I have a flat sold workbench in the shed, I also have a 1 metre steel rule and stout gloves.
Can't really answer your question but I have heard it said that the ease of cutting glass is very dependant on the age of the glass. If your sheets are quite old you'll have difficulty I think.
Tim
I'll wager the tool to cut a radius will cost more than getting a glazier to do them from scratch with new glass.
AIUI old glass is covered in micro scratches that can divert the run from the score that the glass cutter put on when you stress the glass to snap it. I think this is more of problem with people not used to cutting glass as they are "timid" with the cutter and/or use a dry cutter.
Seems a pretty good description, the hard bit is getting the score correct, the cutter should make a sort of squeal not be quiet or make a crunching noise. You only get one chance to make the score, you can't go over it.
The cuts I've made have been quite long on bits of glass to large to comfortably hold like the example above. I lift the glass up onto a thin bit of wood line one edge of the wood along the score or just to the side, leaving the score and one bit of glass unsupported. I then gently push down on the unsupported bit and tap the end scrore. I hopefully you see the run start and can chase it along the score.
I've only ever done straight cuts. The above link describes how to do a curve that makes sense but be aware of the part that says the run can divert to a nearby edge when that gets "too close"...
No special tool required but using it and getting the glass to snap where you want it to is another matter...
Having read the link I posted earlier I'd have a go, there would be a great buzz of achievement if I got what I wanted. But I'd also be prepared to find a glazier when (not if!) it didn't. B-)
Your steps will be as follows:
1) Buy glass cutter 2) Scribe radius and attempt to break glass along it 3) Glass breaks in entirely the wrong direction and is discarded 4) repeat 2) and 3) on second piece of glass 5) go to glazier and get it done professionallyBTDT etc.
Depends how much you want to spend - and how often you're likely to use the tool afterwards.
I use one of these for cutting circles and arcs from 3mm 'art-glass'
- but that'll cost you 50 quid or so... Last a lifetime of course
It's not 'difficult' - success comes with practice. Even now (after 12 years or so) I can still make a cods of cutting a circle on a 'bad' day...
Horticultural glass is thinner than normal window glass, so tends to be easier to cut. Old glass is more difficult to cut than new glass. Horti-grade can have odd flaws in it, which will make life interesting..
Depending on how accurate your arc needs to be, there's nothing to stop you from drawing the line with a marker and simply cutting along it freehand. Clean the glass with meths first.
Tiny drop of light oil on the cutter-wheel. Firm pressure while cutting, you want to hear a 'scratch' as you score the line - press too hard and you'll get fragments of glass along the line and it won't break cleanly - too little pressure is equally bad.
After scoring the glass - either tap along the underside of the score with the 'ball' end of the glass cutter, or flip the glass over onto a towel or carpet offcut and apply pressure with your thumbs, working along the score, to run the crack.
Alternatively - your local friendly glazier will do a couple of cuts like this for peanuts.
Hope this helps Adrian
angle grinder
(with a diamond disc cutter)
Agree with all of the previous replies and to add run the cutter along the line only once and don't stop and start.
Not even funny! Seriously - you never know who might come across this post in the future, and go try it for themselves (unaware of the 'angle grinder' standing joke).
And have a few spare sheets of glass handy to perfect your technique.
It's one of those specialist skills - like doing your own root canal work, that's probably best left to the experts..... ..unless you really enjoy pain!
Adrian
Take up leadlighting, you will soon become proficient.
I am, thanks - I was offering advice to the original poster.
Maybe the wiki / FAQ should list the standing jokes so the unaware can be made aware. Of course the wiki may contain further standing jokes ... Simon.
Thanks all, much appreciated. The horticultural glass is new and I have a spare bit of 2' x 2' greenhouse glass to practice with.
The two 5" radius cuts is a one-off project, so may never be needed again. I have a 5" saucer which I could use as a template to lean the cutter against.
