[Laser] Cutting and bonding mirrors

[Zack Widup]

I had to cut a number of mirrors into smaller pieces at work over the last
few months. In the past, I had never been able to cut glass very well. So I
looked up some things on internet and in the local library. I learned quite
a bit.

Never cut glass on a plated side. Always apply the cutter to a plain glass
side.

Mark the glass with some sort of marker where you want to cut it. Lightly
move your finger down the line to remove any dust. Dip the end of your glass
cutter wheel in some fine oil, such as 3-in-one oil. Place the straightedge
of your choice near where the cut is to be and hold and align the glass
cutter perpendicular to the glass. Hold it like a pencil.

Apply enough pressure to get a light crackling sound as you move the cutter
down the line where you want it cut. The scratch should extend from one edge
of the glass to the other. Never do this twice. I practiced on some scrap
pieces of glass to get the feel of what pressure was needed before I cut
anything important.

IMMEDIATELY grasp the piece of glass on both sides of the cut and bend it .
Wear gloves. The glass should break cleanly along the line you've scratched.

There is a theory that lightly scratching the glass with the cutter's wheel
sets up vibrations in the molecules in the surface of the glass. The glass
will then break along the line where the molecules are still vibrating. The
vibration dies down after a few minutes, so the glass must be broken
immediately. This theory bears out by my experiments.

Good luck!

73, Zack W9SZ


On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 12:02 PM, Stan <stan at capecod.com> wrote:

> Hello The Net:
>
>
> I salvaged the first surface mirror from my rear projector TV and now
>  I want to cut it up into smaller squares to make a corner reflector.
>
> Should I score the plated side or the unplated side to make a cut ?
>
> What glue would be best to bond the pieces together without damaging the
> mirror plating ?
>
>
> Plan is to make 3 each ~ 10" squares and bond them together
> at right angles to each other to make the corner reflector.
>
> Any suggestions or improvements ?
>
> Stan, W1LE      Cape Cod    FN41sr
>
>
>
>
> ZZZZz
>
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