cutting glass

[NJ_ychung1]

hello fellow reefers.

i am in the process of putting a tank together from planes of glass that are from a diff fish tanks. anyway, i have a question...

does anyone have any experience cutting glass. i have 3/8 thick and 1/2 in thick panes.

i stopped by redbank (atlantic glass) to see if they would cut it for a fee but they didn't say very much. they don't seem to welcome that sort of business. anyone have any tips or good contacts that may have a way to cut these panes of glass.

Jay

 

[redfishbluefish]

First, if it is tempered it can’t be cut. Tempered glass is first cut to size and than sent through the tempering process.

If it is not tempered, after the glass is cut (diamond glass cutter), all aquarium glass that I’ve seen, if not tempered, has been flame finished on the cut edge. That slightly melts the glass to smooth the rough edge.

 

[NJ_ychung1]

can i get a diamond glass cutter at home depot. also, if the edges are tempered then will it be impossible to cut that piece of glass or can i cut off the edge.

thx
jay

 

[redfishbluefish]

You can not cut tempered glass!

The question is, how do you know if it’s tempered?

I found this article because of a long-term project to drill a custom made tank made by someone else, and not knowing if it’s tempered. I haven’t tried this yet because I don’t have anything that is polarized (sunglasses, camera filter or film). If you try this, let me know if it works.

How can i tell if glass is tempered or not?:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070302000201AAR8WI3

 

[redfishbluefish]

can i get a diamond glass cutter at home depot. 

Yes!  For a couple of bucks.

To use this cutter, use a straight edge and first lubricate the glass.  I use kerosene as a lubricant, but other light oils would work as well.  Draw the cutter once along the straight edge, scoring the glass.  Now, hang the glass over the table and give it a quick snap by pushing it down.  WEAR SAFETY GLASSES AND GLOVES. 

EDITED TO ADD:  I've never cut anything thicker than 1/8 inch glass.

Edit 2: Although I consider myself relatively handy, I wouldn’t even attempt to cut and flame polish my own glass. Even though I’ve heard of DIY’ers flame polishing using a hand held propane torch, it is very difficult to evenly heat the glass so that you do not produce stress fractures. Good luck.

 

[NJ_ychung1]

thanks man. i'll post how it goes.

 

[saltwaterguy112]

You might want to leave that to the pro but good luck