How to cut a mirror yourself if you are not a glazier?

Mirrors in the interior are needed not only to look in them. To create various optical illusions, reflective surfaces can be placed in blocks on the walls, under the ceiling, near wall lamps, and even play the role of kitchen aprons. But here’s the problem: hiring a team of professionals for designer renovations isn’t affordable for everyone these days. Therefore, a logical question arises for home craftsmen: what to do when you need to cut off a mirror yourself? The author of the site purity-en.htgetrid.com figured out this issue.

What to prepare for work?

Before you start cutting a mirror for your home interior, it is important to make sure that everything you need is at hand. These are tools, accessories, items for cleaning up after yourself, as well as for observing safety precautions, because when working with glass, caution should come first.

To work you will need:

• the mirror itself;
• glass cutter;
• flat, smooth surface (wide table or large chipboard);
• a long thick ruler (about 8 mm thick);
• a piece of fabric (for example, a sheet or an old tablecloth);
• pliers with rubber gaskets;
• small hammer;
• roulette;
• fine sandpaper;
• bowl or basin with water;
• rag;
• soda and alcohol;
• pencil, chalk or marker for marking glass.

To keep your hands and eyes safe, you need to prepare:

• thick fabric gloves (to avoid cutting your fingers);
• patch for additional finger protection;
• safety glasses (construction, cycling or any other).

What kind of glass cutter should I use?

For a non-professional, it makes no difference what kind of glass cutters there are, so most often those that are cheaper are bought “for one time”. However, this is not always justified.

To cut a mirror, you can use different types of glass cutters. The most popular are roller and diamond. The second one costs much more, but it is much easier to work with, less effort is required, the quality of the cuts will be much higher, and the amount of scrap and waste will be less.

It is optimal, of course, to cut the mirror with a diamond glass cutter. Especially if the work planned is quite delicate and precise or there is a large volume to be completed. A diamond nose is inserted into the frame of such a glass cutter (hence, in fact, the name), which has acute and obtuse angles. During the cutting process, it is important to move the sharp angle forward, then the tool will move along the surface freely, without “stumbling” over the smallest surface irregularities. If you cut at an obtuse angle, the grain of the glass cutter will either jump out of its socket or “go off course.” In order to maintain the same angle of inclination of the tool when working, it is important to always point the mark on the frame of the glass cutter towards the ruler.

A roller glass cutter is more difficult to hold a line, and to obtain a high-quality cut you need to put in much more effort. In order to facilitate the sliding of such a tool over the surface, the line of the future cut can be lubricated with turpentine, using, for example, a student’s paint brush.

Advice

Before you start cutting the critical, “finishing” sections of the mirror, practice doing this well on unnecessary pieces of glass. Then the hand will be firmer and the lines will be smoother.

What do you need to know before you start cutting?

In order not to spoil the mirror, especially if you have no experience working with a glass cutter, you should study the general rules of such work, and then the process itself step by step.

So, what do you need to know before picking up a mirror and glass cutter?

• It is important to hold the tool at a right angle. Only slight deviation is allowed.
• The angle of inclination cannot be changed! Otherwise, you won’t be able to separate the cut parts evenly and accurately.
• The cut should be made in one precise, continuous, sharp movement.
• The pressing force cannot be changed, with the exception of the edges: approximately 5 mm before the edge, the pressure is relaxed so that the tool does not slip and chips do not form.
• They always cut from the far edge towards themselves.
• Always cut on the front side (not where the amalgam is applied).
• A thin whitish mark when using a roller glass cutter means that the cut was not deep enough. The correct cut is dark in color.
• Diamond tools always leave a white mark.
• You need to cut the mirror to fit a thick ruler. To prevent it from sliding on the surface, pieces of rubber (for example, from a bicycle tire) are attached to its base.

Advice

Don't try to deepen a cut that doesn't work. It will not be possible to hit the trace in the trace along the entire length, and repeated movements will only damage the mirror, and you will have to throw it away (or cut off a smaller part). That is why it is important to first practice “on cats” in the form of old glass.

Technology of work execution

At first glance, the work seems extremely complicated. But if you perform it in the prescribed sequence, observing accuracy and precautions, the result will please you.

Mirror cutting is carried out as follows.

1. You need to lay a cloth on the work surface to protect the mirror when pressed.
2. Clean the surface of the mirror first with a soda solution, then with alcohol. Otherwise, particles of grease (such as fingerprints) or dust will cause the glass cutter to move, especially if it is a roller cutter.
3. Draw a marking line. It should correspond to the line of movement of the glass cutter (that is, in fact, be at a distance of about 2 mm from the true position of the future cut).
4. A carver without experience must make sure that his tool is perfectly sharp, otherwise there is a high probability of failure.
5. Next, you need to make the incision itself - according to the rules outlined above.
6. Now you need to place the mirror so that the cut protrudes slightly beyond the edges of the table, press it with one hand, and with the other, break off the cut part with one sharp downward movement (you need to break it in the opposite direction from the cut).
7. If the “trick” is unsuccessful, a hammer will help, with which you need to carefully tap the cut line from below, starting from the far edge, and then break off again.
8. If the width of the section to be cut is small and is not enough to fully grasp the piece with your hand and break it off, you can use the grooves of the glass cutter itself and grab the desired section with its help. Or pick up pliers with rubber gaskets. If you don’t have any on the farm, you can put rubber tubes on the lips of ordinary pliers or wrap them with several layers of electrical tape or adhesive tape.
9. The resulting sections must be carefully sanded with sandpaper.

Following the tips outlined above, even an inexperienced beginner can cut a mirror using a glass cutter. The main thing is to be careful and patient.