Cutting Glass - Any rule of thumb how to space pieces?

by Josie
(wellsburg IA)

I am curious is there a guideline how much surplus should be allowed to make cutting glass pieces easier? I try to be frugal by minimizing the margins on pieces to reduce waste. The attached photo shows how I was laying out a number of smaller pieces. I spend a lot of time nibbling small chunks of glass form the scored line on these. But will working with larger pieces actually make cutting easier? When I see videos it looks like several inches of glass are left to the outside of a traced piece.

Answer

There is no rule of thumb, but you need to leave enough glass to get a clean break along each score. I usually leave about 1/2 inch.

If there are any straight edges, you can place two pattern pieces side by side (with the edge of one overlapping the edge of the other) and have a common score line.

You have quite a few pieces laid out the need more room around them to prevent the nibbling that you have described.

Trying to save glass is all well and good, but you won't be saving much if you have to re-cut pieces, or spend time trying to nibble bits away to get them right. For the little bit more glass you'll use, it isn't worth the time and effort involved.

In the following picture you will see a red line. That is the first cut I make when I'm cutting a piece with a complicated edge. Cutting off some of the glass, the same shape as the edge you will be cutting gives you a much better chance of getting a clean break along that final score line. I make that first cut (red line) about 1/2 inch from the final score line.



Most of your pieces are too close together and don't have enough glass around at least one side to get a clean break.