Glass Cutting Techniques & Methods

Plate glass is always cut with a glass-cutter's diamond; sheet glass may be cut with a diamond or with a wheel, which is a hardened steel wheel about an eighth of an inch in diameter, with a sharp edge, set in a handle; the wheels are replaceable and may be bought separately, if the right kind of a holder is obtained. The operator has a little jar or wide-mouthed bottle of kerosene before him, in which he dips the wheel before each cut; this is essential to the proper use of the wheel. It cuts sheet glass perfectly well; but the diamond makes a deeper cut, and is necessary for plate glass.

The amateur will find it a help to lay a large sheet of paper on the table, and with a rule make a pencil-mark where the edge of the pane of glass will come; then lay the piece of glass on it, put a straight-edge nearly over this pencil-mark, and with the straight-edge as a guide run the wheel over the glass; considerable pressure must be used; a little practice will soon show how to do it. The professional will lay the sheet of glass over the opening in the sash, and with the edge of the sash to guide his eye will with a free-hand movement run the glass-cutter swiftly across, and the glass falls apart on exactly the right line.

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