How to cut acrylic glass at home

We cut glass with ordinary scissors

With ordinary scissors and water, you can easily cut not very thick glass.

The glass is immersed in warm water, and underneath it is simply cut with scissors into pieces of the desired size. Don’t believe me? Try it yourself. Take a small piece of glass, immerse it in a bucket of water and cut it open with ordinary tailor’s scissors. Did not work out? So you are dealing with tempered glass. And the usual should give in to scissor blades like cardboard.

If you need to cut a piece from a large plate, you can submerge it in a filled tub or in a large basin. With a marker, apply markings to its surface and proceed: run the scissors along the outlined fishing lines, and then just break off the excess. Wear gloves to avoid accidentally cutting yourself with a sharp edge. Yes, and it is desirable to protect the eyes from fragments.

This method is suitable for cutting materials no more than 3 mm thick. But on the other hand, you can cut out any shape you want, however, only with straight contours. For curly cutting, you will need to prepare a template in advance. Glue it to the glass with any glue, put it in water and start cutting. The more water is above the glass, the easier it will be for you to work.

Fire, water and twine

• twine made from natural material (linen, wool or cotton);
• flammable liquid (gasoline, alcohol or kerosene);
• a vessel with cool water (a regular plastic bottle will do).

Make markings on the glass, limiting the dimensions you need, then soak the twine well with a flammable liquid, lay it on your markings and set it on fire.

With ordinary twine, you can easily melt the glass into the desired parts.

As soon as the flame goes out, immediately pour water in a thin stream along the mowing line. The glass simply has to crack in this place. Well, then everything is trivial: break off the glass along the crack and clean the edges with emery. If the crack does not appear, then you will have to start the whole process again.

By the way, if you lay the twine curly, then you can end up with plates of a rather complex shape. And for cutting bottles, this method is simply irreplaceable. After all, it is difficult to use a glass cutter on a curved surface.

With a little practice, you can cut out a given hole shape. The technology is exactly the same. Only instead of breaking off the cut piece, knocking is used:

• glue the crack along the contour with tape or adhesive plaster;
• gently tap the contour with a wooden stick or a cloth-wrapped hammer;
• extrude the cut piece.

If you do not have the opportunity to mess around with twine, then you can cut the glass and a soldering iron.

How can you cut glass without a glass cutter?

It so happens that a piece of glass is urgently needed. And the glass cutter is not observed in the foreseeable space, or it simply fell into disrepair. Below we will show you how to cut glass without a glass cutter. And it really can be done. After all, a glass cutter appeared relatively recently as a widely available tool. In the old days, this tool was not widely available.

Glass is usually cut with a glass cutter, but there are other ways to cut it at home.

Cobalt-tungsten alloys, which are distinguished by high strength, have not yet been invented, and there was no trace of industrial diamonds. A simple knife is not good for this job. And only wealthy craftsmen could afford to use even a small shard of natural stone for cutting glass. It is now relatively cheap artificial diamonds and cutters made of high-strength alloys that make it possible to cut hard materials, including glass, with almost no effort.

The easiest way to get the result of the desired shape and size is, of course, cutting glass during the manufacturing process. smelting. But few people have the opportunity to keep the necessary materials and equipment for melting on hand, and this process is not at all as simple as it seems. And we will leave the manufacture of window panes in a handicraft way for the numerous heroes of the books about the “hitmen” written by technically illiterate authors. But there is a way out, besides there are even several of them. Below, we’ll show you how you can do this job with other tools and wits.

Soldering iron and file

You can also cut glass without a glass cutter using tools as common as a file and a soldering iron.

You will need a file in order to make a small cut along the edge of the glass, marking the beginning of the cut. Then take a heated soldering iron and slowly but firmly slide it over the glass surface. If you are not sure of the firmness of your hand, then use a metal ruler. Directly behind the tip of the soldering iron, a crack forms on the surface of the glass, along which it will then easily crack.

How To Cut Acrylic Sheet By Hand

No file on the farm? No problem. Scratch the edge with a regular steel nail or file an angle grinder gently. Well, the missing soldering iron will successfully replace the electric burner. Well, or the same nail, but only red-hot. Of course, you will have to tinker, since the nail will need to be constantly heated again.

Features of working with non-standard glass

Tempered glass cannot be processed at home; when exposed to mechanical stress, it crumbles or breaks into pieces. Corrugated. Is cut with a glass cutter in the same way as usual, but on the smooth side.

Corrugated glass is cut from the flat side

Acrylic glass is actually not glass. Thin material is cut with simple scissors or an ordinary knife. A thick sheet can be drawn along a ruler with a fragment of a hacksaw blade, several times, and then bend and break the grooves along the mowing line.

How to cut glass glass cutter at home with your own hands, how to cut off a thick sheet

One way or another, all of us are faced with the need to replace glass in doors and windows, glazing on bookshelves and other manipulations associated with the processing of this fragile material. At first glance, it seems that the independent performance of these works is very problematic, but in fact anyone can master the skills of a glazier.

