DIY glass cutting at home

In any apartment you may encounter the need to replace glass in a window, door or closet. It is very rare to find the finished glass of the right size. Of course, you can seek help from a specialist, but it will take time and money. All the necessary work can be done with your own hands at home, if you know how to cut the glass correctly.

How to choose the right glass

Glass masters advise when choosing glass to pay attention to the following points:

• One of the signs of high-quality glass is the blue or greenish tint of its ends.

• Do not use scratched sheets.
• If during the process of rolling glass or its cooling all the rules are not followed, then such sheets may have strip defects. These stripes will significantly distort the image, so it is better not to use such sheets to replace glass in the window.
• The thickness of the glass depends on the size of the frame into which it is inserted. If its width and height are less than 600 mm, then you can do with glass 2–2.5 mm thick. And if one of these parameters exceeds 600 mm, then the thickness of the glass sheet increases to 3.5–4 mm.
• When glazing at home, you need to cut a piece of glass 3-5 mm smaller than the size of the frame, because its slightest distortion will not allow glass to be inserted into the opening.

Glass preparation

Often, many simply forget about this important point. But high-quality cutting of glass with your own hands is impossible without its preliminary preparation. Wipe new glass with a damp cloth. After it dries, wipe dry.

Some experts recommend using a newspaper rather than a rag. She will not leave fibers on the glass that could interfere with the movement of the glass cutter.

Glasses that were already in use are cut much worse and need more careful preparation. They are washed with special detergents, and after drying, degreased with turpentine or kerosene. In the process of drying, it is necessary to exclude dust on the sheet.

Checking the tool and arranging the workplace

Before discussing how to cut glass correctly, you need to decide on the tool that will be used for this specific work. In order to cut a glass sheet with your own hands, glass cutter is most often used. There are three types of glass cutters:

• roller;
• diamond;
• oil.

The last two are used mainly by professionals. The cheapest and most common option is a glass cutter with interchangeable rollers.

Regardless of the model used, before cutting the glass, it is better to check the sharpening of the glass cutter. To do this, you can try to cut some unnecessary piece of glass. Ideally, the glass cutter should move with a slight rustle, leaving a thin continuous line. If it moves with a creak, the cut line is interrupted or has the appearance of a white scratch, then either the cutting element has become dull or mistakes have been made in the cutting technique.

It is also necessary to prepare a flat surface, the dimensions of which should exceed the dimensions of the cut sheet. At home, it can be a table covered with a soft cloth. If the table is not large enough, you can put a sheet of plywood or chipboard on top of it. Also for marking you will need a marker and tape measure. If the glass will be cut with a glass cutter, then you need to prepare a thick metal ruler. Its thickness should be 8-10 mm - only in this way you will create the necessary emphasis for the cutting tool.

How to use a glass cutter

To qualitatively cut glass with your own hands, it is necessary to observe the technology and sequence of actions.

• On the sheet mark the points of the beginning and end of the cut.
• The glass cutter is placed at the starting point and a ruler is attached to it.

Note! The ruler should not be located along the cut line, but at a distance of several millimeters from it. This value corresponds to the distance between the tip of the glass cutter and its side surface.

• The cut is carried out smoothly, from start to finish in one motion and with one effort. And only once. If several times a glass cutter is held in one place, then the glass will simply crack.
• Chipped cut piece. To do this, the cut line is combined with the edge of the table. They cause a crack by lightly tapping the cut with a glass cutter, and then break off in one motion.

• If the chip is uneven, then the excess glass can be removed with pliers or use special cutouts in the handle of the glass cutter. To avoid cracking, the cut line should be slightly moistened with turpentine or kerosene.
• At the final stage, the cut line is processed with sandpaper, a velvet file or a grindstone.

How else can you cut the glass

What if the glass cutter is not at hand? There are ways in which glass is cut with a non-standard tool. This operation can be carried out with a soldering iron, grinder, nichrome thread and even ordinary scissors! We will figure out how to properly cut glass with our own hands in each of these ways.

• Using a soldering iron. First, cuts are made with a file at the beginning and at the end of the cut line. Then, the entire line must be carefully carried out with a well-heated soldering iron. Due to the temperature difference on the sides of the surface, the glass will crack, after which it remains only to gently break it off.
• Grinder. This tool is available in almost every home, so it is not surprising that it was adapted for working with glass. In order to cut off the glass with a grinder, you will need a thin diamond disk. With its help, a thin groove is made along the entire cutting line, along which further cleavage occurs. But when cutting with a grinder, it is necessary to ensure that the glass does not overheat, and it is necessary to use coolant. A good tool is required, otherwise the glass will simply fly apart from its vibration. Be sure to use the grinder on glass to protect the respiratory system and eyes. The smallest glass dust getting into them will not lead to anything good. Therefore, if you cut a sheet of glass with a grinder, you need to stock up on glasses and a respirator.

• Using heating and cooling. A thread saturated with a combustible substance is laid along the cut line and set on fire. Immediately after it goes out, the cut line is cooled with water. From a sharp temperature drop the glass will crack. Another option is to heat the glass with a nichrome thread through which an electric current passes. In this case, water is not required; a temperature difference between the two surfaces of the sheet is sufficient.
• Scissors. Non-thick glass up to 3 mm is cut with ordinary tailor scissors if this operation is performed by immersing the scissors and glass in a container of hot water. It feels like a process of cutting thick cardboard.

Tempered glass processing

Often on the forums there is a question: how to cut tempered glass? The answer is simple: tempered glass cannot be cut or drilled. With any attempt to do this, it loses all its properties and simply shatters into small pieces. Tempered glass was used in automobiles before the triplex technology was invented. In an accident, glass fragments should not have injured passengers. So do not even try to cut tempered glass with any tool.

To understand how to cut glass with your own hands, you just need to take it and try to do it. The choice of method depends on individual skills and the availability of necessary tools. But all these options are quite feasible at home.