Scoring and Breaking Glass, Finished Panel (well almost)

Naturally our instinct tells us not to break glass. Get over it! Breaking glass is fun and it's not that hard to do (with some practice). I'll show you how I score and break a large piece of glass. I find that it's a lot cheaper to buy larger sheets. Plus with a larger sheet you have more control of your design. You can choose a corner or an edge or whatever rather than having a vendor choose it for you. I hate having a piece of glass that has only a part of a design that I need. I like the freedom to choose from a larger piece of glass. However, the glass I'm breaking is clear. No problem with design. This glass has a texture that makes breaking a little bit tricky. Let's get started.

 I selected the smoother side and scored a line with the glass cutter. I prefer a Toyo pistol grip cutter because I have more control of the pressure applied. That's the secret to successful glass cutting...the pressure. There are a ton of Youtube videos on cutting glass. Pay close attention to the sound as the glass is scored. That will be a good indicator if you are pressing too hard or not enough. Practice on some cheap glass until you have the technique down. It doesn't take long to get a feel for cutting glass. It's been over ten years for me and I was able to cut this sheet within ten minutes of practicing. I mention using cheap glass to practice on because the good stuff costs anywhere from $150 to $350 a sheet. You really don't want to waste any glass at this stage. Alrighty then...I scored my line using my glass cutter and a cork-backed straight edge.

Where I finish the score, I start the break using my breaking pliers. Don't press too hard...just hard enough to start the break.

Here's a picture of the break just starting. On the right side the glass is fractured and on the left it is only scored.

Here's a close up of what I'm trying to describe.

For large sheets I like to use the tapping method to break glass. Using the end of my pencil grip Toyo cutter, I gently tapped the glass along the unbroken score line. The score is on the top surface and I tapped on the lower glass surface.

I carefully tapped along the score line. As I tapped, the glass fractured along the score. Take your time and don't tap too hard. You run the risk of fracturing the glass perpendicular to the score line...that's a bad thing.

Continue tapping until you hear the glass separate. Really...you'll hear the tone of the tapping suddenly become lower.

Gently push up and pull away from the rest of the sheet. Congratulatons! You just broke your first sheet of glass. I'll try to describe how to cut smaller pieces of glass  (with curves) in a future post.

This is the first of eight panels I'll be making for the kitchen cabinets. The next panel will be similar to this one except the iris will be facing to the right and the leaves will be slightly altered.

The panel requires cement/ whiting and then it's ready to mount in the cabinet door. Please stay tuned...