Let's make us some kitties-step 2-cut and grind

After the glue has set up between the paper pattern pieces and the glass I can go ahead and cut all the pieces of the cat apart. For simple glass hand cutting, I use a pistol grip cutter. Its not really cutting the glass, but scoring the glass, then the unwanted piece can be broke off.














This is how the kitty looks after hand cutting.














For more acute angles, I use a glass ring saw. Its a great tool that can cut glass and other materials with ease. Without this saw sharp angles would be difficult or even impossible to cut.














The next step in the process is to grind each piece of the puzzle to fit next to the neighboring piece tightly. Here is where a glass grinder comes into use. The glass piece is simply pressed against the rotating grinder head until the unwanted glass is removed.














All of the glass pieces are fit against the original pattern and checked to make sure that they all fit tight.














Here is a view of the cat the shows the texture of the glass. The next step in the process is to foil it.

New glass panel-Day 4

Finally we are going to get to the glass grinder. Its a great tool. There's a flat grid surface with a water basin beneath. The grids allow crud from grinding to fall into the water pool. There's a motor in the base that turns a diamond coated grinder head/bit which smooths down the uneven surfaces of our mishapen glass pieces to allow them to fit tightly. A sponge sits behind the grinder head and wicks water up to the surface to cool the glass and provides lubrication to insure a smooth finish.

So, I always start in the center and work outwards. Each glass piece surface is grinded smooth to follow the paper pattern that's been glued to it. Then, I'll soak the glass piece in water to release the paper, dry it off and see how it fits onto the working design.

Now that we have the body of the piece done we'll go ahead and cut the border.

Shown: glass grinder, fitting the glass pieces onto the original