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I'm cutting slightly textured glass, but I can't keep the suction cup in place. It seems to be firmly in place at first, but about halfway around it pops loose. I'm cutting on the smoothest side of the glass, and I don't have any problems with this circle cutter on smooth glass. Any tips?

Duct tape it down . . .

Learning to cut clean circles without a circle cutter is a good skill to master.

If you must use a circle cutter, you can try holding the center while the other hand manipulates the arm. You'll have to let go of the cutter for a moment to untangle your arms, but it's doable.

Not a solution, but a work around: When you first put that suction cup down, trace it with a sharpie. That way you can reposition and re-secure the suction cup as necessary to finish the score.

When scoring glass with a cutting wheel, any skip in the continuity of the cut will likely end up with a run off. Your only shot at this not happening is to go at the break from both sides of the skip towards it. So, if your suction cup is having trouble sticking, chances seem to me to be good that the cutter might skip. If the problem is only the suction cup, there are circle cutters that work with mechanisms other than the suction cup. Last resort is always the waterjet machine or a sandblaster. I have tried to cut circles on double reeded glass and it was impossible with a cutting wheel.

I like Valerie's approach of learning to do it by hand. Geometrically perfect glass is tough, because your eye will immediately see any flaws. Amoebas are good...

Valerie Adams wrote:Learning to cut clean circles without a circle cutter is a good skill to master.

If you must use a circle cutter, you can try holding the center while the other hand manipulates the arm. You'll have to let go of the cutter for a moment to untangle your arms, but it's doable.

You don't have to let go- hold the center thingie with one hand (left, for ex.), wind up with the right hand (holding the cutter head) crossed over the left, scribe the circle in one clockwise swoop finishing under your left arm. Your hands never leave your arms.
Large circles are easily done at the corner of a table so you can shift position slightly. Arthur Murray footsteps on the floor may help (step-together-step).

I score counter-clockwise. Left hand on the center suction cup; right hand crosses under the left. Start the cut at about 10-11 o'clock. As Marty says, no need to untangle arms, or even shift positions.

I can score free-hand, but I get a much more even circle with a cutter, without any discontinuity in the score, and I have a lot better success in breaking it out.

Dana W.

Thanks for all the replies!