Before you begin cutting vitreous glass, consider the mosaic tiles. Each tile is 2 cm (3/4 in) square with a flat face and an uneven 'ribbed' face. The ribbed surface acts as a key to take the glue while the flat surface always goes uppermost when working direct and will become the final surface of your mosiac. Each tile will cut into four basic mosaics pieces are tesserae, whose average size will be 1 cm (3/8 in) square, i.e. 10,000 per square metre.
A single piece of mosiac is called a tessera which comes from the Roman word meaning a cube. Traditionally, Roman tesserae were small 1 cm (3/8 in) cubes of natural stone cut down from large pieces of stone using a hammer and hardie. The hammer used is a small, thin, pointed one, rather like a jeweller's or geologist's hammer. A hardie is a chisel embedded in wood or cast into a lump
of concrete with its cutting edge uppermost. Although our mosaic pieces are not always cubic, the word tessera has been adopted through the ages.
CUTTING A TILE INTO HALVES
The nippers only have to crack the tile, so you need only place the tile about 4 mm (1/4 in) into the jaws, halfway down the edge of the tile.
Apply a small amount of pressure to the handles and you will find that the tile will crack in two.
CUTTING A TILE INTO QUARTERS
Pick up one of the halves and make a bridge with it across your index and middle finger, securing the tile with your thumb. Place the nippers half-way down and 4 mm (1/4 in) in and apply small amount of pressure to the handles again - the rectangle will crack into two small squares. Repeat.
You have now made four basic 1 cm (3/8 in) square tesserae out of one tile. (Even if one is bigger or smaller than the other three, they will still average 1 cm [3/8 in] square).
CUTTING LONG, THIN LINES
Place the nippers further into the tile, say, about halfway in. Three or four thin lengths can be made out of each tile. The tiles sometimes have a tendency to shatter when you do this, so don't blame yourself if it takes a few attempts and some wastage before you achieve what you want.
CUTTING WEDGES
While laying a line of square tesserae next to each other will give you a straight line, to achieve a curved line, the tesserae should be cut at a slight angle into wedges. The closer the angle of each wedge is to 90 degrees, the softer the resulting curve will be when they are laid together.
In the course of cutting a pool of tesserae, you will naturally end up with a large percentage of wedges, anyway. If you are mosaicing a curved line, you can select these from your pool. To cut wedges on purpose, halve the tiles as described above,but when you come to dividing them into quarters, place the nippers at a slight angle to the vertical before applying the pressure to the handles.
HEALTH AND SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS WHEN CUTTING VITREOUS GLASS
A single piece of mosiac is called a tessera which comes from the Roman word meaning a cube. Traditionally, Roman tesserae were small 1 cm (3/8 in) cubes of natural stone cut down from large pieces of stone using a hammer and hardie. The hammer used is a small, thin, pointed one, rather like a jeweller's or geologist's hammer. A hardie is a chisel embedded in wood or cast into a lump
of concrete with its cutting edge uppermost. Although our mosaic pieces are not always cubic, the word tessera has been adopted through the ages.
CUTTING A TILE INTO HALVES
The nippers only have to crack the tile, so you need only place the tile about 4 mm (1/4 in) into the jaws, halfway down the edge of the tile.
Apply a small amount of pressure to the handles and you will find that the tile will crack in two.
CUTTING A TILE INTO QUARTERS
Pick up one of the halves and make a bridge with it across your index and middle finger, securing the tile with your thumb. Place the nippers half-way down and 4 mm (1/4 in) in and apply small amount of pressure to the handles again - the rectangle will crack into two small squares. Repeat.
You have now made four basic 1 cm (3/8 in) square tesserae out of one tile. (Even if one is bigger or smaller than the other three, they will still average 1 cm [3/8 in] square).
CUTTING LONG, THIN LINES
Place the nippers further into the tile, say, about halfway in. Three or four thin lengths can be made out of each tile. The tiles sometimes have a tendency to shatter when you do this, so don't blame yourself if it takes a few attempts and some wastage before you achieve what you want.
CUTTING WEDGES
While laying a line of square tesserae next to each other will give you a straight line, to achieve a curved line, the tesserae should be cut at a slight angle into wedges. The closer the angle of each wedge is to 90 degrees, the softer the resulting curve will be when they are laid together.
In the course of cutting a pool of tesserae, you will naturally end up with a large percentage of wedges, anyway. If you are mosaicing a curved line, you can select these from your pool. To cut wedges on purpose, halve the tiles as described above,but when you come to dividing them into quarters, place the nippers at a slight angle to the vertical before applying the pressure to the handles.
HEALTH AND SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS WHEN CUTTING VITREOUS GLASS
- Work in a well-ventilated room.
- Always wear safety spectacles and a face mask.
- When you are cutting the tiles, don't allow anyone to come near you, unless they are also wearing mask and eye protection.
- Use a dust pan and brush to sweep up all the little glass shards. Never use your hands as you may cut yourself on a glass splinter.
- Keep your work surfaces clean at all times. Sweep up or vacuum after each session.
- Keep glass particles away from food and drink, children, pets and wild animals.
- To keep all the glass waste under control when cutting tiles, you may like to work with your hands, nippers and tiles inside a clear plastic bag.
NIBBLING
'Nibbling', or shaping, an individual tessera to a definite shape such as two small triangles from one square tessera, is achieved by placing the jaws of the nippers all the way along the diagonal.
Always try and keep hold of both halves of the tile as you cut it.
'Nibbling', or shaping, an individual tessera to a definite shape such as two small triangles from one square tessera, is achieved by placing the jaws of the nippers all the way along the diagonal.
Always try and keep hold of both halves of the tile as you cut it.
No comments:
Post a Comment