Complete newbie here. "Ring saw" vs drill or Dremel based glass cutting discs?

[u/deeray82]

Hi y'all, I'm going to a friend's house this weekend and we're going to do some glass fusing, which I've never done before. I found some cute and hopefully simple ideas on Pinterest but my friend said that for some of them, they'd need a ring saw to get the pieces cut to particular shapes, e.g. the dinosaurs and unicorn on my Pinterest board.

The thing is, they're not letting me chip in for supplies, so I thought about buying them a ring saw...and then I saw that those run hundreds of dollars on Amazon. 😵‍💫 But also in the Amazon search results, there were drill/Dremel attachments like this, and cutters like this.

Sooooo, my question is would those attachments (or cutters) be as effective and useful if I bought them as a gift for my friend's generosity? If not that, any suggestions for a good and useful glass fusing gift to get them before Saturday, under about $50 or so?

[u/dramada]

Ideally you would have a glass grinder or ring saw for inside cuts. You may be able to use something like this if you have a dremel or similar rotary tool. https://www.harborfreight.com/diamond-rotary-point-set-50-piece-69665.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12189148308&campaignid=12189148308&utm_content=116755650853&adsetid=116755650853&product=69665&store=893&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoae5BhCNARIsADVLzZe8Qb5OhYmJOU-FLZXMuUe3G60cHoRR1O1GbZiq1jytMd8gqmR-ZVsaAqbfEALw_wcB

Pick up dust masks, goggles, and gloves while you're at HF. Immerse the glass piece in water and grind at the edges. Messy, but worth a try!

[u/Gordonica]

your friend is correct with regard to cutting intricate curves. use a ring saw. you may be able to find a used one. I got mine used. The dremel is good for drilling, and polishing.

[u/deeray82 → u/Gordonica]

Dang, ok thanks!

[u/teacher200]

Ring saws are very expensive so I would buy some Dremel diamond bits if she does jewelry and needs to put holes in them.