How to cut a mirror with a glass cutter at home?

Probably not a single room is complete without mirrors. They are needed not only to look, they can be used in various design solutions for interior decoration.

If there is a need to cut a mirror, then you need to keep in mind: the material is fragile, which can cause certain difficulties. To avoid this, you can use the services of professionals. But if you are a neat person and use the recommendations of this article, then it will be quite possible to cope on your own.

Before you start cutting the mirror with a glass cutter, you need to prepare all the tools, materials and fixtures.

1. First of all, the mirror itself.
2. The table on which the work will take place. It should be flat and smooth. And necessarily larger in area than the mirror itself.
3. Cutting agent. The highest quality cuts can be made with a diamond glass cutter, a roller one requires a lot of effort and skill.
4. Long and straight ruler, at least 8 mm thick.
5. Fine sanding paper - for finishing edges at the notch.
6. Pliers with rubber pads.
7. Fabric, you can use any fabric, but linen works best.
8. Measuring tape or meter.
9. Small hammer.
10. Rags.
11. Water tank.
12. Alcohol and soda.
13. In order to make the markup, you must have writing materials (marker, chalk or pencil).
14. If you need to cut out curly details, you will need patterns. They can be made from chipboard, plywood or plastic.

In this case, you will need glasses, thick cloth gloves and a medical plaster.

Safety engineering is of great importance when cutting mirrors at home. Compliance with it will save you from possible injuries and will help not to spoil the mirror during operation.

To ensure complete safety, you will need:

• put in perfect order at the future workplace, remove all unnecessary, containers for waste and the tool required for work to arrange so that they are freely available;
• before starting work, you need to make sure that the glass cutter and pliers are in good condition;
• the cutting process should be started in a calm state, without excitement, all movements should be smooth, sharp should be avoided;
• to avoid cuts, do not touch the edges of the glass with your hands without protective equipment;
• you cannot cut the mirror on surfaces that are not suitable for this;
• in the event that work is carried out high above the ground, it is strictly forbidden to dump the trimmings down, they must be taken with you;
• when removing pieces of mirrors, you should be careful: if they are cracked, you need to take only one fragment at a time;
• when moving the mirror from a room with a low temperature to a warm one, you need to give it time to warm up;
• dust and crumbs remaining after cutting must be removed with a special brush, in no case must be blown off;
• If you were wearing overalls, you need to thoroughly shake them off before taking them off.

We must not forget about safety measures, they must be observed during work.

As in every case, when cutting a mirror at home, there are some nuances that must be taken into account. Before starting work, you will need to read the advice of professionals and study the cutting technology. All of this will help you better understand the process and prevent or reduce damage to your mirror.

You should know such important little things:

• during cutting, the tool must be held perpendicular to the surface, a minimum deviation of several degrees is allowed;
• the table for supporting the glass must be level and firm;
• the incision is required to be made in one precise, fast and continuous movement;
• it is highly discouraged to change the pressing force during the cutting process, only about half a centimeter before the edge of the mirror, you can weaken the force to avoid chipping;
• glass is cut from the far edge towards you;
• an incision is made only on the face of the mirror;
• when using a roller glass cutter, if the cut is made with high quality, then there will be a dark trace on the mirror, if the lines are whitish, then most likely the glass is not completely cut;
• when using a diamond glass cutter, the trace on the mirror will always be white;
• when using a long ruler to prevent slipping, you can use bike tube clips on the edges of the ruler.

For those who have never done the work of cutting mirrors, this will seem a rather complicated and time-consuming process. But if you do everything according to the instructions and follow the precautions, take actions calmly and without haste, then everything will work out for you.

A step-by-step guide will help you get it right.

1. A previously prepared canvas is laid on the working surface.
2. The next step is to clean the mirror surface with a soda solution, and then wipe it with alcohol. If you ignore this step, grease or dust particles may prevent you from making an even cut. This is especially true for roller tools.
3. Next, you should apply the markup. It is necessary to check that it is in the immediate vicinity of the cut line (that is, it is located at a distance of 2 mm from the desired point).
4. Make the cut using the tips listed above.
5. Now is the most crucial step. It must be done very carefully and correctly. Place the mirror so that the incision is over the edge of the table. Then, with one hand, the glass is pressed against the table surface, and with the other you need to make a slight downward movement to break it off. If suddenly this did not happen, then you need to lightly tap with a hammer along the notch line on the back side, from the far edge to the near one.
6. If the part to be cut is too small to break off by hand, you can use pliers or special grooves on the glass cutter.
7. At the final stage, you need to go along the edges of the cut with fine sandpaper.

Novice carvers first need to practice on small elements, and then proceed to the main task.

How to cut a mirror correctly, see the video.