![]() You will probably want to draw out a pattern if you are planning on incorporating curved designs. Keystoning can be a little tricky too keystoning is the shaping of tiles to form a curved design. To cut triangles, angle the material at the corner of the chip and apply pressure.Ĭircles are a little trickier, if you’re not experienced, you may want to draw a circle on the glass as a guide and nip the corner of the chip and then bit away at the edges until you have a nice circle. To cut rectangles, simply place the chip between the wheels of the nipper and apply pressure, to make a square repeat the same procedure with the rectangle. When working with material like smalti, marble or ceramic tiles it is best to use a tile nipper. The way you use each nipper varies, check out the videos below to get an idea of how to use them. These smaller glass chips can be cut into smaller shaped using a wheeled glass nipper. Most glass used in mosaics are stained glass chips, vitreous glass chips or mirrored glass chips. The scorer/breaker is used to score and break large pieces of ceramic and glass tile to cut into smaller, more manageable shapes for nipping. In general, there are two nipping tools to use when working with mosaics the wheeled glass nipper and the tile nipper and for larger pieces you have my favorite tool, the scorer/breaker. Don't risk a shard flying hitting your eye.When it comes to cutting shapes for your mosaics, the material you are cutting/nipping and the tool you are cutting with will usually determine how you cut. Tile cutting takes lots of practice, if you find a technique that works for you stick to it! A word on safety - You only have one pair of eyes! Make sure you protect them every time you cut tiles or glass by wearing safety goggles. Used to harder materials such as heavy duty ceramic dinnerware. For a straight cut align the top edge of the nippers parallel with the top edge of the tile. Angle the nipper to go in the direction you want the cut. How the top edge of the nippers lines up with the tile will determine the direction of the cut. By applying pressure to a small amount of tile at the edge you create a fracture along the surface. To cut the tile, overlap the edge of the tile by 3 to 4 mm and squeeze down. Don't cover the entire surface of the nipper with the tile, this will help stop the tile from becoming crushed and your hand from tiring. Tile nippers work best on ceramic tiles, porcelain and china.They are not recommended for glass because they tend to crush and splinter the glass tiles. Cutting with the bumpy side up will allow you to see what you are doing. Glass mosaic tiles usually have small glass ridges on the back side to allow adhesives to bond to the tile more securely, but they can created problems when cutting.To cut the glass tile in a straight line you need to cut quickly, cutting slowly can result in crushing the tile.The wheels of the cutter need to go in the middle of where you want the cut to go. When cutting keep the tool straight (don't get the wobbles) as you can get a curved cut leaning the tool one way or the other. ![]() Be careful not to drop this tool as the wheels can move out of alignment which can't be fixed.As you use the wheel and turn it, make successive marks until you have used the wheel. When you first get your nippers draw a line with a permanent marker where you first use them to cut. If you notice the tool becoming dull use an Allen key to loosen the wheels and rotate them slightly.It applies even pressure to the top and bottom of the tile causing the glass to fracture along the lines of the wheels. The two wheels which are made of either steel (cheaper ones) or carbide.Makes cleaner & more predictable cuts when cutting glass than tile nippers. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |