Category: Equipment and Book Reviews

 

Today’s post is about glass cutting oil.  What is it?  Why should you use it?  Frankly before I did the review of the glass bottle cutter I had no idea glass cutting oil was a thing.

Craftsmen that work with glass have been using cutting oil for more than a hundred years.  I will tell you more about why in a later part of this article.   Traditionally, Kerosene was the oil used for lubricating class cutters.  I don’t actually know why that was.  However, since glaziers would use a kerosene torch to heat their soldering irons, it makes since as kerosene was near at hand.

I have used kerosene as a cutting oil before (while drilling).  It is true that it both evaporate cleanly and does not gum up a glass cutter.  I find that I don’t really like the odor.

In the video above I talk about this and give a basic review of the cutting oil sold on Amazon by the Home Pro Shop.

Two Types of Commercial Glass Cutting Oil

Commercially available cutting oil comes in two basic forms.  It is generally either a mineral oil or a water-soluble formulation.

Typical glass cutting oil from a stained glass suppler is probably nothing more than white mineral oil according. The term “white mineral oil” is deliberately vague and is synonymous with both “light petroleum distillates” and “heavy petroleum distillates”.  White mineral oil is somewhere between paraffin wax and kerosene.  While I am not a chemist, I assume that this describes the “natural fatty acid derivatives and additives” that describes the Professional Glass Cutting Oil I am reviewing.

Many that use kerosene as a cutting oil like it because some mineral oils, like 3-n-1 oil is too thick so it does not wick properly in oil filled cutters like the one I show in my bottle cutter bundle.

Synthetic lubricant is supposed to be water soluble and “environmentally friendly”.  It is supposed to wash away so that copper foil will stick better when making stained glass.

I never new about cutting oil before I received the product above.  I would imagine that I am not alone and that many glass workers use glass cutters without any lubricant. Since getting into bottle cutting I found that it is often easiest to buy a bottle cutting bundle that already contains oil.

Why Use Glass Cutting Oil

It is very important to use cutting fluid, particularly when cutting thick glass. Cutting oil is created to lubricate glass cutters,  The oil helps breaking and longevity of your cutting blade.

Use either in an oil filled glass cutter or by dipping your cutting wheel in oil prior to scoring.  Glass cutter oil fills the score that your cutter has made, which since glass is a semi-liquid material to an extent stops the score closing.

Using Oil Will Extend Cutter Life

This glass cutting oil is especially made to keep the cutter blade from getting destroyed as it is scratching across glass.  It does this by washing away glass particles.  It also keeps the blades of the cutter turning evenly and smoothly.  What that means is that is will increase the wheel’s cutting life, its precision and its performance;

Cutting Oil Lubricates Your Cutter Wheel

This glass cutting oil has the exact viscosity you need to avoid the “leakiness” of the cutter head and ensure the ultimate lubrication for your glass cutting tools.  Lubricating the cutting wheel keeps it spinning freely and smoothly and also frees up any shards of glass that could get stuck in the cutting head assembly.  Lubrication protects the metal parts against wear, friction and corrosion.

Home Pro Shop Glass Cutting Oil is Non-Toxic

This glass cutting oil is created by using a non-hazardous OSHA approved formula that is prepared only with natural fatty acid derivatives and additives; Removing it is no problem as the oil cleans up easily;