glass after chop

cosmic12 said:

I did my 52, 2 piece curved by sandblasting. Get some monument tape leave a slot and start blasting but take your time then used a grinder with a soft flap type pad to clean up and get perfect fitment.

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cool! never saw that before...
Was that hardened or laminated glass? What media did you use?

dutch said:

I think I`m going to have a hard time finding someone with any kind of that experience overhere, for the simple fact that chopping tops isn`t something done a lot here. Looks like I may have to chop an F1 in a while, so this sure if food for thought.

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There are many ways to go about the actual cutting of the glass and, as in everything else, different people will have different preferences of method. My intent is to help you and anybody else ensure they'll be able to fit the glass that's being cut before they find they've put many hours into something that won't work. My thinking is you'll have a much better chance of success if you know what you're getting into.

Remember, my encounter with Harry was late 1990's. I learned a lot then and since because I was willing. I encourage you to move forward. Back then builders were doing everything from covering the part of the windshield they wanted to keep with inner tubes and sandblasting the top and sides off to belt-sanding an entire 3-1/2" of glass off the top. Messy? Yes. Time Consuming? You betcha! They just wanted a chopped top more than the person who wasn't willing to go through the trouble. Some would drop the windshield frame into the cowl and not cut the glass at all.

The general consensus at the time was that you just couldn't cut the really curved, wrap-around glass of the mid-fifties bodied vehicles. Not everybody was of this mindset however. Late 2000's I sent a video to friend with whom I was comparing notes. Here's a link to that video if you're interested:


Again, getting the glass cut or even better doing in yourself isn't as big a challenge as many think. When you know where you want to go before you start, you'll have a much better chance of getting there.

I hope this helps.

- John

cosmic12 said:

I did my 52, 2 piece curved by sandblasting. Get some monument tape leave a slot and start blasting but take your time then used a grinder with a soft flap type pad to clean up and get perfect fitment.

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Dutch , cosmic12 didn't mention ... make sure you blast the glass from the front ...also support it from the rear ,if you don't it'll probably crack
( took me 3 before it was over) [S. This was (laminated) ...think all w/s are ... safety glass (tempered ) are side & back glass .
Media I used was a product called Black Diamond 30/60 grit (coal slag).
Used a D.A. with 80 grit to smooth the edge .

One of the major parts of my project is taking on this exact endeavor.

The glass in the international was bad from day 1, and I still can't find even factory replacement glass for it.
As some have mentioned above, me, as a newby, got carried away with the cut off wheels and welder and chopped the top where I wanted it, before researching how the glass would need to get done.
Afterwords, once I started looking into it, and learned the monumental task I would need to complete, I decided the best way would be to split the windshield so that I would be working with two smaller pieces vs one giant big one.
I used the old glass and made a template mimicking the radius the old glass had. This small template allowed me to head to the junk yard to find what vehicles has matching radius.
I have it narrowed down to about 5 different cars.
Next step, which I'm not exactly looking forward to completing, is to price out each one, and buy a bunch of them, and try my hand at cutting.
My biggest fear is I mis match the support from the under side and get half way through and break the glass. To to combat that, I hope to build a frame, with that "big gap" spray foam stuff from the big box store and let it cure to the radius of the glass to provide a nice even support from the under side. At that point, I'll try cutting/blasting/sanding till I get one of the 40 windshields right I suppose

If you want to do something don't not try because someone tells you it can't be done, maybe not by them, but give it a try, you done know you can't until you try. [S

56 F-100 with wrap around 6" cut. Oh you can't do that, really[S

Yes i drove it with a cracked windshield for a long time and i ran just fine, just like i am now with the sprint.

Even won a trophy with it [cl

soltz said:

If you want to do something don't not try because someone tells you it can't be done, maybe not by them, but give it a try, you done know you can't until you try.

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not sure if the grammar is correct lol... but amen to that my friend [cl

thanks again guys... this is turning into a pretty cool topic imo

cutting glass

That's a pretty cool video , looks a lot easier than sand blasting ....,
what kind of saw is that ...maybe a tile saw ??

Whyworry said:

That's a pretty cool video , looks a lot easier than sand blasting ....,
what kind of saw is that ...maybe a tile saw ??

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I was wondering too, never heard it mentioned.

Video doesn't work for me

Whyworry said:

That's a pretty cool video , looks a lot easier than sand blasting ....,
what kind of saw is that ...maybe a tile saw ??

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I'd be willing to try a tile saw. It would probably work.

This was just a little cheapie hand-held circular saw bolted to the underside of a piece of plywood with a slit cut in it for the blade to stick through. The blade is one of those diamond dusted ones that's used for glass cutting of all things. I think you can pick them up at the big box stores and/or harbor freight. It was something like $17 or $19.

I added the water cooling because others were having trouble with the glass melting and getting all gooey and clogging the blade as they cut with it. The blade wouldn't last through half a windshield before becoming unusable. They were also free-handing the circular saw and I was more comfortable working on a table. <-- Again, just a preference of method.

Old Iron said:

Video doesn't work for me

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O.I. Please try it again. I've been rebuilding my site and had tested it with the 3 browsers I have before posting. I went to a different player format because of your reply. Here's the link to the video page.

Thank you.

Old Iron said:

Video doesn't work for me

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O.I. don't know what you using but it wouldn't play on my phone be worked ok on the computer [S
Maybe?

OK this may or may not be of any help, it was posted way back and i haven't tried it yet but it sure looks easy.[S
This will be the method i use next time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl5nm48pYFc&feature=player_detailpage

Thanks for posting the different methods. This is the best site on the web.

soltz said:

O.I. don't know what you using but it wouldn't play on my phone be worked ok on the computer [S
Maybe?

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I finally figured out the problem
My Grandson was logged into Google on my computer that I have restrictions on I logged him out and all is well
The blade that is used is a fine grit, diamond glass tile cutting blade.
The standard diamond tile blade is too aggressive for glass tiles. They are also perfectly round and balanced so as to not chip glass tiles.