SHAVING THE GLASS

July 16, 2004

I had a man call me,he will pay me 200 if I will tint the windows to the top of the glass.I said sure, but it could start pealing later.He said he went last year to a shop and they got this file and they shaved it,he said he saw the little pieces of glass and everything,he had a merc and he wants to do this car the same.ANY info you guys can give me?What tool do you use? and whats the difference in using a file and not useing one?

THANKS :lol

Protint · July 16, 2004

Shaveing the glass would be done with a razor blade held at an angle so as to leave the film right to the edge. Shaveing is kinda hard to do with framed windows so I only used to do it to frameless windows.

Fileing is done useing a bastard film (fine mill file) we have to file everything now because we use ComputerCut if we want the edge to look clean.

Overlap the edge of the glass just a little so you have enough to file. Then dry the edge with a heat gun let it sit while you do the other window then come back and take the mill file and file off the edge of the film holding the file as vertical as possible. I usually keep my index finger inbetween the file and the glass just as a guide.

July 16, 2004

Shaveing the glass would be done with a razor blade held at an angle so as to leave the film right to the edge. Shaveing is kinda hard to do with framed windows so I only used to do it to frameless windows.
Fileing is done useing a bastard film (fine mill file) we have to file everything now because we use ComputerCut if we want the edge to look clean.

Overlap the edge of the glass just a little so you have enough to file. Then dry the edge with a heat gun let it sit while you do the other window then come back and take the mill file and file off the edge of the film holding the file as vertical as possible. I usually keep my index finger inbetween the file and the glass just as a guide.

Well said. Nothing to add except that we follow up the "bastard file" with a fine nail file and smooth the edge. In 10 years of filing I have only had one car come back from the film rolling off the top edge. It was because I didn't file on the right edge of the glass. Some vehicles don't have a definate edge to file. Gets a little tricky but with practice can be mastered.

Good luck. :lol

andytint · July 16, 2004

where do you get the fine mill file?

July 16, 2004

I got mine from the snap on guy. :lol Its about 6 inches long and has a pretty fine edge to it. Its not very aggressive at cutting. :lol I will post a pick if anyone else wants.

July 16, 2004

I got mine from the snap on guy. Its about 6 inches long and has a pretty fine edge to it. Its not very aggressive at cutting. I will post a pick if anyone else wants.

Eclipse, is it a 6" pillar file by chance?

RICHat22 · July 17, 2004

Good tips guys. :beer I have seen it done but rarely done it myself. Just on a few cars here and there. One tip to practice would be to tint the outter edge of one of your cars with a scrap on any window to practice first. I was doing this yesterday in my spare time just practicing up. Going to start doing this on alot more cars now.

July 17, 2004

How do you guys file the front and back edges where the frame gets in the way? Or do you just shave that part? I filed a frameless BMW M3, looks soooo clean. :beer

Devil with bad attitude · July 17, 2004

Same here....never used a file and besides the old blades that are used would have gone in the bin anyway. Saves money.

Devil

wndotint · July 17, 2004

How do you guys file the front and back edges where the frame gets in the way? Or do you just shave that part?

As a general rule, I don't file framed doors. But on the ones that I do file, just file as much as you can and finish the rest with an olfa. If you use the really small file, you can get way back in the frame. I just retinted my truck and decided to take the windows out and file as much as possible. '01 Dodge, so you know how the back starts to come out of the channel. I didn't want any gap anywhere. If it were a customer, I would have just filed the top edge and left a very small gap on the back. I normally do not remove windows.