Glass bed options? (Page 2 of 2)

Why are you guys spending unnecessary money on having others cut glass for you? A $2 glass cutter & a little 3-in-1 oil is all you really need - and the glass or mirror of course...

Here is a simple how to for cutting your own glass/mirror.... (i will apologize for the crappy cell phone pics in advance)

gather your supplies:

• glass or mirror (in my case, a box of 12" x 12" mirror tiles)
  glass cutter
  sharpie marker (i use a fine point one)
  measuring device (cheap plastic ruler with both inch & metric)
  3-in-1 oil
  and a good thick straight edge to guide your cut (I have a nice piece of aluminum I use, but a piece of wood would also work)

Mark out the size you need on the glass with the sharpie and ruler - here I am cutting a 200mm x 200mm piece for use on the new Prusa i3

squirt a little bit of the 3-in-1 oil on a scrap section of the glass, and roll the cutting edge of the glass cutter thru it - this will help you get a nice clean score.

Line up your straight edge guide, centering the cutter on your marks...

When you are all lined up, hold your guide tight & press down firmly on the cutter and score the glass along your line - you should hear a nice scratching sound all the way - works best to start close to you and cut away... keep the angle of the cutter at 45 degrees or less to the surface. (hold the cutter kind of like you would a knife at dinner to cut meat) start the score just a tiny fraction from the edge of the glass - it will snap fine.

Do NOT try to score more than once!

Once you have scored the glass, pick it up and hold it firmly between your thumbs and forefingers (almost a fist with the glass in between) very close to the score line and snap it by twisting your wrists outward. (wish I had pics, but I was by myself)

Should look like this after snapping...

Repeat for the next cut.... and a perfectly cut 200mm x 200mm piece of mirror for my new printer.

It may take a little practice to get the scoring pressure right, so practice on a scrap piece first, but once you do, you will never pay someone to do this again for your printer needs.