Cody mentioned using a piece of glass as a cutting surface for signs, decals, etc.
Does anyone know if it is tempered glass or standard window glass?
tempered glass would be better, harder to break, and when it does it shatters into small pieces, very little sharp edges ..
more money though, and a little harder to get
I use an old refrigerator glass shelf. I'm not sure if it is tempered or not, but I really don't think it matters. Tempered glass is designed to shatter into tiny bits under rather extreme force. Regular glass will crack into shards if similar force is applied. However, I highly doubt that any cutting on a glass surface that would be done by a modeller would come anywhere close to applying enough force to break the glass.
My preference would be to not use tempered glass. In the rare event that it should break I would rather not shower my entire work area nor my face and body with tiny bits of glass. I would much rather deal with a few shards.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I just stole the glass cutting board from the kitchen, put it back when I was done.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I use sheet glass from an old picture frame. It is almost the same size as a blue shop towel, which is lintless paper. Taping all four edges, so they overlap on both sides, will make it easier to handle and prevent chipping of the edges. Then if it should happen to crack, it will stay together. I use the 3M Green masking tape, which is stronger than the regular tape. In the bottom right hand corner is the glass sheet I'm referring to. When I do use it, I make sure there is a cushion surface that it rests on, like a sheet of the shop towel, which is blue:
In the next photo is My number one tool for cutting decals and brass photo etch parts. An Excel#6 stencil edge scoring blades. I'm also an avid ship builder, one of My other hobby vices.........the bicycle is HO scale:
Take Care!
Frank
don't use glass at all i use a cutting mat with a self healing surface , easer on blades.but if i were going to use glass i would stay with safety class.
Ordinary home window glass would be a pain to keep safe from accidental breakage just moving it around. I use a piece of glass that was once part of a store display, 1/4" thick or so and ground edges on all sides. No idea if it's tempered, but the only way it breaks is if I drop it.
You don't need a very big piece. Business envelope size ought to do it. I would think a specialty glass store, one that does commercial windows, could fix you up pretty cheap, out of their recycle bucket.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I use an 8" square mirror, it's even fancy with a beveled edge .
We have a collected a zillion picture frames with glass, but I didn't think the glass was thick enough.
Also works great for checking trucks and frames for warping.
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewi I use an 8" square mirror, it's even fancy with a beveled edge . We have a collected a zillion picture frames with glass, but I didn't think the glass was thick enough. Also works great for checking trucks and frames for warping. Mike.
The glass I use, is 3/16th of an inch thick.......usually found in Aluminum frames.
I also use a mirror for the purpose You use it for, but not for cutting decals and etchings. It has a tendency to give a double image and after awhile it drives Me nuts. My close friend is a retired Grafic Designer, who worked for American Decal for a number of yrs. His set-up table was a drafting light box made out of Aluminum frame with lights inside the table followed by a frosted white difuser and a 3/16th's thick glass overlay. I also had the same kind of table when I did lay-up work for Electrical/Machine design drawings.....which also brings up a comment someone mentioned about using a cutting mat because glass will dull the blades faster, which is true....but a moot point. When you use a mat for decal set-up/cutting it has a tendency to rip what You are cutting, because the mat gives/pushes in...you don't want that when doing a lay-up...you want a clear sharp cut. And when seting the lay-out up for a project that will be photographed those little things will show up. Plus the cost of the job, exceeds the cost of a few blades. Which brings up another point......the type of blade you are using......the tip on a #11 blade breaks off faster than the tip on the blade I use and will stay sharper longer.
Sometimes that double image, and the reflection of the light can be difficult.
I'll have to try that #6 Excel blade. The #11 tips do break easy!
I bought two 18"x24" 1/4" tempered glass panels with ground edges from a local Window/Glass company to use as model workstation surfaces. I use cutting mats on them when cutting stuff. The primary advantages of using a glass surface is that they are guaranteed to be perfectly flat and they are very easy to clean when you get paint, weathering, misc schmootz on them.
