If you have ever worried about ground glass for a vintage camera or in my case, for making a scan mount for negatives. Then this is for you.

It doesn’t take long to make a ground glass and it is a very painless process..

To start, you need some picture glass or similar cut to size, a block of wood, some double-sided tape and some 600 grit Silicon Carbide powder (this is the stuff you use to make sandpaper).

I used two pieces of glass, one at 23cm x 10cm for my negative holder (the bit that needed to be ground) and another 8cm x 8cm that would do the polishing work.

1. Stick this polishing glass to the block of wood using the double-sided tape

2. Place the glass to be ground on a flat slightly forgiving surface (I used a cardboard carton)

3. Place a teaspoon of Silicon Carbide powder on the glass.

4. Mix this with a litte dishwashing soap and water

5. Start to polish the glass using your block mounted polishing glass. Use a circular motion and don’t push too hard.

6. After about 10 minutes, carefully wash and clean the ground glass (remember which side you are grinding it can be difficult to tell!)

Dry the glass to see if you need to polish any areas you missed.

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