Cutting cold glass - Yikes!
Cutting glass that is cold can require Band-Aids and a good case of ‘lack-of-control’.
Temperature really does affect cutting glass
Sometimes a glass shop is not as heated as one might want, especially this time of year and large shops take a lot of heat to stay warm. This can be a problem when cutting glass and the temperature of that glass cut has MUCH to do with the quality of the finished product.
Glass expands and contracts based on temperature change. Glass becomes softer when heated and more brittle when cold - and that cold allows easier cracking and fracturing. This temperature swing creates stress (not inside me) - but stress inside the glass.
Lesson learned - cutting warm glass allows for easier and more precise cutting. And that’s good.
Almost everyday I cut on full sheets of glass. Not along ago I had a full sheet I was cutting on and I thought it was warm enough. Unfortunately glass has a mind of its own and it did not break along my long cut - and actually fractured in a random direction. Dang! There are tricks to keep that from happening, but my assumption became my enemy.