Cutting glass

[Halfathumb]

First time to attempt this. I have a fair amount of 1/8" stock from over that past several years. I'll be cutting pieces for use in a display case door.

How much scoring is typical before snapping?

Any helpful tips are appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

[Hank Knight]

First time to attempt this. I have a fair amount of 1/8" stock from over that past several years. I'll be cutting pieces for use in a display case door.

How much scoring is typical before snapping?

Any helpful tips are appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

A single firm score should be all you need. Place the glass on something soft, like a thick towel and press on the score line. It should snap cleanly without a lot of drama.

[gear jammer]

What Hank said. Two small things to add. Make sure your fence is taller than just a square. If I use a square I have a tendancy to get my cutter cockeyed to the cut. A taller fence I stay flat and straight. I also dip my cutter in light oil for the cut. Don't know if it's needed but I was shown that way.

[lift mechanic]

Oil is the key and a light tap on the cut line with the ball end on the cut line.

[petertay15]

Yes, wiping a little oil on the scratch seems to be useful when cutting old brittle glass. Don’t know why, but it works.

[barryvabeach]

Jim,  I agree with the above.  Light oil, and 1 firm score, and you should be good to go. Like many other things, it helps to practice on a test piece a few times.

[6270_Productions]

Glass cutters are like any tool.  They get dull after using them on hard surfaces.

Glass is very hard.

Glass cutters are cheap.

I had about six cutters in my drawer.  They would not allow me to cut glass well.  I bought a new cutter.  It worked great.  I threw out the others. 

Unfortunately, glass cutters do not take up much space in the drawer, so I didn't gain much space when I threw out the worthless ones.  

[Cooler]

Just make sure you start the cut on the very edges of the glass and extend past the edge on the score.  If not it will veer from the score at the beginning and at the end. 

I use a Fletcher wall mounted glass cutter left over from my picture framing business, so while I have cut lots of glass, almost none with a hand held cutter.

Note that it is nearly impossible to cut small amounts of border.  So measure accurately.  If you cut a sheet to 10" x 10" and you really needed 9½" x 10" it will be very difficult to trim off that ½" strip.

[Halfathumb]

Thanks everyone. A lot of help here. I'm still working on my honey do list from yesterday but hope to get to glass cutting by tomorrow. 

I just took out my cutter from the drawer and noticed the cutter has 2-6. It looks to me like it has several different cutters on it and they're secured by tightening a small screw. Does this sound reasonable?

Jim

[Cooler]

Fletcher was always considered the gold standard in glass cutting.  Their best cutter has a ball on the end for tapping along the score line. 



I never used a ruler to measure the glass.  I would just lay it over the image to get the size.  That would not work for window glass however.