Modeling an HO gauge freelance version of the Union Pacific Oregon Short Line and the Utah Railway around 1957 in a world where Pirates from the Great Salt Lake founded Ogden, UT.
- Photo album of layout construction -
BigDaddy I use a piece of glass that was once part of a store display, 1/4" thick or so and ground edges on all sides.
.
I also recommend this.
I was lucky about 25 years ago when a store that sold store fixtures was going out of business. I got a1'4" thick 12 by 18 shelf with rounded ground edges for $5.00 closeout.
I broke it about 5 years ago. It turns out it was tempered.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
First off, glass is a lot stronger than you'd think. The only real danger is dropping it or dropping something hard and heavy onto it.
BigDaddy I use a piece of glass that was once part of a store display, 1/4" thick or so and ground edges on all sides. No idea if it's tempered, but the only way it breaks is if I drop it.
I use a piece of glass that was once part of a store display, 1/4" thick or so and ground edges on all sides. No idea if it's tempered, but the only way it breaks is if I drop it.
I use the same, a piece of storefront float glass. And big. About 60"X30". It used to be the top of a fifties-style executive desk.
It gets a lot of use as a dead flat surface for assembling structures. Glue and gunk cleans up easily using a single-edge razor blade as a squeegee.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
mbinsewiI'll have to try that #6 Excel blade. The #11 tips do break easy! Mike.
Mike,
Also look or purchase excel #16, they are a little different, but also for stencil/decal work......I also use those.
I also like the clear plastic tube with cap, that all the Excel blades come in. Many uses for it also:
https://widgetsupply.com/product/ben10-20016.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAtvPjBRDPARIsAJfZz0oMkSXIZxe5EXJ_jGGku6zQZ2jxvJ2TOppWpbufA3YpdJtO3e5LiOMaAhk3EALw_wcB
Mine is a 1/4 thick, used to be shelf. I think it is tempered,but as stated above it shouldn't matter. Mine sits on the bench,hasn't been moved in years.Unless you drop something on it, little chance to break.
I have two peel&stick sanding disc stuck on the far end. Perfet flat surface to square up edges. I use the front cornor to hold glops of glue while building,clean up with razor blade. The other front cornor is a building platform.And for exact cuts. My cutting mat is too beat up for careful cutting and building.
The peel and stick sanding disk is an excellent idea!
Years ago - I should say decades ago - MR had an article about constructing a decal cutting table. The top was glass, as Cody suggests, but it was in a wood frame with a light beneath it, so the decal film was backlit and easier to see and thus easier to trim very closely. Maybe that was a bigger deal back when decal film was so thick (as anyone who recalls 1950s era Walthers decals can tell you). But it still strikes me as a sound idea. I wonder if frosted glass would work even better than clear as that would keep the light from shining in your face as you cut.
For some reason the magazine index on this website now works so erractically that I am unable to find the article in question. But as I do more and more with decals it makes more and more sense.
Dave Nelson
My glass cutting surface was free! In the apartment complex I used to live in, there, by the dumpster, sat a piece of glass that was used as a table top, probably about 3/16" or so thick. Don't know if it is tempered, but the price was right!
Appreciate all of the suggestions!
I should have been clearer (another senior moment..) with my question as to tempered or regular plate glass, that being a concern as to which type of glass would be less susceptible to scratches from the cutting blade - be it #11 or the blade noted in a reply.
Not having used glass as a cutting surface before for cutting acetate for windows, decals, etc., prompted my question(s). The 12" square piece of window glass I bought is only 1/8" thick which probably wouldn't be a problem as long as it's on a rigid/flat surface while cutting, but it didn't dawn on me to have a piece of table top glass cut which is 3/16" to 1/4" and a better choice IMO.
My entire cutting surface is glass sincei use an old computer desk as my workbench.
Joe Staten Island West