I'm going nuts about nuts...

[Guest]

Dan,

Just how much is it costing you to get a new glass blown? Does it look that much better?

[Guest]

I hear and understand most of the comments posted but:

* The person (Jim)who commented on the effect who was a glass blower obviously knew what he was talking about. He mentions the expense that a glass described by others on the message board would be extremely high and he is correct. I have considered all of his options. His best alternative was to make a plastic glass. It would have been very easy and cheap for me to custom make a plastic glass to include that looked like glass however the sound of a plastic glass in this effect would ruin the effect in my opinion and the opinion of everyone I consulted with.

* I do not recommend using the tube provided in the effect for a cover as you would be able to see on the DVD. The tube they are referring to is the packaging the glass comes in. However Vernon did use a cardboard tube of a lesser quality when he performed the effect. (not a handkerchief as mentioned on the board it is very possible that "that person" saw Vernon after his flimsy cover had fallen apart.) The use of an Alpo can as mentioned on the board is a good one that is what I use with two exceptions. 1) I was wise enough to take the label off. 2) When the person that is using the "king-size" Alpo can actually gets around to doing the trick he will find it to large and that often the walnut will rest on top of the glass and fall off when the cover is lifted instead of going inside the glass.

* Yes the Reiser Routine is VERY good. (As I mention in the credits.) I almost tried to contact him to ask if it could be included. Before you opt for the Reiser routine try to classic palm a walnut. The shape is rather awkward for classic palming.

* I have to admit that 90 seconds for this routine might be a little short but I really would not think it should go over 2 min. For a trick that does not allow much interaction with the spectators. I have tape of Vernon doing the trick he was a master of presentation and his routine was short and sweet. (He simply placed a walnut in his hand waved the wand and lifted the cover each time.) The same routine with an audience is a little bit longer. I noticed the date of the post from a guy named Marty who says "in his hands the trick takes longer than 90 seconds". I know that from the day I shipped to Hocus Pocus where he claims he bought it to the date Marty posted Marty could have only had the trick for 10 days at the most. I wish I could come up with a masterpiece as quickly as Marty can.

* I looked for over a year to find a bottomless glass made out of glass the only one I could find came from Magic Inc. in Chicago. However the hole in the bottom is to big to use the Al Baker ruse of wedging items into the glass to make the glass appear as tho it has a bottom.

*Also even a P&L glass if you can find one is pretty rough around the edges perhaps the wise people at P&L realises that if the bottom of the glass is seen then the effect would be considerably less deceptive.

Brian O'Neill

[Jim Riser]

Brian;
I'm glad that you have joined in this discussion. As I mentioned in a post above, the walls of the cut hole can be mechanically polished out; but at an expense that most would not want to pay. But there are alternatives to polishing this cut.

1. Sand blast the entire base of the glass to eliminate a side view of the frosted hole sides. This is a standard glass decorating technique that is seen even on lead crystal. Audiences would most likely not think anything about the frosted region.

2. Cut (stone wheel) a series of facets around the base of the glass. Leave them in the frosted stage rather than polished out. This is also a very often used and seen technique for glassware decoration.

3. Cut (stone wheel engrave) a design around the base to mask the frosted hole.

All of these options would add to the final cost; but significantly improve the glass.

If I wanted a glass for myself, I would polish the walls of the hole, bevel/polish the top and bottoms of this hole, and cut/polish facets around the glass base. But then I have worked as a crystal engraver for 28+ years ;) and have more options than most people.
Jim

[Guest]

Hey Jim-
Thanks for the additional options. Again I say That you DO know what you are talking about when it comes to glass. There is one thing for everyone to consider however... any of these options you mention would at LEAST double the retail price of the trick.

Do you think in your expert opinion that someone that wanted to hire a person to re-make a glass as you describe could get the job done for under $100 for a glass for their own use? I am guessing that $100 would not cover their set up fees.

If there are many people out there that would be willing to pay $100 extra for a bottomless glass I am afraid I have underestimated the market.

I will also add that I think that the glass supplied is very workable in the boundaries dictated by other aspects of the effect and is the only glass I have ever seen on the market that is suitable for the trick. (See my first post)

If anyone knows of a suitable bottomless glass that is "examinable" while inverted mouth down I will start the bidding.

Brian O'Neill

[Pete Biro]

Can't one MANAGE the trick with hands, tube, handling, etc. so no one really gets a good look at the bottom of the glass when inverted??? :confused:

[Guest]

I received my set yesterday. Mr O'Neill, you never got back to me about the DVD, but I took a chance and ordered the effect anyway as I really wanted the gimmicks. The DVD does indeed play on Japanese machines; apparently the production company didn't region-encode it.

