Basic recommendations of glass cutting

Basic recommendations are given for cutting each glass type and case studies are used to illustrate some of the common glass cutting challenges for each glass type.

Optical Glass

Flat glass

Insulating glass

Thick glass

Art Glass

Glass Fibre

Quartz

The diamond bonds projecting from the diamond cut the glass apart by a cracking process. The small fragments produced combine with the coolant to form a glass slurry. The glass slurry grinds and grinds away the bonds between the diamonds, so that under ideal conditions the diamond particles and the bonds disappear at the same rate. Changing the size of the diamond mesh therefore does not just change the quality of the surface finish, but can quickly affect the way the tool operates.

On the other hand, a softer effect occurs with a slowly rotating tool at a lower cutting speed.

Sawing insulating glass

When sawing insulating glass, cracking is tremendously difficult because of the variation in glass thickness that cannot be avoided in mechanically blown glassware. As a result, it contains internal stresses. This problem can be solved by the glass workpiece being placed in a wooden or plaster model or between more modern adjustable, flexible, rubber-coated metal strips. Using both methods, the glass is held firmly in place on the table as it is pushed against the blade.

Material. Textured glass (soda glass)

Blade used: continuous edge diamond blade, 8" to 16" diameter. 16 consistency, bronze key. Blades used ding this example 16" x 0.4" to 0.072"

Cutting rate: approx. 6.2 in2 / min

Life: 20,000 to 40,000 cuts = 210 to 320 sq. ft. of cutting area = 23,000 ft. of linear distance

Blade cost: 0.8 to 0.16 cents/glass

Volume of material cut per day. 80 to 1,500 cuts per spindle per shift

Savings: essential finishing after crack removal, no longer required with diamond saws

Water heater, to be seen in many kitchens

For cutting Pyrex bars of various diameters. Cracking is almost impossible, so here too diamond saws are used.

Resin bonded diamond cutting blades are mainly used in hollow glass and bar applications. Phenolic resins are used as the bonding agent, diamond abrasives as the cutting media and ceramics and other advanced components as fillers. Resin bond is the softest of all bonding agents and is often used in applications where a smooth surface is required, particularly glass and quartz tubes. Resin bond diamond cutters cause the bond matrix to wear faster and allow the diamond particles/crystals to break away from the matrix more quickly, thus exposing the new sharp diamond particles.

This self-sharpening characteristic of resin bonded diamond cutting blades, based on faster bond wear, makes this blade the best choice. The cut quality of resin bonded diamond cutting blades is better than any type of diamond cutting blade. Recommended for applications where cut quality and surface finish are important. Compared to their sintered (metal bonded) abrasive counterparts. Resin bonded diamond cutting blades provide far better cut quality than the finest metal bonded (sintered) blades. They are recommended for cutting hard materials where low heat generation or improved surface finish is required. Most commonly used at higher speeds. ukam industrial resin bonded diamond and CBN grinding blades are manufactured using an advanced forming process. A large range of geometries, diamond sizes, diamond concentrations and bonded wire harnesses are available.