Glass, in its raw form, is unforgiving. The moment a sheet is cut, it bears a razor-sharp edge capable of causing serious injury on contact. But in the hands of a skilled glazier, that same edge transforms into a feature — a precise, beautiful, and structurally sound boundary that defines the character of the finished piece.

Glass edgework is the collective term for all the processes that treat, refine, and shape the cut edge of a glass or mirror panel. It is one of the most technically demanding steps in glass fabrication — and one of the most consequential. Choose the wrong profile, skip the polish, or rush the grind, and an otherwise perfect piece of glass becomes unsafe, unattractive, or prone to chipping.

At Bear Glass Inc., a prominent glazier operation with facilities in Queens Village, NYC and Tinton Falls, NJ, glass edgework is not an afterthought. It is a craft. With over four decades of experience and a full suite of electrical and hand tools operated by expert glaziers, Bear Glass produces every edge profile — from the simplest seamed edge to the most elaborate ogee bevel — with exacting precision.

This guide walks through everything you need to know about glass edgework: what it is, why it matters, the full range of profiles available, where each is used, and how Bear Glass delivers it at scale across the United States.

Three core reasons every glass edge needs treatment:

Personal Safety

Unpolished edges cause lacerations during handling, transport, and installation. Seaming or polishing removes the arris and eliminates dangerous sharpness, protecting workers and end-users alike.

Structural Longevity

Grinding removes the stress-fracture zone along the cut. A properly edgeworked panel resists chipping under vibration and thermal movement, lasting significantly longer in service than an untreated equivalent.

Dimensional Tolerance

Edgework is also a precision sizing process. Grinding can correct minor dimensional inaccuracies from cutting, ensuring the glass fits its frame, channel, or installation point exactly — critical for commercial glazing projects.

When glass is cut using a scoring wheel or waterjet, the resulting edge is structurally compromised. The cut creates microscopic fractures along the glass surface, and the arris — the sharp corner where the flat face of the glass meets the cut edge — is literally blade-like. Touching it without protection can slice skin instantly.

Beyond the immediate injury risk, an untreated edge is a liability in installation. Vibration, temperature cycling, and mechanical stress all focus energy at the edge of a glass panel. Micro-fractures propagate from the arris, leading to chipping, cracking, and in worst cases, spontaneous breakage. This is especially critical for tempered glass, where any post-tempering edge damage can compromise the entire panel’s integrity.

Every Edge Bear Glass Can Deliver

The right edge profile depends on the application, the thickness of the glass, the desired aesthetic, and the visibility of the edge in the finished installation. Bear Glass offers the full spectrum — from purely functional to architecturally decorative.

Applications Across Residential & Commercial Projects

Edgework decisions ripple through every part of a project — from design intent to installation ease to long-term safety. Here are the most common contexts where Bear Glass edgework makes the difference.

How Bear Glass Executes Edgework

Glass edgework at Bear Glass is a multi-stage process combining CNC-controlled grinding machinery with the hands-on expertise of glaziers who have honed their craft over decades. Each profile requires a different grinding wheel, a different pass sequence, and a different polishing medium.

Specification Review

Every order begins with a thorough review of the edge specification against the glass type, thickness, and end use. A 1/2″ flat polish on 3/8″ tempered glass has very different tolerances than a decorative ogee bevel on 3/4″ annealed glass.

Rough Grinding

Diamond grinding wheels remove the raw arris and shape the basic profile. This stage determines the dimensional accuracy of the final edge and removes all micro-fractures from the cut.

Fine Grinding & Shaping

Progressively finer abrasive wheels refine the profile and remove scratches from the rough grind. For complex profiles like ogee or waterfall, skilled hand work ensures the curve is smooth and consistent across the full run.

Polishing

Cerium oxide polishing compounds on felt or cork wheels bring the ground surface to optical clarity. This is what separates a flat grind from a flat polish — and the difference is visible from across the room.

Quality Inspection

Every edgeworked panel is inspected against the specification before dispatch. Edge consistency, surface clarity, dimensional accuracy, and the absence of chips or scratches are all verified before the order ships.

Decision Guide: Choosing the Right Edge Profile

The optimal edge profile depends on answering four questions clearly before fabrication begins. Bear Glass representatives can advise on each — but here is a working framework.

Is the edge visible in the finished installation?

If yes, the edge is a design element. Polished profiles — flat polish, pencil polish, bevel — are the minimum standard. Decorative profiles like ogee and waterfall are strong options. If no, a seamed edge provides safety without the additional cost of a full polish.

Will people touch the edge regularly?

Table tops, shelves, railings, and shower enclosures are all touched constantly. These always warrant a fully polished edge. A pencil or flat polish removes any residual texture and feels completely smooth under the fingertip.

What is the glass thickness?

Thicker glass (1/2″ and 3/4″) supports the widest range of decorative profiles. Many decorative options — waterfall, ogee bevel — require minimum thicknesses to provide enough material for the grind. Bear Glass‘s specifications list exactly which profiles are available at each thickness.

What is the overall design language of the space?

Contemporary and minimalist interiors typically favor flat polish or pencil polish — clean, invisible lines that let the glass speak for itself. Traditional or luxury residential projects often call for bevel or ogee profiles that add visual weight and classical character.

“For products where the edge of the glass is showing, you need edgework. From glass table tops to glass display cases, all need proper edgework. Different types of edgework are applicable on different types of products.”

Bear Glass is not a sheet-metal shop that happens to cut glass. It is a full-service glass fabrication house — one of the largest stocking distributors of glass and mirror sheets in the United States — with specialized expertise built over more than four decades and passed down through three generations of glaziers.