Hmmmm...the glass....

I think we all have to understand the monetary reasons the glass is produced the way it is. I probably wouldn't pay the extra hundred bucks for a glass like Jim describes.

That said, the glass provided with the trick does impose certain limitations on performers. The walnut gimmick is so good that I want to perform this close-up; the glass doesn't allow me to do that. I think the further away you have a spectator seated for this, the more impact you're going to lose with the appearance of each nut.

Has anyone figured out the "happy medium" - the best distance at which to do this trick?

Also:

I think the spectators' line of sight probably needs to be carefully managed here. An adjustable table that brings the glass as close to eye-level as possible (assuming spectators are seated) might be a good idea. This would preclude the performer being seated, so the "Completely Nuts" routine on the DVD wouldn't work. Harry Reiser's routine might be the way to go in this case.

[Jim Riser]

The ultimate bottomless glass!!!

Since we are discussing such items, I thought some of you might be interested in seeing this item:
http://www.jamesriser.com/Bottomless/Glass.html

Talk about expensive to make :eek:
Jim

[Pete Biro]

Somewhere I have some really nice bottomless glasses from Abbott's. One has a base that hides a 12=inch piece of silk and when released expands instantly to fill the glass.

Gotta see if I can find any of them.

[Jim Riser]

OK, guys. I spent some time today making an improved glass for this effect. This illustrates how I feel the glass should be designed/made. Of course, it is not commercially viable :eek:

You may see the results at:
http://www.jamesriser.com/Walnut/Glass.html

I have an idea on the other gimmick for this effect; but more on that later...

Jim

[Guest]

Okay, Jim, it would be expensive.

C'mon, tell us please. Just how expensive?

....it is a beautiful glass.

[Guest]

Wow that glass is really nice looking.

[Jim Riser]

Yes, it looks fine; but what is amazing is that from less than 3 feet away looking down on the glass at even about a 15 degree angle, you can not tell that there is a hole clear through the bottom. The combination of recessed bottom, polished bevel, polished hole walls, and subtle pattern in the glass wall itself completely disguises the hole! It just looks like an inverted glass with a recessed bottom. This really opens up the effect to more performance conditions. I love it when things are completely out in the open and yet not seen.

This glass was made as an experiment in optics - and turned out quite well. You never fully know until things get tested. I've got a whole shop full of reject experiments :D You win some and lose a few more. Such is life when experimenting.

Anyway, I thought those of you doing the effect might like to see the results.
Jim

[Guest]

Here's my 2. Here's a couple of tips, one for presentation/angles and another to subtly reinforce a solid bottom glass. To enhance the presenation, use an inverted 2nd glass(perhaps matching the feke, or a wine glass turned upside down, the the mouth up plate placed atop, then the inverted feke glass. This will add height to the feked glass at the close up table acheiving more of a ideal angle of the edge of the glass, plus it would look pretty classy. By the way, I like the idea of using the silk instead of the outer tube.
The second idea is to use the Scott/Williamson action of tapping a wand or table knife against the side and apparent bottom of the (feked) glass, while the wand actually taps against a classic palmed coin. You woludn't actually be tapping anything while hitting the underside, of course and the handling of the glass would have to correct not to flash. But this entire idea may be overkill.
By the way, Jim, your experiment came out terrific; I 'd love to have one of those.

[Guest]

Fresier- I just want to make sure that everyone knows I did get back to you at least once on 11/13/2003 when I told you that I would look into seeing if the DVD would play on your player in Japan. I did make several (long distance) calls none of them could give me a "YES" or "NO" answer. I do still have a few calls out but have not heard any reply them as of yet. I can tell you that it is encoded in DVD-R the most common format for DVDs in the world. DVD-R it is one of 7 or more formats there is no way for me to determine if it would play on your player because I do not know how old/new your player is or what formats it plays I can tell you that every DVD player I have seen in stores here in the US plays all formats with the exception of DVD +/- RAM Only Panisonic (or maybe Pioneer) plays the RAM formats. (they also play the others)DVD-R also plays on most computer DVD players you may want to check yours or a friends competer to see if will has a DVD player that will play it.

