Stained Glass: Choosing a glass cutter
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Probably the most important tool you’ll own with your stained glass hobby is your glass cutter. You can’t exactly use your fingernail, now can you? There are several types of glass cutters on the market and I recommend that you go to a shop and try them out because choosing a glass cutter is very personal and unique to every person. You need a cutter that fits your hand and allows you to cut glass in the easiest way possible
Some examples:
- Pistol Grip - This is my personal favorite and a top seller. It fits nicely in your hand and the cutter is at the perfect angle for glass cutting
- Pencil Grip - As the name suggests, this cutter is pencil shaped. Some folks love this design because it’s more natural for your hands and they feel they can get right down in there close to the glass.
- Fletcher - This is the old fashioned cutter that’s been around forever. It doesn’t hold oil and needs to be dipped in oil before you begin to cut. This is not really an ideal tool for the stained glass hobbyist but for cutting inexpensive glass that you pick up to replace a broken window in a door or something of that nature, then it’s ideal.
- Custom/Thomas Grip - There are a few varieties of this cutter but basically they all have a “saddle” that fits between your thumb and, allowing the fingers to remain straight, relieving them of strain. To fit all hand sizes, the saddle is often adjustable to different heights.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s important to go to a shop that will allow you to try out different cutter so that you can find one that works best for you!
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May 13th, 2009 at 2:24 am
i want to know what the cost of them is