tool for cutting triangular mosaic shapes

#TOOL FOR CUTTING TRIANGULAR MOSAIC SHAPES CRACKED#
#TOOL FOR CUTTING TRIANGULAR MOSAIC SHAPES TRIAL#

Keystone ArcsĪ curving row of tile will have wider gaps at the outside of the arc unless you “keystone” the tiles to make them wider at the outside like the stones used in Roman arch. Cut these pieces in half to eliminate the concave edge. Avoid putting these pieces next to a straight edge. Concave edges and hourglass-shaped pieces can make odd distracting places in the grout line if they aren’t nested. Make use of slight variations in size and shape to increase visual interest in mosaic images.

TIP: The eye is drawn to detail, and there isn’t any detail in perfect uniformity. Harness the beauty of imperfection and error. Worse than that, your mosaic won’t have as much visual interest had you made use of less uniform rectangles. If you use rectangles that are perfect halves of square tile, you will end up scrapping a lot of material because most cuts won’t be perfect. Harness Natural VariationĬonsider a mosaic made from curving rows of rectangular tesserae. Trimming a square tile into a circular element produces awkward-looking results. Instead of trimming a piece to size, cut 4 or 5 pieces and choose the piece that most closely matches the desired size and shape.īuild rounded or circular elements from smaller pieces in a true mosaic technique. Don’t Trim TileĪttempting to trim small slivers from the side of a tile usually results in jagged or curved edges. Note that the slight variation or “error” in the cutting process increases visual interest by making the pattern less uniform. The embossing pattern on bottom of a tile limits the precision of corner-to-corner cuts. Nest these pieces in a way that accommodates their mutual errors. Most of the “triangular” halves will be more like exaggerated “half keystone” cuts with one vertex of the triangle actually being a short flat edge instead of a point. When cutting glass mosaic tiles diagonally from corner to corner to produce two triangular halves, a certain amount of error has to be tolerated because few if any cuts will be perfectly centered and straight. You can easily cut pieces smaller than you can easily handle and position. The reason we don’t carry any special tiny tiles for micromosaic is because it is too dang easy to cut 8mm into quarters to produce 4mm cuboid tesserae. The also have minimal embossing compared to vitreous glass tile. They are made from an enamel glass that is low-temperature fired from sintered glass, and so they are more homogeneous in composition than vitreous glass tiles and probably have less residual stress from the cooling process. The 8mm and 12mm Recycled Glass Tiles can be cut corner-to-corner into diagonal halves more reliably. Most Morjo Vitreous colors have an easier pattern of embossing on their bottoms.Ĭutting toward a corner of a vitreous glass tile tends to result in curved or problematic depending on the pattern of embossing on the bottom the tile.

The tic-tac-toe pattern used for some colors is perhaps the most difficult pattern of embossing to cut into diagonal halves. The embossing patterns on the bottoms of vitreous glass tiles limits the precision of corner-to-corner cuts made to produce triangular halves.

#TOOL FOR CUTTING TRIANGULAR MOSAIC SHAPES TRIAL#

They can cause cuts to curve instead of having a straight-line break.įor these reasons, you have to be aware of what cuts are practical and make sure you don’t design a detail that requires you to make a cut that takes a lot of trial and error and still doesn’t look right. There are also embossing patterns to consider. What I mean by that is the structure of the glass isn’t the same at the corners, and I think it is because the glass cools first at the corners and then inward from the edges to the center. The tile isn’t homogenous like these other materials because the glass is melted and cooled to a solid in a mold, (and glass needs a careful heat reduction/cooling curve to avoid the creation of residual thermal stresses inside the glass).

Molded Glass TileĬutting molded glass tile isn’t like cutting paper or plastic. Use on porcelain and stone ruins their precision.

This is particularly true when cutting molded glass tile with a special pair of pliers known as a Wheel-Blade Mosaic Glass Cutter or Glass Nipper. Practical Glass Tile Cutting (Mosaic 1 inch or less cut by wheel-blade cutting pliers)Ī similar concept applies to making art: There are methods that are artificially labor-intensive and problematic, and there are methods that make use of how materials tend to behave on their own. The arch is intrinsically stronger because all its members are in compression.

#TOOL FOR CUTTING TRIANGULAR MOSAIC SHAPES CRACKED#

The flat lintel could be constructed from a superior material than that used in the arch, but the arch is likely to be in place centuries or even millennia after the lintel has cracked and fallen. Designs are said to be elegant when they “don’t try to push things uphill” but instead go with the natural flow of materials and forces.Ĭonsider the Roman arch versus a rectangular doorway with a flat lintel on the top.

Tool for cutting triangular mosaic shapes