What I'm about to tell you will make a big difference in your stained glass cutting skills. There's nothing earth shattering, just plain common sense. However, cutting stained glass and common sense don't always go hand in hand, especially if you're new to stained glass work. The instructions, that follow, are applicable to window glass and mirror glass also.
You will hear some people call it scoring the glass, others will say cutting the glass. Score and cut are synonymous with each other.
We don't actually "cut" glass. Nothing cuts through it. Run a glass cutter over your hand.
It won't cut you.
Glass is a solid liquid. In other words, it's molecular structure does not change from
the liquid form to the solid form. When we run a glass cutter over a piece of glass,
we make a scratch that disturbs the surface tension and the glass will break along
that disturbed line. In that light, scoring glass is a more appropriate description, but
everyone calls it "cutting glass".
One other thing to remember, before you start cutting glass, make sure the glass is clean. Wash it with warm, soapy water if it is very dirty. Otherwise, a squirt of Windex and a paper towel will work. Dirty glass will dull your cutting wheel very quickly.
1. If you are able, stand up to cut glass.
The movement of your body and your shoulder will give you better control over the cutter.
Don't stand so close to the cutting table that you don't have room to move. Stand with your
legs slightly apart so that you have good balance and are able to move your body as you are
cutting the glass.
2. You can push or pull your glass cutter - it doesn't matter which way you do it. You may find
some cuts easier to do one way and some the other. Get comfortable cutting glass in one
direction first. When that way is second nature to you, learn how to cut it in the other
direction.
3. Find a way that is comfortable for you to hold your glass cutter. There are no rules for
holding a cutter, there are only rules on how the cutter must set on the glass. The rules are:
(a)The cutter wheel must be absolutely perpendicular to the glass, it can not lean to the
left or right, this includes going around curves; remember - only motorcycles lean into
curves.
(b)You must be able to see the cutter wheel and the line you are cutting along, at all times.
4. Always maintain the same pressure, right to the very edge of the glass. If you let up
on the pressure before the end of the cut, the glass will be difficult to break. You want
to hear a static or zipper sound from beginning to end. Pressing too hard will only gouge
the glass and cause problems such as; not breaking along the score line, damaging the cutter
wheel, and giving you a sore hand and shoulder. It takes practice to learn just how hard to
press on your cutter.
5. Start cutting glass 1/16th inch from the edge, and continue cutting, slow and
steady, until you roll over the other edge, trying not to jam the cutter into the table.
6. Always break the glass from the edge that you finished cutting on.
7. If you use pattern pieces and trace around them with a marking pen, always
cut on the inside of the line. If you cut on the outside of the line, your cut
piece of glass will grow in size and be too big for the pattern.
8. Always use a working piece when cutting glass for your project. Don't try to cut
from the full sheet. If something goes wrong you won't end up ruining the full sheet of glass.
A smaller piece is easier to handle and there isn't so much wastage.
9. If you have an odd shape to cut, always cut from the narrowest end to the widest end.
10. Do the most difficult cut first. If it is a deep inside curve, you need the mass of
glass around it to prevent it from fracturing.
11. Take out deep curves in a series of small cuts rather than one big one. This will
prevent you from losing the corners or breaking the piece.
12. Cut slow and steady. SPEED DOESN'T COUNT!! Maintaining even pressure is the
most important thing to remember.
13. You can stop cutting the glass in the middle of a score if you need to regain your
thoughts. Just remember not to lift the cutter off of the glass and do maintain the pressure
until you are ready to continue. And, remember that you must always finish the score from one
edge of the glass to the other. Never abandon a score line, even if it's wrong.
14. NEVER GO OVER A SCORE THE SECOND TIME. This will ruin your cutter. If you have gone
off the line or made a mistake, cut to the other edge of the glass, break it
off and start again.
15. Never leave a piece of glass sticking out over the edge of the table. The only bad
injuries that I've seen have been from glass left in this manner.
16. Make sure you are cutting the glass on the smoothest side.
17. When you are cutting glass, use a small brush to keep glass chips cleaned off
of the work area. Your glass can get scratched from the chips, and you can get cuts from them.
18. If you are having trouble cutting a particular shape out of colored glass,
use a piece of window glass for practice and try to figure out what the problem is.
Maybe you are not doing the most difficult cut first (see #10); or maybe you are
trying to take out too big of a piece (cut it out little by little); maybe you
have an impossible or very difficult cut that needs to be modified; or you might
be trying to cut on the wrong side of the glass.
19. Keep your body relaxed and in a position where you can maneuver your arm and hand when you are cutting glass.
Always stand directly in front of the glass, and MAKE SURE YOU CAN SEE THE WHEEL AND
THE LINE YOU ARE CUTTING ALONG. Make sure you are comfortable. Your table height should
be somewhere between your hips and your waist. Work at a height that doesn't make your
shoulders tired.
20. Cutting the glass on a stack of 10-12 sheets of newspaper will give you
a soft surface to cut on. The glass scraps can then be wrapped up in a sheet of paper,
leaving a clean work surface underneath.
21. If you are having trouble, read #19 and #20 again!
22. Relax and, most important, have fun.
Check out A1 Stained Glass for your glass cutting supplies. I'm sure you'll be pleased with their service and prices.
Do you have some tips or techniques about cutting glass? I'd really love it if you would share them with us
here.
Your Glass Cutter demonstrates different types of glass cutters and how to use them.
Running The Score gives you six different ways to run the score once you have scored the glass. You will also learn how to use running pliers and breaking pliers. The final tutorial is on breaking out a circle once it has been scored.
If you have questions or comments about cutting glass, please feel free to Contact Me
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