Beetle Bits System

From Mosaic And Stained Glass

Tour of the Beetle Bits System Part 1

Here is a picture of my Beetle Bits System. I also have the Cutter's Mate, and I have them both on the waffle grids. I am using two of the Creator's stained glass rulers. I like having the glass up against the rulers for the Cutter's Mate as well.

The way mine is set up, the Beetle Bits does not start at "0", but that doesn't really matter. I have my ruler marked where the cutting line is - it is aligned with the yellow arrow on the Flying Beetle Cutter. I place my glass right at that line. (This is a different color of glass because the original picture did not turn out right.)

For this tutorial, I'm making 5/8" squares, so I count over 5/8, and then move the glass over to that notch on the ruler. I lightly press down on the Flying Beetle cutter and push upward until the whole sheet of glass is scored. If you like sliding the Flying Beetle cutter down the bar, start at the top of the glass, press down on the cutter, and slide the bar down.

I plan on cutting a full sheet, so I continue down the ruler sliding the glass, scoring with the Flying Beetle cutter until I run out of glass. The first arrow on the left is where the actual score line will be. The second arrow is a scored line. The other four arrows indicate where I will be sliding the glass next and scoring.

I then flip the glass over, turn it 90 degrees, and score that side of the glass as described above. I flip the glass because it is not good for your cutter to crisscross over a previous score. The cutter won't last very long if you do. (For thick glass or mirror glass it is unavoidable, and all scores have to be made on the same side of the glass.)

When running the scores, run (break) the glass in half, down the middle. Then you take each half and run (break) the glass in half again. You keep halving the glass until you are down to two pieces. By halving the glass each time you break, you are keeping even pressure on either side of your running pliers, which will give you cleaner breaks.

In the photo, you can see one bad break. Never said I was a pro.

I flip the glass over and continue running the scores on that side of the glass. Again, I break the glass in half, half again, half again, and so on until I'm down to two pieces. Good clean cuts! Nice even squares! The squares will be as accurate as if you were measuring against the ruler.

Tour of the Beetle Bits System Part 2

Making diamonds & triangles is quick and easy with the Beetle Bits System.

I am using red mirror tile in this tutorial, as it is easier to see the score lines.

I scored lines 3/4 inches apart and turned the glass. Here I am making 3/4-inch scores again to make perfect squares.

I turn my compass to 45 degrees and set my tadpole in place.

I use the edge of the glass on the left side to measure when moving the glass. I use the the little yellow arrow on the Flying Beetle Cutter to eyeball the center of the first square and make my score.

I continue scoring every 3/4 inch.

All that's left is running the glass.

Diamonds are just as easy.

I set my tadpoles up so they are at 60 degrees on either side of the compass.

I set the bar in one of the tadpoles and score my glass to the desired size of my diamonds. In this tutorial I am making 3/4-inch diamonds.

I lift the bar to the other tadpole and score every 3/4 inch here as well.

Look at those pretty diamonds!

You can also make triangles from diamonds (and from squares). Set your bar so that it is straight at 90 degrees on your compass. I just eyeball the middle of a diamond with the yellow arrow on the Flying Beetle cutter and score the glass.

Here you have triangles made from squares at the top of the picture.

You can see diamonds and triangles made from diamonds in the center of the picture.

Beetle Bits was made for mosaics. It's easy, quick, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to make it work!