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How to Repair a Crack in a Glass Pipe

Cracked glass is much easier to repair than broken glass.
broken interior glass door image by ooooo from Fotolia.com

Glass has long been used to make smoking pipes. Unlike pipes made of brier wood or meerschaum clay, glass does not absorb any flavors or tastes left behind by the tobacco. Glass pipes come in many styles; some are modeled after traditional pipe forms while others are best described as "experimental." Any style of glass pipe can be cracked through misuse. Although cracks can be repaired with many substances, glass repair kits should repair the structural damage as well as minimize any cosmetic damage to the pipe.

Find a glass repair kit suitable for fixing the crack in the pipe. Many repair kits are designed to fix automobile windshields and glass counter tops, but some are designed for nonflat surfaces. These kits usually consist of a liquid solution that is applied directly to the crack.

Clean and dry the pipe around the cracked area. Place the pipe in the small bowl of sand with the crack facing upward. The sand will hold the pipe steady as the repair solution is applied. If the crack is too large to be reached easily when in the sand, use other things, such as clamps, to hold the pipe in place.

Apply the glass repair solution to the cracked area. Make sure the solution fills all of the visible cracks and that it is applied evenly over the cracked area. Leave the pipe in the sand until the solution is dry.

Use the razor blade to carefully scrape off the excess solution to smooth the area around the crack. Polish the area with the jeweler's rouge, a special polishing cloth designed to be used on glassware, to smooth off any bumps left by the razor blade. Use the polishing cloth to finish smoothing the area around the crack. The solution should conceal the crack and also keep the crack from becoming worse.

Things You'll Need:

  • Glass repair kit
  • Sand
  • Razor blade
  • Jeweler's rouge
  • Polishing cloth

Warnings:

  • Smoking can cause disease and cancer. Glass repair solution should only be applied to the external areas of the pipe. Do not use the repair kit on any area that is directly exposed to heat, such as the inside of the bowl.
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