Dave, I was struggling to picture the method used in your Wiki-how link. I looked on youtube and found this one. I liked his 2nd method (fast forward 5 mins) which removed the waste before doing the radius break.
Of I may need to buy a 'breaking plier' - I'll have a decko on Ebay.
A bit of a practice always helps... If you've got a 2ft x 2ft to 'play' with - practice first on straight 'cuts', until you've got the pressure right. You're listening for the 'right' scratching sound... you'll know it when you hear it..
You'll find it easier to cut freehand. Is it a circle that you are wanting - or more of a half-circle or 'arch' ?
Ah - right - if that's what you are trying to do (an 'inside' curve - then Dru's instructions are good.
If it was me, I'd start running the score at one end with the pliers, then switch to the other end of the score, then work away running the core towards the middle. This makes it more likely that the two ends of the break will come out where you want them, rather than where the glass wants to go
At a pinch, you might get away with an 'ordinary' set of pliers - maybe wrap one layer of gaffer tape round each jaw before you start. You're only using them to apply a bit of extra leverage, not to actually 'break' the glass...
Good luck Adrian
I read it that a small section of the radius was done then the score taken straight to the edge of the waste, then repeated. I must admit I'm dubious about the tapering to zero bit that this requires...
I wouldn't think so, glass is actually pretty strong and flexible but extremely brittle so when it goes, it goes suddenly and completely.
Cutting is no more than a controlled break, the score gives a weak point and increasing the stress by flexing to open the score produces crack propagation from the bottom of the score through the thickness of the glass and along the length.
It can work..... and sometimes does The thing with glass is that it's an odd material, and it's all about persuading it to break along the line that you want. Not like 'cutting' (say) a piece of timber - where you're more or less in control of it.
There's two types of pliers in glasswork. The 'grozing' pliers have one flat jaw and one curved jaw - and that's the ones that he's using to cut the arc in the video. Make sure that the score is on the top of the glass, and the flat jaws are also on the top-side of the glass. The pliers are used the other side up to 'groze' (= roughly grind) away at the edge of the glass if it's a bit on the large side. Only works well if the finished edge of the glass is going to be concealed (e.g. in a timber frame or lead-section). If you need to remove small amounts from the edge and still have a clean finish then you use a diamond-grinder (not an angle-grinder!) running in water.
The cut-running pliers are used across the score-line, and have jaws that are vee-shaped, to apply pressure to the score-line. You sometimes find cheap versions used for snapping ceramic tiles - these'll do for occasional use on glass.
True. It helps to imagine the glass like a balloon - with a thin 'skin' on the top & bottom surfaces. Scoring the glass correctly weakens the top 'skin', and applying the right amount of pressure to the glass in a controlled fashion enables the glass to fracture along the score-line.
Straight line cuts (e.g. windows) are less critical, and you can often get away with simply scoring and then snapping the glass over a lath or ruler.
I have two square sheets. I would like to radius one corner from each sheet. It would be a quarter circle, which I believe is a quadrant.
I'll be radiusing one corner from each sheet, so it's an outside curve - hence my interest in Dru's method of removing waste with 3 straight cuts first.
That makes sense.
Agreed, tape would soften the grip.
Ah - right! That's considerably easier...
As far as I can see - all that achieves is letting you get your grozing pliers up close & personal with the scored line. If you don't have the grozing pliers then it's not much advantage
Yes - you want to avoid the serrated jaws of the pliers bearing down on the edge of the glass - all you're using them for is to give a controlled amount of leverage to the glass..
When you succeed in taking off the 'corner' - as I'm sure you will, you can take off any sharp edges from the scored line by 'stroking another piece of glass along the cut edge at right-angles.
Wise to wear gloves and eye-protection - hold the glass away from you while breaking, just in case it all goes wrong! Shoes rather than sandals - for the same reason.
You should be fine - just practice on the other spare piece - after all
- you can have 4 tries on the spare bit!
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