Since you did take the risk of ordering even with the question in mind the least I can do for you is offer to write up the effects on the DVD and e-mail them to you. I would be happy to, just e-mail me again to make sure I have your e-mail address stored correctly and I will start writing it up.-- Again sorry I did not get back to you a second time but thought it would be best if I waited until I knew the answer to your question.

JIM - Did I tell you guys Jim knew his stuff about cutting glass or what ?? The glass looks great Jim. -- I have heard of the glass that unscrews but have never seen one. Lord knows I want one of those!

Just for the record: I have no objection to useing a silk to cover the glass. As someone mentioned above Vernon did it that way at least once.

-- At risk of getting EVERYONE off the topic I do think that loading the glass would be easier with a tube cover than an hankercheif. - Now the part that might lead to fights: I have thought (breifly and not to the point where I can say it makes a BIG differnce) That useing a metal cover to cover the glass would make noise. And noise and the lack of noise is a big part of this trick. I don't think that I will ever do it with a silk because a silk makes no noise when it is lifted or moved. -(To think of other things I could have thought about when I was thinking about this.)

Everybody- This is the first time (well the other day) I ever got on a message board. It is kinda fun. -- Thank you to everyone who bought Completely Nuts.

-Brian O'Neill

[Guest]

Feiser-
I just re-read your post. And found that I did NOT read it correctly the first time. I have not refreshed my computer for several hours so HOPE that you see this message before you read the last. I am glad that your dvd DID play. I thought that you said that it did not. -- MY BAD! Sorry. I need to do MORE reading and less typing.

-Brian O'Neill

[mark]

Jim,
That truly is a beautiful glass. I am one of the owners of Completely Nuts, and I am just about now wishing I had considered glass work as a vocation '8) Thanks for showing us the possibilities - now I know someone will be doing this effect the way I would have liked to. Great work!

[Guest]

Mr. Riser,

The glass is extraordinary beautiful. I was stunned when I saw the pictures very nice job. I would not care for the facets btw as I dont think the walnut needs cover. It might be the same problem as with a Thumb Tip people want them hand painted but is it really necessary? I think the walnut on itself is deceptive enough.

Mr. Biro has a good point imho of covering the glass at critical moments by the way you handle it in your routine which Im all for and also do in my routine. The glass delivered at the completely nuts set will suffice for parlor but such a glass as yours together with Mr. Biro's idea can maybe bring it even more to the realm of close up magic???

The walnut trick is just fantastic Im in love :)

[Dan LeFay]

Fraser,
The glass cost me 50 euro, which is about 60$ if I'm not mistaken. I'll pick it up tomorrow morning after that I'll give a review.

Jim your glass looks absolutely unbelievable.
When I explained this "problem" to the glass-sculptor he came with some interesting suggestions for making the hole as good as invisible while sustaining a non-faceted glass.
I share Amon-Re's opinion that there is no heat at all on the prime-gimmick even if it is a little off-color.

Just an afterthought:
Remember the "myth" of Fred Kaps, who did the cigarette thru handkerchief with a hole...
Remember why it worked...for him!
Now this Walnut trick makes use of a comparable method (at least part), and it was made famous by Vernon...
Makes you wonder why, if and when it will work for us mortals, not?

[Jim Riser]

Guys, thanks for the kind words on the glass. As Dan found out, it would be less expensive to have the glass specially blown rather than cut and polished after the fact. The actual glassblowing is a matter of a few minutes whereas the cutting and polishing is very time consuming. The drawback here is finding a glassblower with high enough quality glass to look decent. Consumers are spoiled by the high quality of glass produced in ordinary items. Making bubble free crystal clear glass is not an easy task.

Dan, would you please post a picture of the final glass you get?

Those of you who have mentioned easily seen thumb tips etc., I understand your point; but I just like to provide the performer with the best props possible. We are all not Fred Kaps level of performers and can use all of the help possible.

I feel that this effect deserves the best props available - it's that good. Every effect has weak points and it never hurts to help cover up those weak spots whenever we can.
Jim

[Guest]

Brian,

No worries about the DVD. Thanks for the offer you made regarding notes on the routine.

I've been setting the plate/saucer on a crystal flower vase that brings the glass almost to spectator eye-level (when seated). This, along with careful handling of the glass seems to cover the hole well enough, even with spectators only one meter away. I'm also vanishing the walnuts using a wand.....that might be drawing some attention away from the glass.

