How do you Cut Tempered Glass for Hot Rod

emeraldartistry · #1 2007-02-05, 9:51am

My son works for a Hot Rods customizer in San Diego area - They are a fairly well know Hot rod customizer but they are having a problem cutting down windows.
My Son has aquired a 53 Pontiac something or other and wants to have the top cut down
His boss says that they send out 10 windows to get 2 because so many break - As he only has the one window he wants to find someone in the southern california area who can cut the window correctly so he asked me to ask all the glass people I know what they think. He has been told the only sure fire way to do it is to grind it down???

Any ideas out there?

If someone out there knows how - he has a really neat shop that is like something off one of these pimp my ride shows only multiplied by about 50 cars in one room being worked on
Bridget Beck

Tink · #2 2007-02-05, 10:00am

Tempered glass really can't be cut or even edge-worked. If a project required tempered glass, the glass is made to size first, and then tempered.

emeraldartistry · #3 2007-02-05, 10:07am

They must be able to do it somehow or they could not get the 2 windows out of 10 - I am just hoping i can find someone with a better track record than that!

Tink:
Hey by the way - we will be seeing you the 18th - After I found your class I sent an email out to our group in Dayton and we seem to have taken up 7 or 8 of the 10 seats in your class.
We are caravaning in together that morning!
Bridget

Tink · #4 2007-02-05, 10:26am

LOL! I'm glad you reminded me about the 2/18 class: I called the registrar to make CERTAIN that any other folks signed up have at least SOME experience. At The Museum, "flameworking experience required" translates to "Did their check clear?"

Now, as for tempered glass... I did some searching through industry sources, and can't find any indication that tempered glass can be cut. The whole point of tempered glass is that any compromise to the integrity of the glass (a blow, a cut, etc) will cause it to crumble. That's why it's "safety glass".

I'll be interested to see what you find out.

CreditRiverArtGlass · #5 2007-02-05, 11:46am

We had some tempered glass from our old sliding doors & my DH wanted to cut one down to make shelves. Should've searched the internet first! LOL! He barely touched the glass cutter to the glass & it just shattered! (Literally, barely touched it...he hadn't even started any forward motion w/ it yet!) Cool little cubes of glass.

I don't see how it was even possible to get even 2 out of 10 windows cut.

Good luck to your son, though. I hope he figures something out. Sounds like he has a pretty cool job!

emeraldartistry · #6 2007-02-05, 2:57pm

I hope he figures a way to cut it too

The last car he worked on just won at the Hot Rod National Show.

He is really in to this - It's a little wierd as he is a college grad in amrketing but after a 3 year stint in Marketing he anniounced I want to build Hot rods - so that's what he is doing.

PS - tink - the group from Dayton all has lots of experience - I think the least experience anyone in the group has is about 2 years - We are just feeling sorry for the people not from our group - we are pretty noisy
Bridget

Dale M. · #7 2007-02-05, 4:29pm

Tempered glass is almost impossible to cut if they got 2 out of 10 then they were extremely lucky. Tempered glass is glass manufactured with an exact standard of internal stress, the stress must remain constant across entire sheet. Any attempt to cut sheet causes stress values to be altered, and altered stress causes entire sheet to shatter ... However if its laminated safety glass, many good automotive glass shop can cut it....

Dale

Labrador · #8 2007-02-06, 8:50pm

Temper glass can't be cut you need to put it in a kiln to temper and cold down to take the temper effect out and then cut and retemper but only specialize manufacture can do this. I think it would be cheaper to order the right dimension temper

Hope this help

Sophie

dicrodi · #9 2007-02-06, 9:55pm

Believe it or not I have 20 years owning an auto glass shop. Tempered glass can not be cut. However, he can make a heavy paper pattern of the size and shape he needs and take it to a glass shop and they can have it cut and tempered to the pattern.They need to know the thickness of the original glass to take it there with you and let them measure that and then they are responsible if the thickness is not right. Any decent autoglass shop in the area should be able to send this out and get it done for you. The other alternative is to make a pattern and have laminated safety glass cut to the pattern. What is the thickness of the glass 1/8, 3/16, or 1/4 and what was it the backglass,, doorglass , opera window etc. Windshields are laminated to begin with and can be cut down or ground with good results if removed to begin with in one piece. We duplicated a lot of old car windows in laminated and tempered as long as the pattern is accurate . Once made the tempered can not be altered so the pattern needs to be exact. What year make and model was the car? Was the glass marked with safety tempered or safety laminated bug should be someplace on the glass. If it is tempered and to a pattern it won't be cheap but can be easily done thru a good glass shop they will send out to their manufacturer. If it's laminated they can cut it in house to his pattern. Hope this helps. Dicrodi

Yankee Bill · #10 2015-01-16, 12:34pm

I also live in San Diego and had a chopped 56 Ford wagon that I needed a curved windshield cut. I was referred to a shop in Chula Vista that claimed to have done that. After breaking a used windshield and a new one he returned my car and said he couldn't do it and charged me for his labor plus a gasket. I had wasted 1000.00. I normally do all my custom work myself and have recently moved here to retire and enjoy the weather and my projects. I finally took the last windshield I had and cut the bottom of the windshield opening and floated the glass behind the dash. I guess I should have done that in the first place. As far as tempered glass goes, you can not cut it.

hyperT · #11 2015-01-16, 2:10pm

You can cut laminated safety glass. You would score it on both sides run the scores then spray a small amount of methanol down one of the scores and light it. when it burns out you can stretch the plastic laminate enough to separate the glass and run a utility knife down the crack to separate the two pieces of glass. What we don't know is if your state will let you use it in a hot rod?