No, you can’t do it with scissors, even underwater - but here is my
small guess at how a piece of good technical practice got
misunderstood through the “folk process” and maybe evolved into this
particular myth.
It is believed by many glaziers, and practiced by them, that just
prior to running a glass cutter across a piece of glass it is a good
idea to wet the line of the cut with water or something equally thin
such as paint thinner or kerosene. (The thinner or kerosene stands a
better chance of wetting the surface rather than beading up the way
plain water might do.) Also won’t rust your tools.
I have heard at least two rationales for this practice. .
One is that the liquid acts as a sort of lubricant and floats away
the tiny bits of glass grit that are thrown up by the cutting wheel
so they don’t get run over by the wheel, throwing it off course or
crunching under it and starting a wild crack.
The other story is that the liquid gets into the crack you start and
“keeps it open.” That second one doesn’t make much sense to me
intuitively, but that’s what the man said.
Anyway, it is a good idea to really clean the glass of grit before
cutting and the water (or other liquid) would help move the grit
that gets generated during the act of cutting. Maybe it holds down
the dust too. You don’t want to be breathing that stuff if you are
cutting glass all day long.
Marty - Yep, still in Victoria - where the glass is half full (of
rainwater).
Note From Ganoksin Staff:
Looking for a galss cutter tool for your jewelry projects? We recommend:
- Reading our guide to the Best Glass Cutter Tools Review for jewelry work here
- Searching for more discussions about Glass Cutter Tools here on the Orchid forum