Need Help Cutting Glass!!!
I have been doing stainglass designs for awhile, and am curious could you a
cnc to cut designs, like a plasma cutter?
If so what kind of tooling would you have to use?
Would you have to use a waterjet? Is that the only option?
I have been stumped!!!
HELP!!!
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I once saw a machine automatically cutting curved pieces out of a large glass pane. I didn't get too close a look at it, but it appeared to be using a scoring technique. I dont know much about cutting sheet glass, but I cant think of any reason this couldn't be done rather easily with a CNC setup. How do you currently do it (technique)?
Laser.Tech
I never seen glass cut on a cnc but seen a few pictures of the machines and it looks like they use a wheel cutter to cut sheets like you would by hand.
Dennis
Dennis,
If a machine with a spindle that can be oriented in conjuction with the direction of machine travel is used, it seems it would work fine. I'm still a beginner , but I believe this is a common feature in many CAM programs. I've seen it mentioned several times, usually in reference to doing CNC cutting using a knife. You would be dolng the same thing only using a scoring wheel instead .
Are you thinking about building your own system or shopping for one? I'm designing my own right now, looking at features, and cutting glass would be AWSOME! You've got me thinking ....
Laser.Tech
Oh Oh I know...
Hah! Just as it was I saw a program on TV the other night about large scale glass production and they quickly went over the machines they used to cut the glass and there was basicly two options 1: FlowJet (Water and Garnet flakes) or 2: A CNC machine with a diamond tipped scoring tool on the business end. The FlowJet seams kinda unrealisitc for a small shop (but it would be fun) and the 2nd option could be ghetto rigged from a glass scoring tool which isn't hard to come by.
If scored glass on a small cnc with a diamond tip burr, didn't work very well when I went to break it so I gave up.
Diamond tooling for sure--lots of choices out there.
let me know how I can help
Our shop purchased 2 glass cutting machines from a guy in new jersey and we have templates we made from a cnc router.the drawback for cutting the glass was we couldnt cut intricate designs so we milled bigger radiuses in the
mirrors we do.
recoton,
Could you post a couple pic's of the glass that you cut and the machine setup that you use. I make a small periscope and have to cut mirrors that are .980 X 1.35 out of .100 thich mirror sheets (8X10) and I have made a couple of jigs that help a little(I still score by hand, but it would be nice to automate it where I don't have so much waste of time and material)
Thanks,
Ron
basicly the machine works like a tracer it has a bottom table and a handle on a back spindle,about three pieces put together on bearings and a slot to follow the contour of your template.the diamond cutter also swivels around.the most important part is a little air pressure on the diamond cutter so it cuts deep enough but you can only trace it once or the score gets messed up.Ill try to get a picture,didnt have luck on the internet .
Laser, easiest way, but you need an industrial Co2 to do it proficiently. I cut glass and synthetic crystal all the time in our shop. The key is to put enough heat into the glass to relieve the stress caused by the cutting process.
Yeah "Lasers" are looking to be contender #1, But the down side is COST...a homebuilt laser is going to draw alot of power (for cooling,and such) and the CO2 tube is going to run anywhere from $350USD to $900USD and then you have to make the powersuply,optics, and all that jazz. If you make it wrong alot of bad things can happen. And a prebuilt laser in the 240W range (glass cutting) from the quotes I got about $5,000USD and then you have to ship the 35lbs monster to you. I think I might make a laser even though I have no experience I found quite a few websites focusing on homebuilt lasers.
Good hunting
I'd do more than 240w, that small of a laser will be working pretty hard all the time to cut glass. If it is a sealed unit it will eat up the gas inside running hard all the time. Depending on the room you have and if you have true 3 phase service, a used industrial machine may be cheaper in the long run.
Cutting Glass
My experience tells me that you can use a H2O jet mounted on an X,Y CNC table. There are a wide variety of H2O jets available. This is excellent for cutting glass using garnet as your media. The haze that would develop from the cutting action would be eliminated by passing the glass over a flame. You would also get the benefit of a narrow kerf and you could cut very tight inside radii.
You could also use a CNC router but your limitations would be in your kerf width and inside radii. There are also nesting programs available to maximize your material usage.
I dont know much about lasers. I got a Laser Cutting Utility from Synrad that has a automatic conversion sheet, Put in the material cutting,wattage,thickness of material and then it calculates the inches/minute And with 240w of power will cut mild steel 1/10" at 40.10 In/min (says the applet) I dont know maybe 240w is small, but I dont have much experience.
Cutting glass
Water jet cutting is best to cut glass and we can do it for you
Regards
Chan Luci, Techie
www.custompartsonline.com
How It's Made
One of the episodes of How It's Made showed a CNC glass cutter. It was basically a CNC router table with a scoring tool instead of a bit (and no router).
They were cutting automotive windshields, it was Season 6, Episode 10 - Windshields - English Saddles - Butter - Post Clocks. You can find downloads of it around.
The only interesting thing was that the bit swiveled to match the direction of the cut.
Pretty neat.
Chris.
Score and heat to CNC cut glass.
If you have money to burn or if cutting glass will produce income then an abrasive jet or laser might be a good option. For those of us with little to no budget, however, a diamond scribe is the best option. This will need to be mounted in a spring-loaded holder ( I use a CNC tap holder ). You score the glass then run a propane torch along the score lines to fracture the glass.
It will take some experimentation with spring pressure, flame size, flame speed, and lots of practice to get good at it but glass is a lot cheaper than lasers or water jets.
You are correct as a H2O jet is espensive to run but if you have production requirements then it is the fastest and most cost effective way to cut glass.
Dear friends
If the question is cutt an complicate dising on glass with an cnc machine.
the work is easy, with an simple router machine plus some diamond drills can be, need work with pure water toguether. the laser porcess is expensive and if you thing in water jet sistem is more expensive.in my experience is bether if work with powercraft handpiece 300,000 0r 400,000rpm http://www.sculptingstudio.com/index.php and diamond tools http://www.ukam.com/
good look
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