Of course, you need to follow safety precautions to prevent cuts and injuries, choose a convenient tool and cut it correctly. In practice, you will find that using a glass cutter is quite simple when cutting glass. Most often, cutting a rectangular piece is obtained from the first time.

Glass comes in different thicknesses

Types of glass cutters

First of all, it must be remembered that glass can be different: ordinary window glass, tempered glass, plexiglass, acrylic, corrugated and ten more options. Also, even ordinary ones can be quite thick or, conversely, thin and very fragile. Depending on the type, the tool and the cutting method are also selected. But using a glass cutter is the most common option.

The construction market offers several options for glass cutters:

diamond can cut glass of almost any thickness and its service life is long. As a working element, a diamond is used, which, if necessary, can be easily turned by an unsharpened edge; the roller has a working part, which is made of an alloy of cobalt and tungsten and is characterized by increased strength. The number of rollers ranges from one to six and can be replaced; oil has rollers and a reservoir with grease, which flows to the surface and reduces friction. When worn, the roller itself and its fastening require replacement; with a compass function that allows you to cut circles. Most often, an ordinary oil glass cutter is mounted on a special device with a scale that allows you to set the diameter of the circle.

Before cutting the glass with a glass cutter, it must be prepared:

clean from dirt, possibly wash and wipe dry; remove the slightest dust, since the smallest particle that the glass cutter stumbles upon can become source of cracking; if used glass is used, it is also degreased with kerosene; cutting lines.

Preparation of material and work table

To make a good cut, the glass surface must be thoroughly cleaned. If the glass has just been purchased, then it will be enough to wipe it with a newspaper, which does not leave behind streaks and lint.

How to Easily Cut Plexiglass and Acrylic Sheets

The work table should be level without significant slopes. The surface of the countertop does not need to be made too hard, it is best made from chipboard and covered with a soft textile or other similar material for easier cutting.

How to cut corrugated glass?

How to cut a mirror without a glass cutter

The mirrors that surround us: in a car, a bathroom or a woman’s cosmetic bag, are in their structure ordinary glass with a metal layer on the back surface. Cutting glass with a mirror coating, practically does not differ from the usual and can be done with a regular glass cutter or by the methods given above. When no special tool is at hand, a file or diamond blade is the most effective cutting tool. Let’s take a closer look at how to cut a mirror at home without a glass cutter, using available tools.

The first step is to prepare the surface to be treated: wash, degrease and dry. The mirror must be clean, free from stains and strong streaks. Otherwise, the line of the cut may lead and the chip will be uneven. The working surface where the cutting will be carried out should be flat and not very rigid. You can lay a thick cloth or a piece of linoleum on the table.

Having prepared the material and the workplace, we mark the line of the future cut on the mirror. It is better to guide straight mowing lines along a ruler or rail with a height of at least 5 mm. To prevent the stop from slipping, a strip of electrical tape can be glued to its bottom. Next, take a file, angle grinder or other tool and make a cut along the marked mowing line. A more detailed process for the various cutting methods is described above.

When the cut is ready, it remains to break off the mirror in the right place. To do this, you can put a small object (match, pencil, nail) under the cutting line and press lightly on both sides. You can chop the glass on the edge of the table, or gently tap it underneath with a small metal object (drill or spoon). If the glass doesn’t break, you don’t need to push too hard. Better to make the second cut a couple of centimeters from the first.

How to replace a glass cutter

Not only professional tools will help when cutting glass, but also not quite ordinary ones, such as scissors or an angle grinder. They can easily cope with such work under certain conditions.

Scissors do not cut glass in the air, but you can cut glass with scissors in water. In a liquid, the force of gravity is less and the scissors do not make an incision, but a microcrack. This crack acts as a capillary for water to enter. Capillary water has a wedging effect on weak crystallization points and the glass breaks off in pieces.

Interesting! If it is necessary to cut curly parts, the glass is placed in cold water and then boiled for several hours. After cooling, the tension inside is relieved and the material becomes soft.

There are several ways and options for how to cut thick glass. The easiest one is to use an oil glass cutter if the thickness is not more than 20 mm. But as an option, you can use an angle grinder. The dimensions of the tool should be small and comfortable. The diameter of the circle is the smallest, then it will be easier to work with it.

Burning thread

We soak the thread in a flammable liquid and fix it on the glass along the cutting line of the cut. We set it on fire, wait for it to completely burn out and immediately place it in cold water or pour it into the place of heating. The main thing is for the glass to cool down as quickly as possible and burst from the temperature drop. A characteristic click will signal the success of the work done. If the glass is not cracked, you can try to repeat the operation.

This method cleaves bottles fairly evenly, but does not always work with large glass sizes. It is also very fire hazardous and requires a fire extinguisher or a container of water at hand, which is already mandatory.