So I was doing some reading online about trimming a tempered glass screen protector for phones/tablets. One of the options mentioned was using a laser. Has anyone tried this using their snapmaker?
My issue is that my iPad has a case, it’s a Spigen tough armor case. It is a great case, however I have not been able to find a screen protector that works well with it. Typically a case will wrap over the top of the protector, but with this case it does not. It sits right at the edge and will actually push the edge of the screen protector and cause it to lift up off the screen. You can push it back down, but it come back within a few minutes.
I have tried stretching the rubber of the case, but that doesn’t work well. I also tried putting something thin like masking tape along the edge of the tablet with minimal success.
If I can use the laser to remove like 1mm off the edge of the protector I feel like it would fit perfectly. I could purchase a Spigen screen protector but they are $16 each. I can get another brand for less than $10 for three!
The diode laser used in this machine will pass through the glass because it’s a blue visible wavelength light source. You need a CO2 laser or some other non-visible-wavelength laser that interacts with light to cut glass.
Unrelated, but general safety information: lasering glass / tile / etc is above-average hazardous to your eye health as it can reflect the laser as an intact coherent light beam instead of producing a diffuse reflection (like wood, etc), making wearing eye protection much more important as the reflected beam will likely cause permanent eye injury if you catch a stray ray without eye protection on.
Hey thanks for the info! This is why I asked before giving it a try lol.
On another note, do you think the CNC would be able to handle this? I would be afraid it would chip the edge and also the edge might be rough and scratch the screen.
Ordinary glass, sure. Tempered glass, maybe. Tempered glass is manufactured with internal stresses that ordinarily strength the glass but also cause cascading failure when it does break. (For an excellent illustration of how you can get both, find some slow-motion videos of a Prince Rupert’s drop breaking.)
I’d recommend a very fine abrasive, and even then, plan on having extra material available to practice on. It’ll be very easy to ruin some material before getting it right.
Perhaps. For something as thin as a screen protector, it’s conceivable that you could use air as a cooling fluid.
But that’s not the only problem. If you don’t use liquid coolant when grinding glass, though, you then have airborne abrasive (ground glass particles) to contend with that can cause damage in its own way.