Cutting Glass

[Stephen Enggass]

Hey all... just starting out. I have a Logan 550 mat cutter. In the market for a glass cutter. Should I get the Logan glass cutter that fits track on mat cutter, or would it be better to get a different type of glass cutter? Thanks. Steve

 

[JFeig]

Many framers cut glass with a simple hand held glass cutter, a $5 tool, and a straight edge. Depending on quantity of gutting, the wheels should be either high speed steel or carbide that lasts longer, but is more expensive.

 

[snafu]

I've used these fletcher glass cutters for many years

 

[Joe B]

I started out with the Logan glass cutter that you insert in the Logan Mat Cutter track. It is a very nice inexpensive way to go to start off with The cut is just fine with a nice straight scratch that give you a good clean break. I used the Logan for a couple of years before I purchased my first Fletcher wall mounted material cutter.

 

[rhop]

Love my Fletcher 3000

 

[Dimitri Dost]

Hand cut with a glass-ruler and one of these oil filled

 

[Prospero]

Any good quality hand-held cutter will serve you well. Dipping it in some sort of lubricating agent will
make it last longer and cut cleaner. You don't need any specialised oil in my exp. I go for Mineral Spirit
if I use some at all. And you generally don't have to keep dipping it.

The other parts of the equation are the straightedge and cutting surface. The latter should be flat as possible
and a soft surface is nicer to work on. A lot of folks go for carpet which is fine but should be kept free of splinters.
(If you have a good cutter you shouldn't get splinters).

A non-slip straightedge is good to use. Some people go for a T-square which is easier to hold in place. You can
get squares specifically made for glass cutting.

If you cut large sheets regularly, then a wall-mounted cutter is handy. Scoring long cuts (36"+?) is quite awkward
with a hand held cutter unless you have arms like a gibbon.

Don't press to hard. Don't score over the same place twice. It's largely a matter of confidence.

 

[neilframer]

I've used these fletcher glass cutters for many years

For about 35 of my 50 years in framing (and I still frame full time) I cut all of my glass with a hand held cheap Fletcher cutter like the one in the picture.
For a number of years, even when we had a Fletcher 3000 wall cutter, I still cut the glass by hand.

I would just place the glass on the back of the frame and cut it free-hand without a straight edge just using my eyes on the rabbet.
I never used oil on the cutting wheel but I would roll the Fletcher wheel on my forehead and cut using the skin oil on my forehead (I'm not kidding)
I still freehand cut circles and ovals and other odd shapes if it's going into a frame as the frame rabbet will give me about 1/4" to cover if it's not perfect/perfect, as long as it fits the frame.

 

[Prospero]

My first cutter was a cheapo 6-wheel job. Big mistake. I bought 6 full 6' x 4' sheets and decided to slice
them up on the kitchen floor. First cut - fine. The rest of the sheets ended up as irregular triangles.

That's when I also discovered kitchen floors are not as flat as you think.

I got another non-cheapo 6-wheel cutter. Branded Silberschnitt. Used them for years. Brilliant.