Stained Glass Cutting Made Easy by: Dave Roth

If you're interested in getting started with stained glass. The first thing you need to do is to turn what the budget is that you want to spend. A good cutting tool should be your top priority. A good cutting tool is the center of any stained glass window project. If you are lucky enough to have somebody donate a stained glass cutter to then obviously it will be a very little cost. But, cutters are usually very reasonably priced so, even if you have to purchase one, its usually a very minimal cost. i would start by getting a glass cutter instead of using a big industrial glass cutter. Start out with the old tried and true glass cutter with an oil reservoir. This simple option will be a low cost alternative to the large and pricey cutters you find out there. In addition to the glass cutter with an oil reservoir, you'll also need grozing pliers, breaking pliers cutting oil, and maybe some scrapped glass to practice. This can all be picked up at a arts and crafts store either online or offline. It's important when ever cutting glass to make sure that you wear safety glasses. You may think its excessive, tiny particles are likely to pop up from the glass as you cut. it's better to be safe than be sorry. Glass cutters don't work by actually cutting surface, they make a very fine score that begins the break. Getting a good score is key to getting a very clean break. I recommend the tried and true cutter with a straight shaft and oil reservoir. One example would be the models that are made by fletcher. The oil keeps the wheel turning smoothly. This is essential to getting a good cut. You want to always make sure your oil is right next to you so you can keep your cutter in mint condition. An important tip one scoring or stained glass is to keep the same glass cutter perpendicular to the glass. Tilting it back and forth will generally not make for as clean of a score. When you push the cutter for make sure the apply a decent amount of force. it doesn't matter if you move the cutter forward or backward, that's more of a question of personal preference. Its very vital that you only score each spot once, don't score twice. This can cause damage to your wheel and your stained glass cutter, and you definitely don't want to damage something that you just invested in. When you've finished scoring, you want to grip the part you will discard with the breaking pliers and grip the other side with the grozing pliers. Do not try to bend the stained glass into breaking, but more you want to try to pull the glass away from each other. This should get you well on your way to becoming a stained glass expert. Remember that practice does make perfect. The most important thing is to keep a lot of band-aids around!
About The Author
Dave Roth has been teaching stained glass for over 20 years, owns and runs a stained glass supplies retail store in Illinois, and runs a website at http://www.scstainedglass.com. The store features supplies, stained glass cutters, and tools. The site features free glass patterns, glass tutorials, and other artist resources.