Glass bottomed tankard repair?

[Surrey Yeoman]

Perhaps not exactly "Bushcraft", but does anyone have any idea how to stop a glass bottomed tankard leaking? It was presented to me about 10 years ago when I was posted away from the unit I was on at the time. It's had regular use since then , but alas, it's started leaking from the seal around the glass base. I've toyed with the idea of running a bit of varnish around it or even using windscreen sealer (if such a thing is still available!), but I was wondering if anyone on the forum had any knowledge of the way to do it?

I like using my tankard and I'd be unhappy to relegate it to a shelf as an ornament.

 

[FreddyFish]

What about clear silicon sealer (aka bathroom sealer)

 

[mr dazzler]

Try going to a window company that make the cut glass window and door panels. They use a UV curing clear resin to bond the cut glass pattern pieces to the toughened panel's. It works by cappillary. They use a UV lamp to cure it (a minute or 2) then its solid. I used to do this for a living , one time I repaired a pinhole in a sigg bottle with this resin. Once the join is sealed, you can trim excess resin off with a knife or chisle (it goes like a plastic sheet after curing)
Good luck

 

[Biker]

What about clear silicon sealer (aka bathroom sealer)

Might not be such a good idea as the chemicals in that sealant are pretty toxic. Gawd knows what nasties could leech out into the beer and make it taste funny.

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

Thanks for the suggestions freddy & dazzler.

I agree with biker that the bathroom sealant is probably a no-go due to toxins and tainting the taste of the beer, but I may well see if I can find a local source for the glazing sealer.

Still open to suggestions from anyone else...................

Cheers

 

[maddave]

What Mr Dazzler said is the way to go. It's the same stuff they use to repair car windscreen chips and even without a UV lamp if you do it on a sunny day and leave the tankard in full sunlight for an hour it will "go off" and it'll be a better seal than anything else. Clean and impervious to almost anything... But maybe not one of Mr Fenna's evil concoctions..

 

[wattsy]

could you not just use beeswax sort of use it like solder around the bottom?

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

Not sure, but I reckon the beeswax would taint the ale. I'm not sure how permanent the beeswax would be either, but thanks for taking the time to post a suggestion.

 

[greasemonkey]

Might not be such a good idea as the chemicals in that sealant are pretty toxic. Gawd knows what nasties could leech out into the beer and make it taste funny.

Tropical fish shops sell sealants that are non-toxic. Could be worth a try?

 

[superc0ntra]

There is something called liquid glass which is basically silicone dioxide in a solvent. Don't know where to acquire it though

 

[g4ghb]

Might not be such a good idea as the chemicals in that sealant are pretty toxic. Gawd knows what nasties could leech out into the beer and make it taste funny.

I've always 'fitted' silicone sealant by licking my finger and smoothing it down, wiping in some tissue and repeating the process - it's never done me any harm any harm any harm

...... anyways beer naturally tastes funny - well it did when I tried it last 24 years ago

 

[Gailainne]

I'm presuming this is a pewter tankard ?, the aquarium sealant (silicon) may be your best bet, your problem will be getting a fine bead of it where it will do the most good, ie inside the bottom of your tankard, perhaps buy some silicon tubing as well. A wetted metal spoon is a good medium for smoothing silicon once applied.

I would imagine (if it is pewter) the glass was soldered(leaded) in place, not something I would risk fixing the same way.

Thinking about it some more, beeswax may be the easiest solution, quite a few of us use leather tankards which are beer proofed using beeswax, and I must say I've never noticed it effecting the taste. If you can locate the leak point, it would be relatively easy to position a few flakes of beeswax and melt them into place with a soldering iron on low, or heating a spoon handle and filleting the beeswax into place.

However you do it, I hope you are successful, and it has many years more use.

Cheers

Stephen

 

[Surrey Yeoman]

Thanks for all the ideas guys.

It is a pewter tankard, with a glass bottom so I can see if the recruiting sergeant has slipped a shilling into the pint he's bought me.

I like the idea of something that will work itself into the joint by capilliary action, so that the repair is invisible. I'll keep hunting around, but either Dazzler's suggestion or the beeswax is maybe the way to go after all.

I reckon that some finely grated beeswax in the bottom of the base on the outside, heated with a hot air gun gently and evenly on the metal rim and the glass could be the way to go. Hopefully it'd then work its way into the leak by capilliary action, the excess would be easy to wipe away and the quantity involved would be so small as to not affect the taste of the contents.

Cheers

 

[Zingmo]

I recently found a glass bottomed pewter tankard in a skip. Unfortunately it leaks. Did any of the above solutions work?

Z