Tool Review
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On The Table
On The Table By Rob Torres
	“Safety Break System” Morton Tools
For today’s stained glass artist it’ s all about time and frustration during the construction phase. The more accurate the cut the less time will be focused in grinding and fitting the panel together. Thus lifting the burden of frustration and allowing the artist to focus more on the art and less on the mechanics of the craft.
Morton Glass Works has devised a safe, effective and accurate way of breaking glass for today’s craftsman. Among the other great tools within the Morton family of glass tools and accessories, the Safety Break System takes its place and holds a strong position. The Safety Break helps the artist greatly improve glass cutting tasks that are both difficult and tedious. This review will try to explore and examine the positive possibilities this tool has to offer today’s glass artist.
Prior to a TV spot I did back in June of 2003 which aired live on CN-8 Your Morning. I spoke to Don at Morton Glass Works and asked permission to show their tools in my stained glass segment. The company was eager and most helpful as well as kind enough to supply me with the items I needed to demonstrate brief glass cutting techniques on air.
The Winding Road
Figure Skating: Try setting aside some extra time and some scrap glass from your otherwise busy schedule and glass studio selection for a couple of exercises well worth the effort. Picture a winding road or the repetitive”S” style pattern of s figure skater, now picture scoreing glass in much the same fashion. This type of score would be classified as moderate to difficult depending upon the radius of the half circles. The smaller the circles the harder the score and break will be... For this test we will require the use of the following Morton Tools. See figure 1 below for cutting pattern.
Tools Needed: form Morton Glass Works Inc. A. Mini or Maxi Surface B. Glass Cutter (any type will do) C. Safety Break System try marking out the pattern as shown below, on a 10” X 6” piece of scrap, regular window pane will do nicely for this exercise. Prior to any marking or cutting please clean your work area and glass surfaces. All cutting should be performed on the Morton Mini or Maxi surfaces for maximum effectiveness.
Use a felt tip pen, grease pencil or something to indicate your path of cutting. The three components of the Safety Break System are,
Break Button
Running Tool
Push Block
By using a clear glass for your practice sessions you can easily see where you are placing the glass in relation to the Break Button below. After scoreing the dashed line, plug the Breaking Button into one of the square cells of the cutting surface.
The Button was designed to work in tandem with these surfaces. Next we will place the scored glass on the plugged in button (See Fig 2) below.
Using the Running Tool, holding it upright and so the concave end straddles the score while applying a very small amount of pressure. See (Fig. 2)
Here is where a slight learning curve is revealed. You will need to get the hang of this so as not apply too much force to the glass surface at once. We want to gently start the break at various stress points shown in (Fig. 2). Remember too much pressure and your glass will crack with possible unwanted effects. Not enough pressure and the break may not start. What you should listen for is the sound glass makes prior to breaking, like little tings. Sometimes you may not even hear them and other times they become much more pronounced. This part of the cutting process will in time become second nature as you cut and break glass with or without the Safety Break Tool.
Use the Running Tool to start the break, use the Push Block to make the break. See (Fig. 5 Push Block) below.
Note: the Breaking Button plugs into one of the holes in the Push Block.
The Push Block should be applied so that the wide base straddles the score, and thereby forces the glass to break off to either side of the Break Button. Again exercise care when applying force with the Push Block. After a few attempts you will most certainly gain the skill and confidence needed to properly make the best use of a well designed tool system.
The Safety Break System is the ideal tool to use on narrow strip cuts as well as intricate and winding road style cuts. Once you are comfortable with its infinite possibilities and ease of use you will be cutting like the pros. The Oak Tree offers a nice selection of Morton Tools for stained glass crafters. Link up to our Online Shopping Cart. For more information on this system and many other fine glass working tools, please visit the Morton Glass Works website. They are a great bunch of folks eager to help you in your stained glass endeavors.
http://www.mortonglass.com/
Thanks, Morton Glass Works Inc.