Anyone know any tricks to cutting a sheet of 1” thick glass?
Just like you would thin glass, score and snap
This works for non-tempered glass only.
Can tempered glass be cut or drilled?
The tempered glass will completely shatter if this is even attempted. If you absolutely must have tempered glass with a hole in it, the hole or any other shaping must be done before the tempering process. You cannot cut or drill heat tempered glass. Not waterjet, not laser, not hot needle, not under water.
How do you cut tempered glass?
Step 2 - Anneal the Glass. Heat the glass in a craft oven until it reaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit, then turn off the oven and allow the glass and oven to cool for eight hours. This annealing or heating process will alter the glass so that it is no longer tempered and will not shatter when cut.
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Just as a curiosity … where in the world do you get 1" thick glass?
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Some long while back some pieces showed up on the donation shelf. I have a large piece wrapped up in multiple layers of cardboard. Heavy stuff. It’s gonna stay there a while.
Apparently my neighbor used to have a huge saltwater aquarium and he took it down and gave me the glass years later
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Defiantly tempered glass. Unless you just like to watch glass turn into an impossible jigsaw puzzle I’d look at designing a coffee table around it.
On the other hand if you’re into the destruction please wear long sleeves and eye protection at a minimum.
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FWIW, you can detect tempered glass by looking at the glass in sunlight through polarized sunglasses: a tempered piece of glass will show dark bands/spots due to the internal tensions in the glass.
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Is that the cross hatching? Ive kinda wondered what that was.
If you tilt your head form side to side the pattern will change.
Not all aquarium glass is tempered. In fact I would venture to say most is not.
Hank is right, it is pretty simple to check. If you can’t get out to the sunlight, put a cellphone or laptop behind the glass. Get some polarized sunglasses (cheap ones will work fine) and then look at the screen. You should see dark smudge like bands through the glass. Also make sure and turn the sunglasses 90 degrees and look again. Sometimes the sunglasses need to be oriented correctly to see the bands.
The cross hatching is usually a type of wire that will stop intrusion if the glass is broken. Tempering is an process that is invisible to the naked eye.
I had a huge saltwater aquarium and the glass was not tempered. I drilled it with a diamond hole saw with no issues. Check it with the sunglasses and phone screen as others have mentioned.