You can also use emery cloth if you don’t have access to wet sandpaper. You can buy a multi-pack of emery cloth from most home improvement or hardware stores.
You can typically buy safety gloves and goggles at any home improvement store that also sells sandpaper. If your glass has multiple sharp edges, hold it so that none of the edges can cut your palm. If it’s impossible to hold your glass this way, consider smoothing the edges using a different method.
If you refrain from rotating your piece of glass, you may end up sanding one side much more than the others, leaving a noticeably uneven finish. Aim to do this for at least around 5 minutes to ensure that the glass edge is adequately smoothed.
Keep the sandpaper wet as you do this. You may need to continually dip it into the water to keep it adequately moist.
Wipe the edge of the glass with a clean damp cloth once you’ve finished sanding to wipe away any leftover grit or dust.
Make sure the sanding bit is the right size for your glass piece. For example, if you’re smoothing the edges of a wine bottle that you’ve cut in half, make sure the sanding bit can fit inside the hole so it can sand the inner corners of the glass edge.
Be sure to use heavy-duty work gloves to safely hold the glass. If your glass object is too small to safely hold it by hand, your best bet is to use a clamp to hold it or to use an alternative method to smooth out the edges.
Spend about 3-5 minutes doing this in order to adequately smooth the inner edge of the glass. Be sure to wear a ventilation mask during this step, since the sanding process will kick up a lot of glass powder into the air.
This step shouldn’t take more than 3-5 minutes to perform.
You can also simply polish the glass edge by hand if you don’t want to continue using the power tool. Once you’ve finished sanding, use a clean damp cloth to wipe away any leftover grit or dust.
If you don’t have a dedicated piece of float glass, you can also use a piece of scrap plate glass, such as a piece of window, mirror, or picture glass.
To make it easier to add the silicon carbide powder, place it in a small disposable cup first before you begin adding it to the glass.
For maximum safety, wear safety gloves to avoid cutting your hands on the glass.
Look at the edge of the glass after about a minute of this circling. If the glass is no longer glossy and it is smooth to the touch all around, you are done.
For example, if you’re smoothing the bottom of a cut glass bottle, you won’t be able to smooth the inner corners of the glass edge with the silicon carbide puddle. You can also use sandpaper to sand down any rough spots you find that the silicon carbide didn’t get.
