What do you do when ordinary glass does not give you the confidence of protecting a product or securing a place? Well, you don’t go farther than buying tempered glass. It looks the same as glass but has far more strength to withstand damage.

Definition of Tempered Glass

Also known as toughened glass, it serves the specialized purpose of acting like a protective layer. In other words, it can be applied as a safety layer over other materials with special thermal and chemical treatments. Most importantly, a distinct feature of tempered glass is that on breaking it shreds into small pieces.

  • Tempered glass is a toughened glass. Far stronger than ordinary glass.
  • Applied over different materials as a safety layer. It breaks in a specific way due to even pressure.

Making Tempered Glass

The science of expansion by heating and contraction by cooling creates tempered glass. In other words, the method requires heating the glass at the center, and then rapidly cooling the surface. Therefore, the center remains hot and in an expanded state, whereas, the outer surface due to the cooling effect, contracts.

  • The Center of the glass expands on heating.
  • Its outer surface contracts on cooling.

What do You do with Tempered Glass?

Because of its strength, many applications use tempered glass. For instance, car windows, mobile phone screens, refrigeration trays are all made of tempered glass. In addition, tempered glass enclosures are common in sports complexes as also in bathing areas.

  • Many applications use tempered glass. Car windows, mobile phones, and refrigerator boxes are made of tempered glass.
  • Sporting complexes use tempered glass enclosures. In addition, bathing areas are enclosed using tempered glass.

Use Tempered Glass for a Smartphone

Using this toughened glass makes the screen of the smartphone scratch-free. In addition, it secures it from damage due to an accidental fall. Do remember, one of the most expensive parts on your smartphone is its screen. Therefore, it becomes critical to protect it from any damage.

  • The screen of the smartphone is one of the most expensive parts of the phone. The tempered glass acts as a screen protector.
  • It makes the face of the phone scratch-free. It also protects the phone from damage due to a fall.

Cutting and Drilling Tempered Glass

Cutting or drilling a hole in tempered glass requires specialized tools. A diamond drilling machine can be very useful if you wish to drill a hole in it. But, the application must be done with extreme care and caution. Here are the different steps for drilling a tempered glass.

  • Adjust the speed of the drill. Clamp the glass down and buffer the area between the clamp and the drill with a rubber.
  • Keep the drilling area moist with water to keep it loose.

In addition, if you wish to cut tempered glass, ensure extreme care and caution. Here are the steps for this purpose.

  • Clean it thoroughly. In other words, use a chemical to remove all dust particles. Anneal the glass. This means you need to heat it at a very high temperature and then cool it.
  • Place the glass over a flat surface after it has been annealed. Use a glass cutter to make a thin line where the glass has to be cut. Do not press the cutter too hard.
  • Once all the cuts are in place, gently snap the glass. Heat and contract the glass again to temper it.

How to Cut Tempered Glass at Home?

You can cut tempered glass at home, provided you can anneal it. In other words, heat it at a very high temperature to remove the pressure which has been applied equally across it. After cutting it with a glass cutter, you will need to again temper it. In other words, heat the center to expand it, and then cool the outer surface.

Tips

Because of its specialized character, you need to take extreme care and follow some very specific steps if you need to drill a hole into or cut tempered glass.

  • Heat the glass at a very high temperature to anneal it.
  • Clean the entire surface of all dust particles.
  • Reheat the glass after cutting it and cool the outer surface.

Can you cut tempered glass at home?

As a result, you cannot cut glass after it’s been tempered. Therefore, tempered glass is very popular and certainly has its benefits. One of the downsides is that it cannot be cut. Because it is safety glass, it will break into those small harmless round pieces if it is cut after tempering.

How do you cut tempered glass without shattering it?

For this, you will heat the pane to around 1,000 °F (538 °C) first. Then cool it down slowly. Once it is cold, the glass pane will get the state in which you can cut it. This heating and cooling process makes the glass week enough so that you can cut it properly without any shattering.

Can you cut or grind tempered glass?

You can grind the glass down. The grinders have a diamond grinding wheel and water keeps the glass cool. If the glass is a big it will take a couple people to hold it, changing the table might be easier.

How do you cut a tempered screen protector?

Place your phone upside down on the new protector.

Set the phone down upside down on the screen protector. Line the edges of the protector up so that they’re parallel with the edges of your phone to make cutting easier.

Can I cut phone tempered glass?

One can‘t cut tempered glass – the first scratch/cut will cause the glass to fragment into 100s of small pieces. Louis Louw, General manager in aluminium window manufacturing. Short answer, you can‘t. Tempered glass is under stress and can not be cut.

Can you cut thin tempered glass?

NO! You cannot cut tempered glass at home. Yes, you can cut it by reversing the tempering process but then, it cannot be called tempered glass any more as it has become annealed.

Does Lowes cut tempered glass?

Lowe’s will cut glass of practically any size and shape. Now, they are not probably not going to turn a piece of glass into a work of glass art in the shape of your favorite pet, but they will cut glass to the right size for their customer’s needs.

How much does it cost to cut tempered glass?

The costs to have a professional cut glass can be anywhere from as little as $2 to more than $25 per square foot. As mentioned, the costs will greatly depend on the thickness, the type of glass and the company you choose.

Can you drill holes in tempered glass?

Drilling into tempered glass requires special diamond drill bits in order to cut through the dense glass. The procedure can be long depending on the thickness of the glass, and the drill bit needs constant lubrication in order to make it through the glass.

Can tempered glass be cut with a water jet?

Note: As a safety feature, tempered glass is designed to shatter into many small pieces when punctured, and therefore is not suitable to be cut on a waterjet.

How can you tell if glass is tempered?

Tempered glass has smooth edges

So, one good way is to look thoroughly at the edges of the glass. Tempered sheets have smooth and even edges because of the extra processing it goes through. On the other hand, if the glass is not tempered, the edges feel rough to touch.

What happens when you cut tempered glass?

After you anneal tempered glass, you can successfully score and cut it into the size and shape you‘re after. It will lose its ability to shatter into grain-like pieces and can no longer be considered safety glass.

Is Tempered glass stronger than annealed?

Tempered glass has a minimum surface compression of 10,000 pounds-per-square-inch (psi) and minimum edge compression of 9,700 psi, according to ASTM C1048. That makes it about four times stronger than annealed glass.

How do you reverse tempered glass?

If you must cut through a pane of tempered glass, you’ll need to heat it to nearly 1,000 °F (538 °C), then slowly cool it. This process is called annealing, and it will effectively undo the tempering process, weakening the glass to the point that you can cut it.

Does Home Depot cut tempered glass?

Home Depot does not cut glass. Lowes does, but only if you purchase the glass from them.

Does Home Depot cut glass to size?

Will Home Depot cut glass to the size needed for your project? This short answer to this question is that no, Home Depot does not offer to cut glass for customers. This is true no matter the size or type of glass needed for individuals or for professional companies that need glass cut to a specific size.

Does Hobby Lobby cut glass to size?

I bought my glass cutting tool at Hobby Lobby, but they should be available at any craft or home improvement store. It’s very important that you DO NOT take your glass cutter off of the glass while you are making the cut.

Can a Dremel cut glass?