For those that don't know.....my truck has a fairly tight haircut....so today I made a regular size windshield considerably smaller.




15 minutes in.......



30 minutes......



Fairly easy cutting....just back breaking leaning over looking at the line and trying to cut as close as possible.



Removed part of the glass about half way across.



And finally all the way across.



I probably spent close to half of that time letting my back take a break and studying how not to break the glass. I'm using a rotozip with a diamond cutting bit and a redneck engineered water misting gimmick to keep the glass cool.







This afternoon, I'll see if I can break it cutting the corners. Too bad this is a practice run on an old scratched windshield.

After a short break I finished cutting the corners which added another 30 minutes to the total time.

 

Wow! Maybe a rolling scaffold that you could lay on at just the right height so that you can save your back. Of course you would have to motorize it
Good luck with it, something that I would never have thought of.

 

Drew, you never seize to amaze me.

 

Drew, is there any way you could support it in an upright position so you could sit down and do it, like folding your stand to squeeze the glass and resting the end on a cushion.???

 

My main concern is introducing stress in the glass and creating a crack. I'll just have to tough it out. Considering that I've heard of some guys spending the larger part of a full day sandblasting a windshield to cut it to size, I figure I got off easy. It took me another 30 minutes to cut the remaining corners off. Roughly 2 1/2 hours from start to finish including breaks I can live with. Hopefully it go that well on a new glass.

 

Are you going through the full thickness of the glass on one pass or making multiple shallow passes?

 

Wow Drew, once again I am very impressed with your work.

Maybe a little taller work stand to ease the old back ache. Or maybe a few more frosty beverages....just sayin'

Keep at it. I love to follow your posts
Bobby

 

Thanks. I guess if I had unlimited funds, I could just pay some glass guy to cut it. All the estimates that I got would buy quite a few windshields. I figure I'm willing to give it a shot. Besides ............what would be fun of letting somebody else do it.

 

All the way through in one pass. I hold the bit at approximately 30 degrees and use a slow sawing action. I let the bit do the work and don't use any force. The bit is constantly flooded with water to keep the glass cool.

 

Great work,man.
I would have been to chicken to try it.

 

Always wondered how that was done. Thanks for sharing. What about the water spray next to electric powered rotozip tool? I'm thinking the tool's cooling fan blows from rear to front thus directing the mist away?

 

For me....this is the rookie way of cutting the glass. Pro glass guys do it a completely different way and much faster. I had searched the internet looking at different ways to cut windshields and this looked to be the least expensive that gave good results.

The mist is blown only at the tip of the cutting bit. There was never any moisture on the rotozip. I had the trigger of the broken touchup gun locked with a small nut and bolt and the fan set to give a small pattern directed at the cutting area.

 

Looking good Drew. Now I know if I decide to do a chopped top where I can get the windshield cut..

 

I'm out of my element here talking about the darksiders, I admit. But was watching one of the hot rod shows where the guy showed that he scored the windshield on both sides, then soaked the line with denatured alcohol and lit it on fire. The flames melted the plastic laminated in the safety glass. The unwanted section just fell off. Stu

 

Drew !!!!!

you are the man !!!! I love seeing your name come up on unread posts... They are always interesting and full of good tech. You sir, are a inovative craftsman !~.. You need to contact CT or CCT... this is the kind of article that they USED TO use. Sadly they have gone to "Lets install a advertisers thingy in 12 pictures"

I would never have thought of a Roto--zip. And, didn't know they made a glass bit. The only improvement I see you need is a little foot for the zip tool to ride on to keep the cutting portion in the kerf... Bet your ars ached after a while for holding the zip at the right height

Seriously, you need to get this written us as a tech article...so it doesn't get lost...

now where is my saws-all I think my lid is too high NOT!!!

later
John