RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Glass cutting

> On the topic of home shop CNC cutting of glass, I used to cut
> glass by first using a wheel to scribe it, then chasing the
> crack around with a bit of red hot nichrome wire. It only
> took a bit of current to heat the wire, the heat would cause
> the crack to open if applied immediately after the scribe.
> It is easy to imagine using this technique with CNC. Either
> a head could be made containing both the scriber and the hot
> wire, or after scribing the head could be changed to a hot wire.
> Tapping is used manually to enlarge the scribed line to a
> crack, maybe a buzzer could be adapted for this purpose?
>
> If you had a CO2 laser, that would be ideal for the purpose
> of enlarging the crack. The 10.6 µm light is absorbed very
> efficiently by common glass.
>
> regards-
> Elliot

I played with using heat to crack glass a long time ago, but I didn't have
too much success. Too much heat most likely. I should try it again. You
could just heat up the wheel, although Mattel might sue if you called it the
'Hot Wheels' method :)

Was that just on straight lines, or curves? How tight a curve?

An old way to cut bottles in half was to tie string soaked in petrol around
it, light the string then plunge it into water. The shock from hot to cold
would crack the glass.

Tony