How to Cut Glass With a Glass Cutter

There are three tricks to cutting glass perfectly every time with a glass cutter. Unfortunately one of the tricks--using just the right amount of pressure on your glass cutter--may require a little practice before you get it perfect, so don't be too disappointed if your first few efforts are less than perfect. The other two tricks are to always dip your cutting wheel in kerosene before scoring your glass and only score your glass one time (in other words, do not run the cutter across your glass more than once in an attempt to make a deeper score line).

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sheet glass (nontempered)
• Glass cutter
• Straightedge
• Kerosene
• Flat surface
• 1/4-inch dowel, longer than glass being cut
• Glass cleaner
• Paper towels
• Clean cotton towel
• 100-grit sandpaper
• Sandpaper holder
• Eye protection
• Gloves

1. Confirm that the glass you are about to cut is not tempered glass. Tempered glass will shatter rather than cut if you use a glass cutter on it. In most cases tempered glass will have a small etched logo in one corner identifying it as tempered, but this is not always true. It can be almost impossible to identify tempered glass simply by looking at it.

2. Lay a clean cotton towel on a smooth, clean flat surface and then lay your sheet of glass on top of the towel.

3. Clean the glass thoroughly using glass cleaner and paper towels.

4. Lay your straightedge on the glass where you want your cut to be made. Dip the wheel of the glass cutter into the kerosene and then, using moderate pressure, cut one clean straight line along the edge of your straightedge. Do NOT run your glass cutter along the same line more than once. Make sure that the glass cutter scores a line all the way to both edges of the glass.

5. Lay your dowel under the glass, directly along the score you just made. Give one edge of the glass a sharp downward thrust, allowing the glass to break cleanly along the score/dowel.

6. Sand the sharp edges of the glass using your sander with 100-grit sandpaper. Just bevel the edge slightly, taking off the sharp edge. Not only will this make the glass safer to handle, but it will strengthen the glass as well.

Tips & Warnings

• While a diamond wheel cutter may work slightly easier, a steel wheel cutter will cut glass just as well. Do not use too much pressure when cutting glass. There should be a slight scraping sound as you cut, not a cracking sound. This is the part that may require practice as most people incorrectly assume that more pressure is better.
• Wear eye protection whenever cutting glass and especially when breaking glass. Wear gloves when breaking glass along a score.