tools of the trade
for Laura and Sean
Toyo Oil-Filled Glass Cutter: I use this to score glass. I mark the top and bottom of a small-ish sheet of glass, then score it top to bottom with a straight edge (lined up at the dots I've marked). Then I turn the glass and do it the other direction, so that I've got a grid of quarter-inch-square scores in the glass.
Tile Pliers: I use these to snap the scored glass into manageable pieces (because I don't trust the running pliers). They're available at Home Despot in the tile section. On one side is a tungsten carbide wheel for scoring ceramic tile (mostly useless on glass because it's unwieldy), and on the other is a flat jaw that applies pressure evenly on both sides of the score, so that the glass will snap along the line. I like to use these until all I have left are 2x2 pieces of glass—that is, four quarter-inch squares.
Running Pliers: These are jaws with a slight hump in the bottom jaw. The hump goes under the center of the glass, so when you press it firmly (a line on the top of the jaws helps you line up your score with the hump), it creates a run, like a run in panty hose. That's what's supposed to happen with the long pieces of glass, but it never does for me, and I end up wasting lots of glass. So I use these to snap those small squares in half (because the tile pliers have too big a gap between the jaws, which means the glass falls through).
Wheeled Cutter: This fashions glass into perfect shapes, so that you can fit irregular pieces in place. This tool is great and will even cut irregular squares pretty well, if you don't want to be anal about perfect squares (which are never perfect anyway).
Nippers: Use these for ceramics. The gap in the jaws is too big for glass, and the ends won't meet.
tools of the trade
for Laura and Sean
Toyo Oil-Filled Glass Cutter: I use this to score glass. I mark the top and bottom of a small-ish sheet of glass, then score it top to bottom with a straight edge (lined up at the dots I've marked). Then I turn the glass and do it the other direction, so that I've got a grid of quarter-inch-square scores in the glass.
Tile Pliers: I use these to snap the scored glass into manageable pieces (because I don't trust the running pliers). They're available at Home Despot in the tile section. On one side is a tungsten carbide wheel for scoring ceramic tile (mostly useless on glass because it's unwieldy), and on the other is a flat jaw that applies pressure evenly on both sides of the score, so that the glass will snap along the line. I like to use these until all I have left are 2x2 pieces of glass—that is, four quarter-inch squares.
Running Pliers: These are jaws with a slight hump in the bottom jaw. The hump goes under the center of the glass, so when you press it firmly (a line on the top of the jaws helps you line up your score with the hump), it creates a run, like a run in panty hose. That's what's supposed to happen with the long pieces of glass, but it never does for me, and I end up wasting lots of glass. So I use these to snap those small squares in half (because the tile pliers have too big a gap between the jaws, which means the glass falls through).
Wheeled Cutter: This fashions glass into perfect shapes, so that you can fit irregular pieces in place. This tool is great and will even cut irregular squares pretty well, if you don't want to be anal about perfect squares (which are never perfect anyway).
Nippers: Use these for ceramics. The gap in the jaws is too big for glass, and the ends won't meet.