How to cut glass?

Question

I have a glass cutter and have no problem cutting big pieces of glass, however, what if I need to cut just 1/4" strips off to make some pieces fit? How do you cut the small, thin amounts? Is there a way? Thanks!

Answer 1

Same as you would the large pieces - just use a straight edge to guide the cutter.

Answer 2

The guy that taught me to cut glass said, "The way to learn to cut glass is to cut glass."  In other words, practice.

Glass pliers will also be invaluable for small pieces like this.  See the link below.

Answer 3

It is not easy and depends on the thickness of the glass you are trying to cut and the length of the 1/4 piece you are trying to make. Can't expect to cut 1/4" strips from 1/4" thick glass!

Since cutting glass is really "cracking" glass you need leverage to "open" the crack you created with the scribe. The pressure needs to be uniform, balanced and aligned with the scribe line.

When cutting a small strip I turn the glass over and lift the the larger side so that the strip is the part touching the table (Hard but cloth covered cutting table). Applying pressure from above, I tap the back side at the start of the scribe to coax the crack to start. Once started the crack can be extended by applying even pressure and light tapping.

Start practicing on a 1 inch strip (cut a 1/4 off a 1x1).

Sorry, it's hard without a picture to describe the configuration!

Answer 4

You need to remove 1/4" from a larger piece? or you want to end up with some 1/4" strips of glass to use?

If you're just trying to remove 1/4" from a larger piece, it's not so hard to do. I can cut 1/8" from a larger piece of glass most days.

Score the glass as you would for any other cut. That's the easy part. The tricky part is how to break off the narrow strip. Glass pliers are good and most of the time they will break off the narrow strip cleanly. But not always.

One thing I like to do is to place the scored glass on a table with the scored cut line right at the edge of the table. Make sure this is a flat table with a well-defined edge. Place a piece of wood on top of the glass overhanging the glass, past the cut line and past the edge of what you hope will be the narrow strip that's removed. Apply gentle pressure on the overhanging board so that it is hopefully pressing down along the whole length of the cut and the strip should snap off cleanly. This works great down to a 1/4" but does not work with narrower strips.

If it's a wheel cutter, remember to dip the glass cutter in naptha, lighter fluid or even paint thinner as a lubricant. Diamond cutters are nice and work best dry.