chisel. Work around them as if you hit them you'll tend to push them into the glass, and that's the main thing that causes cracking! once the glass is out you can use heat to get the last of the putty out.

I used to use sellys putty. If you can't buy bulk, it comes in a green tin about the size of a 500 gram coffee tin. If you buy a larger quantity it's cheaper.

Best of British and take heed of the warning about the various gods out to disrupt the project.

Working on the window with it out is the go.

Glenn