Cutting glass - minimum you can take off?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

As I said it's very much easier with new glass. Different matter when it's a few years old.

[no-one]

Thanks for all the info.

[Cicero]

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If you're thinking of using it for glass a Black & Decker works well. I recently bought a few pieces of mirror glass with polished edges. I watched the glazier use a B&D power file to do the polishing (actually 'safe' edges rather than 'polished') and he told me that the best results are obtained by lightly spraying the abrasive belt with water. He also said that full polishing can be done the same way with progressively finer grits. The file is used downwards on the edge working towards the centre.

As far as I can discover B&D is the only power file available but I'd be interested to see others as the B&D is a bit expensive for a limited use tool.

Cic.

[chris French]

Yep, stained glass folks do it all the time to trim glass. It's easier with the proper nibbling pliers, but any old pliers will probably do.

[Dave Liquorice]

Probably easier with a pair of nail pulling, "end cutting" pliers than any other. But remember with glass you aren't cutting it but encoraging a crack to go where you want it. The glass "cutter" starts a good "crack" where you want it, I think the oil keeps it open, and then you just stress the bottom of that crack to make it grow. Hence the lifting up and gentle taping. You can see the crack grow through the glass and along the line.

Old glass is harder to cut as it is covered in lots of micro scratches on the surface and it's a bit hit and miss as to which one grows under the stress.

[The Medway Handyman]

Not specifically for glass, just general use. Only other one I've seem is the Makita, which isn't cheap.

[Adrian Brentnall]

HMMM....

I think you may be confusing the 'nippers' that the mosaic lot use with the 'grozing pliers' (honestly!) that we stained glass folk use.

What you really need is a way of 'clamping' the glass and applying gentle pressure to it along the line you've scored. If you're cutting a 12" sheet in half, it's easy - as you can score the glass and then move the sheet so that the score line is along the edge of the workbench, then just apply downward pressure. Laying the score line over a ruler or thin lath and leaning on the glass achieves the same thing.

When you're cutting a thin strip off the edge of the glass, the problem is to provide a constant pressure along the length of the score - and in the case that the OP mentioned you might just get away with some sort of a 'workmate-style' clamping arrangement - gripping the thin piece - and then lean on the wider piece... Usual safety warining apply

- including safety glasses!

If you use nail pullers then you're concentrating all the pressure in a very narrow area - and you'll end up with a 'scalloped' edge - which you'll then have to grind or fiddle with to be successful.

In the days before carbide glass cutters, they used to use a heated iron to help a crack to run - you might find that a reasonably powerful soldering iron might encourage the scored line to run along the edge of the glass - but no guarantees!

Agreed! BTDT!

Adrian

[Steve Firth]

Yes, that's the best way for an amateur to do it IMO, just be careful of splinters and the potential for frogments of glass to fly out if the workpiece is twisted while cutting.

[Dave Liquorice]

Never heard of grozing pliers. Haa, interesting jaw shape. I assume you place the score line in line with the rear step and gently squeeze?

Experience tells me that the bigger piece you are leaning on will shatter or end up in two bits, minimum. Much better to "nibble" the sliver away somehow, yes you'll probably have a scalaped edge but IIRC this was a bit of glazing glass so that will be hidden in the rebate.

[Adrian Brentnall]

There's a photo at

use them two ways...

As an aid to snapping or running the score... Score the glass, then grip at the score with the flat jaw on top - then apply gentle pressure downwards (like snapping a chocolate bar) until the score runs. If it's a long or difficult break - move along the score and try again - the objective being to see the break running along the whole of the score-line before trying to separate the two bits of glass. It's a good plan to make the initial breaks at either end of the score line (then yuo stand a fihting chance of at least two of the points along the score being in the right position!

To nibble away at the edges of glass, create a rough shape before kiln-fusing, or, if you're doing lead-work, instead of using a grinder to adjust pieces to shape/size. This is done with the curved jaw uppermost, and the jaws not quite tightly closed. Lightly grip the edge of the glass, and then, by twisting your wrist, use the rough inner surface of the curved jaw to act like a very coarse file and nibble the edge of the glass. With practice, this can be very quick and fairly accurate - but it does leave a rough edge

It was only a 'if you really must' suggestion Safety should be uppermost when working with glass - even if you're doing it day in / day out you're likely to get cuts - the trick is to ensure that they're not anywhere that matters .

I'm intrigued to know what the original poster ended up doing...?

Adrian

[TheScullster]

"no-one" wrote

Many moons ago when I were a lad (close to 40 years ago :( ), I remember the clothes prop disassociating itself from the clothes line and crashing through the back window. This was a single glazed pane about 4' square. Our neighbour offered to fit a new pane but when it arrived, it was a bit big and fouled the frame at one corner. Unphased, with the glass supported on his right thigh, he simply scored and nibbled a short strip away using a fairly unimpressive looking hand held tile cutter. This had a small wheel at the end and notches in the side that he used to do the nibbling operation IYSWIM. He then applied bedding putty round the frame, working both left and right handed as appropriate!

Strange how certain things stay with you innit?

Phil

[pcb1962]

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I've got this one:

bought it for one job where I had to remove 5mm from the bottom of a couple of battens mounted on the wall in the corners of an alcove. (Couldn't remove the battens as the boiler is hanging on them). It finished the job in 5 minutes that I'd already wasted hours on. I haven't found a lot of other uses for it, mainly because I also have a bench mounted belt-and-disc sander, but I'd imagine that out on the road it could be useful for all sorts of things. Like any belt sander it has great potential for ruining the job by removing 3 times as much material as you think it has.

[Andy Dingley]

Depending on the meaning of "grind". Glass will break if you overheat a small point of it, so abrasive wheel grinding is impractical, unless it's water-cooled. Most large glass "grinders" are thus using long belts (big flat contact), rather than wheels (spot contact).