How to cut glass

Content

Method 2 of 4: Sketching Glass with a Glass Cutter
Method 3 of 4: Breaking and sanding
Method 4 of 4: Arc Cut
Tips
Warnings

1 Set up your workplace. You will need a large, flat surface to cut the glass on, preferably slightly soft to prevent scratching your glass. Work in an area that will be easy to clean later. Due to the risk of glass shards appearing if something breaks, avoid cutting the glass on the carpet. For safety reasons, keep pets and children away from the work area and materials.

2 Clean the glass where you are going to cut it. Any mud or sand can make your efforts go down the drain. Wipe off the dirt with a cloth or simply slide your finger over the area where the incision is planned.

3 Get a glass cutter and some light oil. The cutters are about the size of a pencil and have a diamond or hardened wheel to mark the cut on the glass so that it can be easily broken along the marked line. You can buy a special oil for cutting glass or use a little kerosene.

4 Measure and mark the cut line on the glass. This line must run exactly from edge to edge of the glass. You can pre-draw a line on the glass with a marker, you can also draw a line with a marker on the paper and put it under the glass.

The incision cannot be very long. Cuts longer than 60 cm are more likely to break the glass when trying to separate the halves.
Make sure that there is at least 15 cm on each side of the cut so that you can grab for a break. If you need to cut smaller parts, you may need special tools such as pliers or a small hammer to break glass that you cannot hold with your hands.

Method 2 of 4: Sketching Glass with a Glass Cutter

1 Dip a glass cutter in oil and use it like a pencil. Oiled glass cutter creates a smoother line. Do not forget to look at the wheel later during the cutting process and make sure that it goes exactly along the marked line where you want to make the cut.
2 Place a ruler along the cut line. The ruler should be thick enough so that the cutter cannot damage it during cutting.
3 While pressing the glass cutter on the glass, use the carbide wheel to draw a line on the glass surface. At the same time, you will hear a slight rustling sound. A gritty crunch means you are pressing too hard on the glass or you haven't oiled the cutter. The less noise from the cutter, the better the cut will be.
- If you press too hard (this is a common mistake), chips and chippings appear at the cut.
- You need to achieve a uniform cut. If you push too hard in one place and ideally in another, the glass will never break the way you wanted it to. Microscopic defects in your line will prevent the glass from breaking evenly.
4 Run the glass cutter evenly from one edge of the glass to the other. Do not drive the glass cutter back and forth if you missed something.
5 Check the line. You want to achieve a line that is barely visible if you wipe off the oil. It should look like a slight scratch, nothing more. Make sure it stretches from one edge of the glass to the other.

Method 3 of 4: Breaking and sanding

1 Gently grasp both edges of the glass with your hands. Hold the glass as if you were going to break a piece of potato chips in half with both hands.
2 Press lightly with your wrists to break the glass along the line. The elbows should not move. Just turn your wrists (right - clockwise, left - counterclockwise). Imagine that the intended scratch goes deep into the glass and now you need to "open" it. You will be finished as soon as you have two pieces of glass in your hands instead of one.
- When glass breaks, it can start breaking from one edge to the other. If this process stops somewhere, just apply a little more pressure with your wrists to break the glass all the way.
3 Use fine sandpaper or emery stone to sand down sharp edges. This not only protects you from cuts, but also adds strength to the glass, since cut glass is less prone to cracking along the cut.

Method 4 of 4: Arc Cut

1 Use a template to trim the edge. If it is a freehand curve, make sure to mark the line with a glass cutter all the way from edge to edge. Pre-draw a basting with a marker or place the glass on the paper sample.
2 For cutting in a steep arc, use a glass cutter to cut short, straight lines. With a steady hand, you can safely draw light bends with a glass cutter. For tighter bends, draw a gray line of short, straight lines along the direction of the bend so that their points of contact are outside the shape you are cutting.
3 Turn the glass over and press lightly on the back. This will cause the glass to break. Follow this process to the end by applying light pressure in the right places. If your basting is too close to the edge, the glass may break towards the edge rather than further down the line, because this is the easiest way to break.
4 Make several light cuts to break off small pieces of glass instead of one piece. The smaller these cuts are, the smoother your cut will be. Grasp a small piece with pliers and break off.
5 Smooth the edges of curved cuts with a glass cutter. This sander uses a rotating diamond wheel. Turn on the clipper and press the cut firmly against the grinding wheel to flatten it. Then, sandpaper like a normal cut.

Tips

Make a line with a glass cutter on the reflective side of the mirror, not on the coated side. You cannot break the mirror if you draw a line on the back of the mirror. The technology for cutting mirrors is otherwise exactly the same as for ordinary glass.
This method is suitable for regular glass and cannot be used to cut tempered glass, which will shatter if attempted to break.
Practice on the unnecessary pieces of glass to get your hand full before cutting the pieces of glass you need.

Warnings

Wear safety glasses. If the glass breaks unevenly, a shard of glass can fly off your face.
If you have not succeeded in drawing a line normally with the glass cutter, you should not redraw it. This will damage the cutter wheel rather than fix the problem.
Wear gloves.The edges and corners will be very sharp, so wear tight fabric or leather gloves of a comfortable size to keep your hands on dexterity.
A bad cut with chipped and uneven edges is difficult to fix, most likely the glass has already been damaged by you.
If light pressure is not enough to break the glass, stop. If the cutter line is not drawn well enough, the glass can break anywhere else, including right in your hands.
Never eat or leave food or drinks where you are working with glass.
Be sure to clean the work area thoroughly to remove any glass shards that appear. Even if you don't see them, they can dig into your arm or leg, which is very unpleasant.