[Guest]

I've seen the glass from Dan and it's absolutely better then the original (I hope he doesn't mind me beating him in posting here first: :D ). But of course the fair price completely nuts has now would not be possible with this glass. Though from the picture of Jim Riser I think the recessed bottom is absolutely a thing I would like too see incorporated. Because of the glass being so absolutely natural the walnuts show up very nice I hope he we'll be able to post some pictures with and without the walnuts. I'm definitely going too let the guy make me one but then with a recessed bottom if Mr. Riser does not mind.

Cheers,

Ray

[Dan LeFay]

Damn his fast typing fingers:-)

Here's what I posted at the Magic Cafe forum as well.

I had myself a glass blown. It looks very good, disarmingly simple (no engraving or facets) and from the side there is nothing to see (no frosting since the hole was molten into the glass)
I am very contend with it and will use this glass for my performances.

BUT...

Besides being a more nicer looking glass, without the tell-tale frosting and the gnarled edges it has the very same restrictions for performing as the one provided by Brian. No better, not worse.
It is not usable when spectators can view on top or inside the bottom of the glass, it's that simple.
Because I stayed away from facets and other optical enhancements(as in Jim's awesome glass)the walnuts are VERY good visible inside the glass. To me that is a big advantage because it has to be instantly seen how many walnuts are in it.
To give you a price indication, the glass cost me about 60$. It is up to you if it is worth it!
I am happy.

Oh I have to rely on my friend Amon-Re to post pictures on this forum. I have not the slightest idea how to do that.
I promise to post them later.

[Curtis Kam]

I'm pretty sure Jim Riser would have thought of this, but I haven't seen it mentioned, and on the off-chance that this is the quick and easy solution:

I once read that an old "spy" technique to make it possible to see through frosted glass was to put a piece of scotch tape on the glass. I know this works with lightly frosted glass and water, for instance. Would it be possible to apply this principle to the "frosted" rim, gaining the effect of polishing by adding to the surface, rather than by taking away? I'm thinking many applications of clear nail polish here.

[Guest]

Hi guys-

I took the John Cornelius approach to the bottomless glass problem. And thought I would take a look thru my local hardware store. Unfortunately I am no John Cornelius and could only come up with a concept and not the "perfect solution".

I was looking for something that was already mass produced with perfect edges that would work like a bottomless glass or could easily be made into one. (no luck btw) :confused:

But I did get an idea of where to look. I am now looking at light fixtures. The type that are open on both ends and a light bulb can be screwed into from the top. I found several that would "almost" work. I will post the stock number for any I think "could" be suitable.

I am not sure I will find anything but IF I can find anything for under 20 bucks I will let you all know.

-Brian O'Neill

[Guest]

Hi guys-

I took the John Cornelius approach to the bottomless glass problem. And thought I would take a look thru my local hardware store. Unfortunately I am no John Cornelius and could only come up with a concept and not the "perfect solution".

I was looking for something that was already mass produced with perfect edges that would work like a bottomless glass or could easily be made into one. (no luck btw) :confused:

But I did get an idea of where to look. I am now looking at light fixtures. The type that are open on both ends and a light bulb can be screwed into from the top. I found several that would "almost" work. I will post the stock number for any I think "could" be suitable.

I am not sure I will find anything but IF I can find anything for under 20 bucks I will let you all know.

-Brian O'Neill

[Marty]

boy you guys are really struggling with this glass thing...what did I start here anyway...
I really enjoyed the depth and concern you are showing to replace the glass.... you know sometimes the search is more exciting than the result....(uh oh I am going to start to get into trouble again...)
well I like the idea of raising the dish up some and so today after looking unsuccessfully for a flexible opening and closing little see through kind of jail cell for an elevated base... I went to Garden Ridge (craft supplies etc) and bought for $1.99 a clear plastic giant stemmed margarita glass (maybe 10" high or so). Stemnmed so the public won't fret over the base...clear so they can of course see through and plastic so it can't break under one hundred tons of pressure and abuse... when inverted the base fits exactly to the bottom circular base of the saucer I use. As said before it doesn't yet allow the trick to be done close up but it does allow maybe a standing audience (ie street wise) to be a bit closer... the problem... you don't want the special piece to roll off and quietly fall to the floor...can be managed though...

thanks again all for your thoughts on the glass...much much appreciated...now lets all get out there and resurrect this ol trick, blow the public away and have just as much fun in the process.

Marty
Greenville, SC

no nuts here!!!

[Dan LeFay]

Ha Marty you are right. The Quest for the Holy Glass (I thought I had one but it was "bad, bad , naughty Zoot!":-) is in my opinion as much fun as refining and mastering the routine.
My friend Amon-Re and I are playing with some interesting presentational ideas as well as steals...

