Cutting Toughend glass

[Mike Taylor]

it will just shatter Go on try it on one piece with your grinder and prove the whole world wrong Let us know though LOL

[Stuart]

Is there any way to cut toughened glass.

I have a dozen toughened (not laminated) glass shelves that are 48"x12" I need them to be 40"x12"

what would happen if I used a stone cutting disc in my 10" angle grinder (using lots of water)?

Personally I think the glass will just shatter, however I am quite reluctent to pay £150-£200 for new glass when I have these bigger sizes lying around doing nothing!

[Peter Parry]

Only by heat treating it first to reverse the toughening - it is rarely economic to do this.

Glass sugar crystals.

[MrCheerful]

I believe you would have to heat the glass, then let it cool slowly (the opposite of the toughening process) then you should be able to cut it. You could ask in a windscreen place that does commercial/industrial work, as they cut glass to size for tractors etc.

MrCheerful

[Andy Dingley]

Water jet cutter can do it.

There is no known useful purpose for this, other than for the operators of water jet cutters to show off !

In practical terms, get some new glass.

[Mary Fisher]

Well, be honest Andy, if you had the equipment and opportunity wouldn't you?

:-)

Mary

[Parish]

I used to write s/w to drive such machines. One of my colleagues brought back from a visit to a customer a piece of 1.5" thick stainless steel that had been cut with a water jet - now _that's_ showing off :-)

[Mike Harrison]

May be worth finding someone with water-jet cutting facilities.... Yellow Pages perhaps ?

[Dave Stanton]

Surely Parish would know as he used write the S/W for them.

Dave

[Parish]

I don't work for the s/w house anymore, although I could certainly find out who their customers are, but a quick Google (.co.uk) threw up a shedload of matches.

Bear in mind though that machine time is probably charged out at well over £100/hr.

One other point, the existing shelves probably have bevelled and polished edges which are done before the glass is tempered so you would end up with 2 (or 4) sharp square edges which couldn't be bevelled. All things considered, having new ones made would likely be the cheapest and most convenient option.

Parish

[Carl Olsen]

Stuart,

As mentioned in some of the other replies, waterjet can do this. Waterjets are used for cutting glass quite frequently for the stained glass, archetectural, artistic, and optics markets. Note: if what you mean by "toughned glass" is "tempered glass", then the answer is "No, you can't cut it". If the glass is truely "tempered" then there is no known way to cut it - even waterjet, unless you anneal the glass first, then cut it, then re-temper it. A waterjet can cut bullet-proof and just about all other kinds of glass, though.

Even with waterjet, and even if the glass is not tempered, there is still some risk of cracking durring the piercing process (like if you need to cut a hole). If you plan to have this waterjet cut, be sure to find a shop that has experience with working with glass, and equipment that has low pressure piercing capability. (or just cut from the side of the glass without piercing)

For some pictures of waterjet-cut glass, visit:

you want to learn more about this technology, I suggest you visit my web site at:

you can learn the capabilities of water jets (abrasivejets, actually), and there are links to hundreds of job shops around the world that can do the work for you if needed.

Good Luck,

Carl [e-mail] Waterjet Web Reference Web Master

[Stuart]

Many thanks to all who replied, I thought it was imposible, and everyone on this group seems to agree with me.

Will just have to get my wallet out and by new :-(

One day I might find a use for the dozen 48"x12" 10mm thick toughened glass shelves, I think I have had them for 20 years now, will probably have them taking space up in the attick for another 20 years, maybe I could leave them in my will to someone I don't like so they can pointlessly store them for a life time........wish I could just bin stuff off!

[Parish]

Well, at 10mm thick you should be able to stand a baby elephant on them with supports at either end only based on the demo I saw on Grand Designs (repeat on UK Style) last - they had Kevin McLeod (sp?) walking over a ~1 metre span of 4mm thick. Given that, you could always copy Blackpool Tower, where they have replaced a section of the floor of the viewing platform (~500ft up) with a glass panel

See the bottom of the page

I haven't been up it, I hate heights, I get dizzy wearing 2 pairs of socks :-)

[John Laird]

fact. The ground is so far away, it's rather unreal. Up at the highest viewing platform (1465'), multi-storey condos on the lake front look like Lego blocks, and planes taking off from the local airstrip don't ever seem to reach eye-level.

The lift up is a real knee-trembler.

[Mary Fisher]

What's the CN tower?

The Seattle one is quite something (I drove the lift!) but there are no glass floors.

Thank goodness ...

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Brilliant!

I've loved glass and its physical properties for more than fifty years but I haven't kept up with the technology. Thank you for this insight.

Mary

[Parish]

The Canadian Tower in Toronto,

The Seattle one is quite something (I drove the lift!) but there are no > glass floors.

[Parish]

[John Laird]

The world's tallest free-standing structure, in Toronto.

But you do get the revolving restaurant with authentic 60s decor.

[Mary Fisher]

Oh. I changed planes at Toronto once, didn't see it. Perhaps it ws too long ago :-)

I remember seeing the Chicago one - again from the airport.

Sounds as though I'm very well travelled - I'm not! Both the above happened on the way to or from Seattle :-)

I didn't go in the restaurant, can't remember why. But there are some great eating places in Seattle. Were, possibly.

Mary