Choosing Stained Glass Grinder – A Simple Guide

Choosing Stained Glass Grinder – A Simple Guide

A Stained Glass grinder is basically used to soften or smoothen the texture of glass pieces.  Using glass grinder you can correct the pointy edges off every glass piece and retouch the piece to make sure that they perfectly fit your pattern.

For Stained Glass Artists, choosing the best grinder accounts the most important decision to make. It makes a lot of sense to work with the best tool according to their purpose. Stained Glass is also for the very creative mind. There are so many pattern to make.

Follow these basic guides when choosing a glass grinder:

Step one

Determine your budget range and research the grinders resourcefully. It is best to start your research online to save time and other expense. Commonly a Stained Glass Grinder starts at $80 to about $200 or can still be higher. Depending on how you handle and maintain the machine, it will last for a couple of years or more. Consider top stained glass manufacturers such as the Inland, the Glastar and the Diamond Tech.

Step Two

Think about the size of the project and the size of the work area that you will need. Assess your user ability and performance. Determine your need for the machine in terms of time.

Stained Glass Grinders have working area that measure from 9″x10″ to 11.5″x14.5″. Wisely use large grinders for larger projects. An angled glass grinder is another model that features an angled working space that will be really helpful at times.

Step Three

Consider the RPM of the grinder; choose from 3450 up to 3600 rpms. If the value of the RPM is high, it means that the performance is relatively good. You have to pay more if you want to get a better grinder. The performance of the grinder can also be explained by its cost.

Step Four

Use a lubricant to prevent the glass shards from spraying in different directions. You can use water to lubricate. Check the system set-up of the liquid handling system. Check the water pump, splash guard, eye protection, and a reservoir for the coolant.

Step Five

Check the accessories that come with the Stained Glass Grinder if they are rare, or supplied anywhere in the market. It has hard to find replacement for rare accessories. You will need different grinder heads if you will be dealing on a Lamp, to make the lamp fit better using angles. Drill Bits and similar are what you need to minimize the thickness of glass to get the best fit into lead came. There are grinders that offer small work area to best grind the smaller pieces.

Step six

Consider how you are going to clean the machine. Glass particles build up like paste that can harden and might tend to require a bit of effort to clean them. Of course bigger glass shards are very sharp and may damage your plastic causing scratch on it, including also the other surfaces. The bottom line is to assess the life of the grinder