Yes, free... but one might leave hospital with only four fingers.
Yes, free... but one might leave hospital with only four fingers.
Actually Steve - Greg has a good point.
My glass supplier is reluctant to use mechanical tools on thin glass, I would not recommend using any power tools with thin glass (2mm and under) unless the user has set up a safe working environment and has full protection, and knows what they are doing.
Glass and a belt sander are a combination that could cause severe injuries, Having had two severe - initially appearance innocuous cuts - one very deep needing stitches the other a severed artery needing the artery stitched and later a skin graft I'd advise caution. I should add both my incidents were unrelated to working with glass, one was walking past stacked glass sheets while carrying something very heavy & catching a finger against it (it shouldn't have been there anyway), the other more severe when a Duran beaker shattered.
When you've seen your own blood shooting across a room from a cut you think again !!!!
Ian
A diamond nail file works also
You know I've tried all the methods mentioned here. every single one. Never had "professional looking" results. But it never fails to amuse me at the lengths people will go to "do it myself". And yes it was after a nasty cut that I went to my glass shop. He taught me how and i do it myself with gloves. Proper tools for the job.
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The first thing I do when handling any glass is to dull the edges slightly with a cheap whetstone. Perhaps a belt sander would be better and almost as fast -- if one is available.
No offense intended towards you (I know your comment was at least partly tongue in cheek), but that's the attitude that scares me here in the US. It isn't free; it is just already paid for through taxes or some other vehicle. Nothing the government does is free. And the further removed the public is from the actual payment, the more they think the service truly is free. Free health care. How could anybody be against that? But it has to be paid for, so how much extra tax is everyone ready to pay to get free healthcare.
But now we'll both get banned for talking politics
Have ran into this a few times.
A belt sander will do the job in the least amount of time however you have to keep the glass level on the paper with no excessive pressure one side or the other which is hard to do. I am all for taking a piece of rectangular wood that fits in your hand comfortably, wrapping some fine wood sandpaper around it 'sand' the glass. Don't rush it, to take of 1/32 will take about 20-35 mins depending on thickness.
Last edited by CP Goerz; 5-Jul-2012 at 10:29. Reason: added info
Wow! I didn't expect this much help. Thanks. I think I will try the hands on method. Nice and easy. Tape on the edge and welding gloves.
If you use a belt sander or power whetstone (waterstone, like a planer blade sharpener)
you first sandwich the glass between two stiff sheets of plywd or phenolic, with only a tiny bit of glass standing proud. Duuuh. The same if you do it by hand. Lapidary grit can
be used too. No harder than sharpening a chisel - but if you tend to lop off a finger doing that kind of thing, I guess you shouldn't be handling glass at all. But I second the advice of taking it to a friendly glass shop who can ease the edges professionally.
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