Q&A for How to Cut Tempered Glass

Creating stained glass has evolved over time, and while the traditional methods required intricate craftsmanship, modern techniques make the process more accessible. In the past, artisans would collect molten colored glass from a furnace, forming a bubble that was manipulated into intricate designs. This involved scoring, breaking, and unfolding the glass. Alternatively, they would spin out a bubble, resulting in "bullseye glass" with distinctive concentric circles. The contemporary approach, however, simplifies the process for easier production. Nowadays, stained glass is often made using continuous methods similar to window glass manufacturing. Molten glass is poured onto a surface from a smelting furnace, pulled, cut, and trimmed by a tractor-fed system. This results in a continuous sheet of stained glass progressing along a conveyor belt. Even glass mimicking the appearance of traditional stained or etched glass follows these streamlined, efficient techniques. This modernization has made stained glass creations more accessible to a broader audience.

Not without annealing it. A cut on the surface of the hardened glass will cause it to shatter.

It stays the same size.

Professionally manufactured tempered glass is sandblasted with either the word "tempered" or the abbreviation "temp." Look in the corners for this mark. Tempered glass also usually has extremely smooth edges.

Yes. The laser will cause stress points which will cause the glass to shatter if you don't.

It would have exploded into tiny fragments, and there would be no glass left. A hole has the same effect as trying to cut. You are altering the molecular structure and disturbing the combined strength of the glass causing it to shatter into small pieces.

Tempered glass cannot be cut without shattering. It is designed to shatter if tweaked in order to keep people from cutting themselves. Tempered glass has to be re-heated in a kiln to 1000+ degrees F (or temperature specific to that glass type), then cooled slowly to room temperature. The resulting glass can be cut with a glass cutter without shattering.

You can get a cheap glass cutter tool at a home improvement store, then make a mark on the glass and pull the glass cutter tool along the line, holding firmly and with moderate strength, pushing down on the glass, while pulling the tool. Make sure the glass is on a firm, even, surface, with a towel between that and the counter. It helps to put some oil along the line of cutting, to help prevent breaking the glass. Do one side at a time, and after you score it with the tool, carefully bend each side of the cut, to break it on the line.

Probably not; tempered glass will likely prove too strong to be polished by pumice. But, you can polish tempered glass edges with silicon carbide sandpaper attached to a buffer machine.

Yes, because it would be in a million pieces. Tempered glass cannot be cut. It must be annealed first.

A tint is a film applied to the surface of the glass. Nothing to do with the glass itself. So it may or may not be tempered.