The company operates facilities in Queens Village, NYC and Tinton Falls, NJ, with a fleet of dedicated glass delivery trucks running seven days a week. Whether the order is a single custom tabletop for a Brooklyn apartment or eighty pieces of wire glass for a commercial construction project, Bear Glass delivers with speed, accuracy, and craftsmanship.

Bear Glass handles edgework on glass, for residential and commercial applications, and ships nationwide. The available profiles cover every application from the purely functional seam to the most elaborate decorative ogee bevel — with experts on hand to advise on the right specification for every project.

For contractors, installers, interior designers, and architects working across the Northeast and beyond, Bear Glass offers something rare: the stock, the capability, and the expertise to turn around complex edgework orders at competitive prices without compromising with quality. To know more, write to sales@bearglass.com

The post The Art & Science of Glass Edgework appeared first on Bear Glass Blog.

Abrasive waterjet cutting technology is a great method for cutting glass because it allows for contours and shapes that cannot be achieved with other cutting machines at a reasonable cost. From artistic tabletop inlays to detailed stained glass designs, mirrors, glass ornaments, replacement windows for antique cars, and more, there’s almost no glass cutting application that a waterjet cutting machine can’t tackle.

Glass has a tendency to crack, so it is very important that the initial holes are produced with a reduced pressure . Subsequently, the pressure must be increased to a cutting speed that is cost-effective. For glass, ceramics and other brittle materials, you must gradually increase and reduce the cutting pressure by means of proportional pressure control of the intensifier pump, otherwise, the material would be destroyed.

As an alternative waterjet technology can be used as an abrasive because it is softer, which reduces the potential for chipping, cracking and other surface blemishes and leaves a cut edge that is polished to a smooth finish.Because waterjet cutting does not vibrate the glass, there are no heat-affected zones to leave behind rough edges, almost no secondary finishing is required.

ADVANTAGES OF CUTTING GLASS WITH WATERJET

• Cut glass geometry that common machining cannot perform
• Delicate glass does not crack during processing
• Precisely cut thin to thick glass without changing any tooling
• Eliminates pressure of cutting process on surface material
• No heat affected zone
• No tool to sharpen
• No need for reworking of the cut edge
• No waste of material, narrow cutting gap
• Cost effective means of cutting holes in glass
• Create intricate design in any shape and size

Everyday Uses of waterjet cutting

• Tabletop
• Stained glass
• Light fixtures
• Frameless shower screens
• Bullet-proof glass
• Mirrors
• Kitchen and bathroom splash backs
• Laminated glass
• Window panels
• Optical laser parts
• Replacement glass for antique autos
• Glass ornaments

When you need reliable waterjet cutting solutions, Bear Glass has you covered. We can get you the best cutting solutions for glass items of your choice.

With over two decades of expertise in quality waterjet cutting, we are one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of fabricated glass parts. Our experienced team works diligently with the latest machinery and cutting technology.  We are equipped to handle the most intricate tasks.

No matter what the shape, size or material, if you can imagine it, we can do it.  Our use of equipment provides us the opportunity to deliver high. Our latest waterjet capabilities create the highest accuracy for the smallest details.

Bear Glass will work side-by-side with you every step of the way. Whether you are an architect or furniture maker, you can count on us to go the extra mile for your fabrication project. Whether you have low-volume or high-volume specifications, Bear Glass has production capabilities to meet your unique needs. We can produce depending on the size requirements.

If you are ready to jump start your next great project, contact Bear Glass today. Our knowledgeable staff can answer any questions that you may have. To get connected, feel free to write on sales@bearglass.com

The post Glass Cutting using Waterjet cutting solutions by Bear Glass appeared first on Bear Glass Blog.

Who does not want to take a look of him or herself at a mirror? And it always brings back the nostalgia if the mirror is an old one. For an old mirror it is natural that it would be a little discolored or fade, as that adds a different charm to its character. But neither for the old nor for a new mirror we expect a fade reflection or spots on the mirror glass.

A mirror, especially a good quality mirror is made of a high-grade glass with silver backing. When this silver-backing is damaged, we find discolorations, marks or scratches on the mirror glass which could not only ruin the look of that furniture but also the view of the whole room. And therefore the damage pieces need re-silvering to bring them back to their old states.

Bear Glass can provide the best mirror re-silvering service for you. For more than forty years Bear Glass has proven its expertise in all kind of glass works nationwide.

Silvering is mainly the chemical process of coating a glass with a reflective substance. Earlier silver was coated on the glass surface. But later sputtering powdered aluminum or other compounds are used in the place of silver. Therefore today, this process is also known as aluminizing.

Bear Glass uses modern technology of aluminum silvering for mirror re-silvering. In this process, a sheet of glass is placed in a vacuum chamber along with electrically heated nichrome coils to sublime the aluminum. The hot aluminum atoms travel at a straight line in vacuum, when they hit the surface of the mirror or glass, they cool and stick to it. Afterwards it needs either an evaporation of quartz onto the glass, or to get exposed in the open air or pure oxygen to form the layer of aluminum oxide.

Bear Glass does both front-silvered and back-silvered mirror re-silvering in this process. Most of the household mirrors are back silvered, which gives the glass a primary protection from corrosion or other damages.

Bear Glass does mirror re-silvering for all kinds of mirror-glass. If you find your household or showroom mirror was affected or damaged, bring it to Bear Glass. We guaranty you a satisfaction that you have never had before. We ship our glass-products nationwide.

For more information or to order re-silvering of your damaged mirror, please contact Bear Glass at:

Factory/ Office:

Address:

Bear Glass Inc.

399 20^th Street

Brooklyn, NY 11215

Phone: 718-832-3604

Fax: 718-832-0786

E-mail: bearglass@yahoo.com

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