[Marty]

...all of them not as good as my ebay beany baby squirrel!!!!!!!!!

sigh!

Marty

[Pete Biro]

So, what if you have a sort of standard bottomless glass... and you have a hinged flap, or a round piece you can add or take away to cover the opening?

Or how about a soft plastic kinda star trap on the bottom???

[Robert Allen]

Pete, the problem would still be to get the initial bottom-less-ness done without leaving the opaque ring. Perhaps if a glass were made of that stuff used to make laboratory glassware it could be more easily manufactured....that stuff softens and bends under a gas flame.

Jims idea of using a lucite/plastic glass is probably the most straightforward. There are lots of nice plastic glasses out there, and plastic doesn't break at inopportune times. Scratching over time might be an issue, but plastic can be polished out, or, a new gimmick can simply be made.

I don't see a star trap, in principle or execution (i..e any flap trap) to be very practical to manufacture use.

If you wanted to cover the hole "before" starting the trick, you could use a clear piece of that flexible plastic they use to cover LED displays on new computers/home AV equipment (or for those old enough, the stuff used on the Colorforms toys. Is this what Norm Nielsen uses on his labels?). Put a little tab on one side of the disk and let it self adhere to the outside bottom of the glass. If the walnuts are wedged in so they don't rest on the bottom of the glass, you could bring out the glass with the walnuts in it and disk on the outsdide, dump the walnuts out giving a quick reflection off the inside "bottom" of the glass (i.e. the disk) then palm off the flexible disk as you put the glass down. But this would have to be on a custom glass in order to, again, get rid of that opaque ring.

[Jim Riser]

Pete;
You are over complicating things. The idea is to make the opening invisible or very very difficult to detect from a rather wide range of viewing angles.

Dan's new glass should conceal the hole walls; but without a recessed bottom, the angle problem is not solved. Ray, feel free to have a recessed bottom glass made. IMHO this recessed bottom is necessary. I further wanted the extra facets to reflect light to confuse the view of the gaping hole.

Robert, making the glass out of borosilicate glass is how I would make one - if doing it from scratch. In quantity they would be cheaper. This would best be done on a Litton lathe with gas or propane and oxygen flame. After making, the glass would still require annealing.

I, myself, would not even consider doing this effect without a deceptive glass. It is simply too good to risk someone saying "You have a hole in the glass"! I'm fussy, though, and do not do anything without top notch equipment.

BTW - by email I suggested to Dan Watkins several days ago about trying clear nail polish or, even better, heavy brushing lacquer to tone down the hole walls on the standard glass. I have not yet heard back from him on whether he tried this.
Jim

[Guest]

I think the whole idea of adding extra disks and such just to try to convince an audience there is no hole is starting to work too hard with diminishing returns.

If the hole is obvious, its obvious, I don't think removable disks are going to do anything but complicate things by having to deal with ringing in and out an extra item - as if the walnuts weren't hard enough to manage.

I think the routine has enough built in "sells" on the solidity of the glass.

1. The biggest one is your spectators have no clue what you are going to do, and have no reason to suspect you have a hole in the glass.

2. In the beginning you have all the walnuts in the glass before you dump them out - implying a solid glass.

3. At the end, you toss all the walnuts back into the glass and right it - again implying a solid glass.

So really the only danger of being caught is for the spectator to visually see the hole due to angles or proxmity. Extra disk or not, that fact shall remain.

[mark]

Jim,
I just wanted you to know that your idea of clear polish or laquer on the inside lip of the glass works like gangbusters. I used some stuff my wife had called No More Peeling by Sally Hansen, and from looking at the outside of the rim, there is no more of that effect where the rim magnifies the frosted appearance of the drill job. I have to tell you, short of talking you out of the glass you made, this is as close a solution as we are likely to find with this prop. I am just amazed at the difference in appearance of the glass. I am going to try successive coats to see if it will smooth it out a bit. Thanks, Jim for all of your concern and suggestions about the glass. I had nearly given this effect up until that "Eureka" moment when I spotted the perfect glass. This might just make it work for me (unless you get really tired of that old worthless glass with a hole in it sitting around your shop gathering dust). Thanks, Jim!

[Bill Mullins]

For the techno-geeks among us . . ..

Why does painting the surface with nail polish help? The snowy surface results from reflections at the air/glass interface. since the surface is irregular (sanded), there are many microscopic facets, each acting like a mirror that reflects the light in a different direction. Polishing the surface, like Riser does, reduces millions of facets to one smooth facet, so that the reflections aren't so random, and then look consistent with what a glass should look like.

