what would peeps use to cut glass/mirror Ive tried a few things but no luck so far
Seems like something like a spring-loaded drag knife, except using the scoring wheel? Maybe you could diamond-drag your score marks?
yeah did a search but couldn’t really find what i was after, its the cutting bit that will do the job that I’m having a difficulty finding
try a glass cutter to no luck
Scoring glass with the CNC machines can be straightforward.
It is important for the cutter to swivel as it scores the glass.
A simple cutter that can freewheel, like a caster, was made from hardware store glass cutters.
They were cut and ground so they could be soldered inside a 1/4 inch OD pipe. First image.
The cutter on the far left had to be bent so the cutting wheel was behind the center of rotation, as in a caster.
These were installed in a router in place of the bit. The un-powered router permitted some swiveling movement. Second image.Glass Cutters
Cut and soldered glass cutters.
The router can be a bit stiff as a swivel. To remedy this, a pair of 3/8 inch ID bearings were pressed into simple bearing blocks, and a 3/8 inch pipe was inserted into the bearings.
The pipe had to be lightly sanded to fit.
The blocks were screwed onto hardboard, which was notched and drilled to use the existing router support hardware.
A glass cutter like the one shown below the swivel was ground to fit inside the pipe and bearings.
The glass circle was scored with the CNC machine, and manually removed from the pane.
The glass stock rested on felt as the scoring was done. This helped to keep the correct scoring pressure.
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id imagine the base need be flat as all get up as well. I have watched some stained glass videos where they have relief cuts in odd spots not just going for it on certain shapes but if there’s success there’s success.
There is a technique for etching glass. I have a high speed rotary tool and a tutorial for it for etching glass is where I got this info from. Instead of trying to mill it like metal or wood you can use a wet paper towel.
single layer and keep it wet. The bit will eat through it and the water will keep the glass from overheating. Also use a diamond bit and very little pressure. The plunge will have to be very low. Multiple passes with very low plunge will work and also put your glass on a rigid but soft material like a mat. Check the square of your glass with the bit. if any area is off then you will get a broken glass as one side will be higher than the other. A jig that allows for adjustment can be made and there is a mod for a digital gauge to check for the level.
I plan on doing some glass stuff later myself.
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have made a spring jig but find the carving bit tends to etch some parts of the glass and not others, its a little frustrating and it also wears the bit out very fast
the etching in the top left corner took multiple passes and now the tip is completely ground down and can no longer do fine points
I bought my X-Carve with the intention to figure a way to cut glass. I basically put this together using all parts from ServoCity and a Toyo Heavy duty cutting head. Its fairly simple, and once you dial in the correct pressure for your type/thickness of glass, you will get consistent cuts. The only issue with this, is the head needs to be faced in the direction that it’s going to start the cut, or you will be a few mm off as it turns into its direction. There is no real way to reduce that with the materials used, but it has saved me an immense amount of time and tennis elbow. I can provide info on all the parts I used if youd like.
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Try the widgetworksunlimited diamond tipped spring loaded drag bit. http://cdn3.volusion.com/abpx9.gero3/v/vspfiles/photos/CNC-DMND_ENGRV-500-2.jpg
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looks great but a little pricey
The price of something that does that job well
No that does not cut glass at all. For etching its fine. Not for cutting. Not at all. I wasted money on that thinking it cut glass as they state.
Here is a low quality video of my cutting attachment works. It cut a perfect circle, although i dont have a photo of it removed… I can make more vids tomorrow to show how well it cuts. This whole setup cost around $50 total.
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Yah, the beginning of the topic was about etching glass, which is what I’m talking about.
want to cut and also etch glass, but I’m not paying $200US in order to do some etching, have found a cheaper one on ebay
Any tapered diamond coated or carbide end mill will work with etching any type of glass. You need not spend more than $20 on a decent one.
Could you provide a little more detail on the setup?
Absolutely, here is the list of parts i purchased from servocity.com. Also you could get a slimmer aluminum screw plate i realized. Also as you see in my photos, i have it screwed directly into the spindle jacket, since im always switching back and forth between milling and glass cutting. I had to mark and drill 2 holes into the jacket’s hinging section… Removing the spindle and attaching the glass cutting head closer in proximity to the X axis bar will give you more precision. Then you will have to figure through trial and error exactly how far down to push the z axis down to get a perfect consistent cut, should take less than 15 min. Im cutting strong borosilicate, so i go 3mm down from zero. Hope this helps, its worth the price and effort for me. I will never look back.
2 (6157K13) 3/8 inch Aluminum Clamping $4.99 $9.98
Collar
* Weight: 0.03 lbs. each
1 (635246) 8 inch length x 3/8 inch dia. $2.79 $2.79
Aluminum Tubing
* Weight: 0.03 lbs. each
2 (535154) 3/8 inch Bore Pillow Block $6.49 $12.98
* Weight: 0.03 lbs. each
1 (632106) .250 in L x 6-32 Zinc-Plated $1.69 $1.69
Alloy Steel Socket Head Cap Screw
(25 pk)
* Weight: 0.05 lbs. each
1 (632144) #6 Washers (25 pack) $0.89 $0.89
* Weight: 0.01 lbs. each
1 (632142) 6-32 Nylock Nuts (25 pack) $1.59 $1.59
* Weight: 0.06 lbs. each
1 (633108) 3/8 inch Shafting & Tubing $1.69 $1.69
Spacers (12 pk)
* Weight: 0.01 lbs. each
1 (585002) Flat Aluminum Panel A (4.5 x $8.99 $8.99
6 inches)
* Weight: 0.18 lbs. each
Total Shipment Weight: 0.40 lbs. Subtotal: $40.60
And the Toyo glass cutter necessary for these parts. https://www.amazon.com/Toyo-Pistol-Grip-Glass-Cutter/dp/B000IGMQ1C?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
Use pliers to unscrew the entire metal section from the plastic handle. The screw of the glass cutting head will then screw snugly into the rod… You can even fill the aluminum rod with machine oil, and it releases it perfectly… Just make sure you use a tiny bit of plumbers tape to make sure the oil doesnt leak out the screw threads. The rest should be fairly simple.
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