GLASS CUTTING what is glass Glass is a

GLASS CUTTING

what is glass ? Glass is a non-crystalline amorphous solid that is often transparent and has widespread practical, technological, and decorative usage in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optoelectronics. Properties: q Amorphous q Brittle q Transparent/ translucent q Unaffected by air, water, acid or chemical reagents q Can absorb, transmit & reflect light q No definite crystal structure therefore high compressive strength

GLASS CUTTING ü Glass cutting/polishing is the last step in glass manufacturing process. ü A glass cutter is a tool used to make a shallow score in one surface of a piece of glass that is to be broken into two pieces. The scoring makes a split in the surface of the glass which encourages the glass to break along the score ü Glass cutters are manufactured with wheels of varying diameters üA glass cutter may use a diamond to create the split, but more commonly a small cutting wheel made of hardened steel or tungsten carbide 4– 6 mm in diameter.

CUTTING PROCESS: The glass cutting process involves making a score in the glass surface with a diamond or special tungsten carbide cutting wheel and then running the cut to break the glass at the score line. The score line can be straight or shaped to follow a template or by using a Computer Aided Design (CAD) process. Glass cutting can be done manually or with semi or fully automated Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines. Some restrictions apply to cutting glass as it is very difficult to cut a strip of glass less than the glass thickness. For thick glass such as 8 mm and above, used in glass fins and the like, the minimum width of the strips is normally restricted to 10 times the thickness. Other methods can be used to cut glass such as a water jet or diamond saw, these methods are used in special applications.