The amount of light reflected at each microscopic facet depends on the fact that the index of refraction on the glass side of the surface is higher than that on the air side. Putting nail polish, which has an index higher than air, on the sanded surface matches the indexes, and therefore less light reflects at that interface, and so the snowy surface disappears. Light still reflects at the polish/air interface, though, but that is smooth, and it looks better.

The perfect nail polish would be one that had the same index of refraction as glass.

Wetting the surface works too, but not as well, since water (or most other liquids) have an index that is higher than air but less than glass. The same physics occur when you put alcohol on an envelope to read through it.

[Guest]

Bill, I was just about to point that out myself......no, really....... :p

[Guest]

I've been playing with this quite a bit and have performed Riser's routine (I was initially using a wand) about a dozen times for people now.

As stated before, I set the saucer on an inverted crystal (transparent) flower vase which brings the glass (when on the saucer) just about to eye level with seated spectators.

After the revelation of each walnut, I remove the glass pretty quickly and set it down upright before picking up the walnuts. People are given enough time to notice the walnuts under the glass, but not enough for their eyes to wander. When handling the glass, it is in one of two positions: 1) resting flat on my palm, or 2) gripped on the lip by my thumb and index finger, slightly tilted towards the spectators.

I have been performing this at the same table the specs are sitting at, and haven't had the hole noticed once! However, I did have one rather observant friend figure out a fourth walnut was at play - a fake walnut at that; he said the color was different. It is. Walnuts in the shell are very hard to find over here, so I've had to settle for less than a perfect match.

I'm going to try out this routine the day after tomorrow at a dinner party (70 people). I plan to follow it up with the revelation of a vanished bill to nut, where a spectator chooses the walnut the bill appears in (without a switch....honest ;) ).

I'm currently considering the vanish/switch of the bill/recorded serial number using a stack of pay envelopes. Any other ideas? A himber wallet perhaps?

[Guest]

Originally posted by Mark Jens:
Jim,
I just wanted you to know that your idea of clear polish or laquer on the inside lip of the glass works like gangbusters. I used some stuff my wife had called No More Peeling by Sally Hansen, and from looking at the outside of the rim, there is no more of that effect where the rim magnifies the frosted appearance of the drill job. I have to tell you, short of talking you out of the glass you made, this is as close a solution as we are likely to find with this prop. I am just amazed at the difference in appearance of the glass. I am going to try successive coats to see if it will smooth it out a bit. Thanks, Jim for all of your concern and suggestions about the glass. I had nearly given this effect up until that "Eureka" moment when I spotted the perfect glass. This might just make it work for me (unless you get really tired of that old worthless glass with a hole in it sitting around your shop gathering dust). Thanks, Jim!

Agreed! I bought a $2.00 bottle of Sally Hansen "Hard as Nails" Clear and the difference is remarkable. This is an excellent solution!

[Jim Riser]

Originally posted by Fraser Gould:
I've been playing with this quite a bit <snip> and haven't had the hole noticed once! However, I did have one rather observant friend figure out a fourth walnut was at play - a fake walnut at that; he said the color was different. It is. Walnuts in the shell are very hard to find over here, so I've had to settle for less than a perfect match.

Fraser;
I would merely airbrush the real walnuts and fake all the same - so there is no color difference. A few minutes work and you have a perfectly matched set. Of course, if you are going to crack into one, you'll want to paint up a stack of extras.
Jim

[Guest]

Ok I also just fixed my glass.

A friend of mine when I originally bought the glass said that I should cover the hole with a thin film of superglue.

I never did it.

Jim then also suggested coating with a thin film of clear nail polish.

After reading Fraser's success I also just got an email from a friend who tried the superglue and that also worked for him.

I did not have nail polish, but I had superglue so I said what the heck and tried it.

The glass literally looks 10 times better. The frosting is completely gone and the hole is now translucent. The same angle considerations are still there (can't look down on the glass) but one would be extremely hard pressed to catch anything from the side now.

My advice to Brian would be to thinly coat the hole of every glass sold from this point forward.

Dan

[Curtis Kam]

Well, let's hear it for the collectors of "useless" knowledge! For those of you still seeking to appease your inner geek, I recall Sam Dalal reporting in an old Swami that olive oil has the same refractive index as glass. Theoretically the best fix, if you could find a convenient way to apply it.