Cannon | MacInnes

This large etched door had been accidentally hit by a scaffold pole. It broke into hundreds of tiny pieces.

Fortunately, the neighbour's door was intact. Thin paper was stretched over the neighbour's dore, and detailed rubbings were made.

A very large jigsaw was then constructed on top of the rubbing using the broken glass fragments. It was easy to see exactly where the impact had occurred.

A new sheet of 10mm glass was placed on top of the rubbing, and a new cartoon was carefully cut out of fablon, drawn on the surface.

The glass sheet was then fed slowly through a sandblast cabinet to deeply etch the design into the glass.

Some of the fablon was removed, and the glass was fed through the sandblaster for a second time.

A final layer of sandblasting, creating an image made out of different textured layers within the glass.

The size of the glass is approximately 3' wide x 6' high. Here the glass is being fed through the industrial sandblaster.

After each sandblast, a layer of fablon is carefully removed.

A transparent glass enamel is lightly painted into the deep grooves.

This process is painstakingly slow. No enamel must be allowed onto the flat surface of the glass.

The finished painting is exquisitely detailed.

The clear enamel is white before firing, but turns completely clear around 700 degrees Celsius.

Detail of the finished door panel in situ.

Detail of the finished panel in situ.

Detail of the finished panel in situ

Finished door panel, with original side panels, showing a very good visual match.