How to Cut Glass to Size

Glass is a typical building material that is often utilised in the construction of various parts of your home or business such as windows, fireplaces, door panels and table tops. To be able to successfully use glass for these types of applications it must be cut to size and ideally this should be done by an experienced and skilled glazier as cutting thick glass is a specialist job that can be difficult to do by hand.

The best way to ensure that you get accurate and precise cuts is by ensuring the work surface is completely clean, free from any debris that could interfere with your cutters operation. It is also a good idea to lubricate the blade of your cutter before starting to help with the smooth and safe running of the cut. For small cuts this can be done with a little bit of abrasive grease or for larger cuts it is usually preferred to use a bit of lubricating cutting oil.

Next it is important to mark the area of the glass that you wish to cut, either with a grease pencil or a sharpie, making sure that the lines are perfectly straight as this will make the final break much cleaner and more successful. Once you have done this it is time to prep your cutter by putting some of the lubricating cutting oil directly on the edge of the blade or dipping the edge into a cup of the oil of your choice.

Finally you are ready to start the cut itself by positioning the cutter on the mark and applying moderate pressure with the blade. If the sound of the cutter ripping through the glass sounds a bit rough this is a sign that you haven’t got the pressure right.

This is where the first mistake many people make, they stop applying pressure and retrace the score line instead of continuing with the cut. This can cause the glass to break at a different angle than intended which will ruin the entire piece.

Once you have mastered the art of scoring and breaking the most basic pieces of glass it is time to start getting more creative. One of the most popular ways to do this is by utilising an inside curve. To take an inside curve all you need to do is apply a little more pressure to the cutter as you follow the score line with it and gently break away at the curved area of the glass.

For the more complicated and larger areas of glass it is often necessary to use a specialised cutting technique known as a “thumbs”. This involves placing your thumb at the end of the blade of the cutter (opposite to where you have scored the glass) and gently pushing down on this area with your other hand. This opens up the score line and makes it much easier to cut along it. This is an easy and relatively safe method for larger areas of glass but should not be used for smaller curved pieces.

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