[Jewelry making - Article 01034] - [Orchid] Glass cutting under water

[Marty]

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    No, you can't do it with scissors, even underwater - but here is my
    small guess at how a piece of good technical practice got
    misunderstood through the "folk process" and maybe evolved into this
    particular myth. 

    It is believed by many glaziers, and practiced by them, that just
    prior to running a glass cutter across a piece of glass it is a good
    idea to wet the line of the cut with water or something equally thin
    such as paint thinner or kerosene. (The thinner or kerosene stands a
    better chance of wetting the surface rather than beading up the way
    plain water might do.) Also won't rust your tools. 

    I have heard at least two rationales for this practice. . 

    One is that the liquid acts as a sort of lubricant and floats away
    the tiny bits of glass grit that are thrown up by the cutting wheel
    so they don't get run over by the wheel, throwing it off course or
    crunching under it and starting a wild crack. 

    The other story is that the liquid gets into the crack you start and
    "keeps it open." That second one doesn't make much sense to me
    intuitively, but that's what the man said. 

    Anyway, it is a good idea to really clean the glass of grit before
    cutting and the water (or other liquid) would help move the grit
    that gets generated during the act of cutting. Maybe it holds down
    the dust too. You don't want to be breathing that stuff if you are
    cutting glass all day long. 

    Marty - Yep, still in Victoria - where the glass is half full (of
    rainwater).

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