What cuts Glass?
I want to know that which material is best to use to using cut glass – is it a diamond? I am interested to know also about the different types of cutting tools and what is a laser glass cutter. Faisal
Milly’s reply:
Luckily for us, we don’t need to be able to afford diamonds to cut glass anymore. The tool you buy for cutting glass has a wheel made from tungsten carbide, an inorganic chemical compound that is three times as stiff as steel.
There are lots of different shapes of cutters – eg those shaped like a pencil and ‘pistol grip’ cutters (shaped like the butt of a gun), but basically they are variations on the same idea.
They have a tungsten carbide wheel attached to a hard plastic hollow body that you fill with oil to lubricate the wheel as it scores the glass. I have photos of the different types of cutter in my Tools section, and advice on how to cut glass in my Stained Glass section.
Laser cutters are the latest thing in glass cutting technology – a bit new for me to have access to I’m afraid. It works by using laser energy to generate a certain temperature at each point of the planned scoring line. It is then cooled, which creates the score exactly with high precision, giving a smooth and polished-like edge. It is accurate and enables very thick (28mm) glass to be cut relatively safely. I want one!