Cutting horticultural glass

[silu]

Hi, I was wondering if anybody could give me some advice please. I've been very lucky and been given a 6x10 2nd hand glasshouse. When we dismantled it a few panes of glass broke...sigh!. I was given quite a few extra 2x2 panes but need to cut them down to replace the ones I broke, which typical are not 2x2s

I haven't cut glass before and wondered A. if it is difficult B. Is there a type of cutter best for the job and C. Would I be best to try and find a glazier who would do it for me (have no idea what they would charge). The glasshouse is all but up again but just need a few panes of the right size to finish it off in time for winter coming!

Hope someone can help me. Thanks very much.

[bigt1888]

try youtube- how to cut glass

[bishop]

Hello silu, yep cutting glass is hard i tried and gave up, i replacd the panes on the front of mine with polycarbonate sheets easy to cut, the glazier at my local garden centre charges about £2.50 to cut a 2x2 down, that is for 2 cuts, i had 3 cut down 2 year ago,

[silu]

Thanks both of you for replying. Looked at you tube...it looked SO easy but bet it's not. Think I'll buy a cutter and give it a go as I have plenty of spare glass....well do at the moment but after my attempts to cut some maybe not!
Will have a look at buying alternative types of glass as well.Good of you to bother to reply, cheers.

[bigt1888]

it is actually quite easy if you do it with confidence. its when you try the snap half heartedly that it causes a problem.. have a go and you might be surprised!!

[rana]

I have been told that old glass becomes flawed and brittle and is harder to cut with a clean straight edge than freshly manufactured glass. So if a glass sheet from an old greenhouse needs to be cut down it may prove more difficult.

[Flummery]

I did a course on glass-craft - to make terraria, light catchers etc. and we used horticultural glass to learn on - confidence is the trick. When you score the glass with your cutter, don't do it tentatively - if you stop at all, the glass cut will not run true. It needs to be a good deep score along the full length of the glass. Then you can hold the glass in both hands and snap it. Almost impossible to do if you only want to remove half an inch though! When you get good at it you can cut curves too. Very satisfying to do - but it was about 15 years ago so I bet I couldn't do it again now!

[green thing]

Hi Silu
It's easy
I would recommend a wheel type cutter
NEW OIL FILLED LUBRICATED GLASS CUTTER ALLOY STEEL on eBay (end time 12-Nov-10 19:50:57 GMT)

you need to cut it on a flat surface table top with a dust sheet or some like under the glass
you run the cutter alone the side of a straight edge or ruler(it needs to be about2- 3mm thick)making sure you apply a even pressure all the way along and you must not stop or lift off and you must make sure score the hole length until the cutter falls of the end.
the easiest way to brake the glass is to place the ruler under the glass score about 2mm from the line press on one side then apply a little pressure to side that lifted up and it should snap .....dead easy...

[zazen999]

By the time you've bought all the gubbins, probably easier to get someone else to do it. Not that I'm pouring water on your bonfire and all that....We need to get a spare pane for our greenhouse and i'm just gonna get a blokey to do it for me.

[bearded bloke]

Where in the country are you ?

[Flummery]

Meant to say, wear gloves!
Definitely if you're only doing it for this job, get someone to do it.