Remember when we used to cut big tempered glass with just a straightedge and a hand cutter?

Willow Smith · 2026-03-12T03:20:11.106145+00:00

I was on a job in Phoenix about 10 years ago, putting in a huge storefront window... the tempered piece was a few inches too wide. The boss said to just cut it down, but my old hand cutter kept chipping the edge every single time. I was about to order a whole new pane, which would have cost over $300 and taken a week. Then this old timer on the crew, Frank, told me to soak a towel in cold water and lay it along my score line before I snapped it. I thought he was nuts, but I tried it... and the glass broke clean as a whistle. The water just took the heat and stress out of the edge, I guess. I haven't had to do it in years since we all use CNC now, but it saved my butt that day. Anyone else have an old-school trick like that they still remember?

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Remember when we used to cut big tempered glass with just a straightedge and a hand cutter? | Glaziers - Guest Forum