Cornering Flat Glass

addicted to tint · January 17, 2010

I have started using scissors to improve corners in deep recesses.
On normal flat glass windows the 45' relief cut works well and I get good results but there are some situations when it proves difficult to get a clean corner even using a relief cut.

Especially when the corner is deeply recessed, or awkward to get a knife in say in the corner of a conservatory roof.

I would often find that even if the film was not creased it would not lie down nicely straight away or it may be difficult to judge how far to make the relief cut and cut a tiny bit too far into the film leaving a small cut on close inspection.

My solution which I have now been using a lot for the last 12 months is to not bother with a relief cut and start / stop my edge cuts about 1cm from the corner.

diag 1

I trim off the surplus leaving a corner like diag 2

I then lift the whole corner of the film away from the glass enough to trim the last cm with a pair of sharp scissors.

With a long pair of scissors it is easy to line up straight with the already cut edge and trim towards it.

Every corner I have done like this seems to stick perfectly with no cut into the film and no crease.

As I say this technique I use mainly on Conservatory roofs with awkward access into the corners and films which crease easily such as Silver 20.

Geat tip that will help a lot of installers with corner cuts!

TomTint · January 17, 2010

We will try to align the top as the straight edge whenever possible. At that point there is only 2 corners to deal with, The less overlap you have the easier it will be for you to trim the corners. If you can get it to be no more than 1/2 inch it should be a easy cut. If you end up with a bigger overlap try to push the film into the corner of the frame but outside of where the finished film will contact the glass. ( I dont know how to explain this any better sorry ) You will most likely crease the corner of the film but it will end up getting cut off anyway. The best advice I can give you is to Practice Practice Practice

January 17, 2010

We will try to align the top as the straight edge whenever possible. At that point there is only 2 corners to deal with, The less overlap you have the easier it will be for you to trim the corners. If you can get it to be no more than 1/2 inch it should be a easy cut. If you end up with a bigger overlap try to push the film into the corner of the frame but outside of where the finished film will contact the glass. ( I dont know how to explain this any better sorry ) You will most likely crease the corner of the film but it will end up getting cut off anyway. The best advice I can give you is to Practice Practice Practice

:spit the less overlap, the better. lately I've been pulling my film closer and closer to exact size, about 1/2" over right now, and its helping a lot. I used to leave 2-3 just to be safe, but it was causing more problems than helping

January 17, 2010

We will try to align the top as the straight edge whenever possible. At that point there is only 2 corners to deal with, The less overlap you have the easier it will be for you to trim the corners. If you can get it to be no more than 1/2 inch it should be a easy cut. If you end up with a bigger overlap try to push the film into the corner of the frame but outside of where the finished film will contact the glass. ( I dont know how to explain this any better sorry ) You will most likely crease the corner of the film but it will end up getting cut off anyway. The best advice I can give you is to Practice Practice Practice

the less overlap, the better. lately I've been pulling my film closer and closer to exact size, about 1/2" over right now, and its helping a lot. I used to leave 2-3 just to be safe, but it was causing more problems than helping

:spit

January 17, 2010

We will try to align the top as the straight edge whenever possible. At that point there is only 2 corners to deal with, The less overlap you have the easier it will be for you to trim the corners. If you can get it to be no more than 1/2 inch it should be a easy cut. If you end up with a bigger overlap try to push the film into the corner of the frame but outside of where the finished film will contact the glass. ( I dont know how to explain this any better sorry ) You will most likely crease the corner of the film but it will end up getting cut off anyway. The best advice I can give you is to Practice Practice Practice

the less overlap, the better. lately I've been pulling my film closer and closer to exact size, about 1/2" over right now, and its helping a lot. I used to leave 2-3 just to be safe, but it was causing more problems than helping

:lol2 I used to think I'd rather have extra than have to pull again because its too narrow. Most windows I do are odd sizes like 25" so I get a 30" and just pull it out of that

callwild · January 17, 2010

We will try to align the top as the straight edge whenever possible. At that point there is only 2 corners to deal with, The less overlap you have the easier it will be for you to trim the corners. If you can get it to be no more than 1/2 inch it should be a easy cut. If you end up with a bigger overlap try to push the film into the corner of the frame but outside of where the finished film will contact the glass. ( I dont know how to explain this any better sorry ) You will most likely crease the corner of the film but it will end up getting cut off anyway. The best advice I can give you is to Practice Practice Practice

Yep all good advice and the way you describe is how I do it normally. I don't have any problems with normal flat glass panes. But conservatory roofs are a different thing all together and where this technique comes into its own. Corners on conservatory roofs are often in awkward places, narrow angles and in deep recesses where you can't get your knife in. Also even rectangular looking panes often don't have square corners which makes lining up along 2 edges not possible. So just another method or trick up your sleeve for when its needed.

Roach · January 17, 2010

I used to think I'd rather have extra than have to pull again because its too narrow. Most windows I do are odd sizes like 25" so I get a 30" and just pull it out of that

One of the guys I wok with from time to time does this... drives me nuts. lol My pulls are close... maybe half an inch on each side.. having too much just seems to lend itself to more problems.

January 17, 2010

I used to think I'd rather have extra than have to pull again because its too narrow. Most windows I do are odd sizes like 25" so I get a 30" and just pull it out of that

One of the guys I wok with from time to time does this... drives me nuts. lol My pulls are close... maybe half an inch on each side.. having too much just seems to lend itself to more problems.

:spit same for me But for some frame types I like 1” but no more that.

March 31, 2010

Allright, great tips, but how do you approach a curved corner while making clean cuts one eighth of an inch from the frame? I have a job coming up very soon on a travel trailor and could put some of yous guys knowledge and experience to work.

March 31, 2010

for curved corners or oval/round windows I do it just like I would any other time, run your finger in front of your knife. Make sure that the film is wet so your finger slides easily :bingo and stick the tip of your nail into the corner of the window/frame and run the knife right behind it. It takes a little practice to not bunch up the film, but once you get the technique down it goes really fast.