A good paper pattern is critical for accurately ordering glass for a shaped or irregular surface. If your surface is a standard straight-sided shape (square, rectangle, trapezoid, etc..), see our article on
measuring for desktop glass. If your surface is irregular, has curved edges, or otherwise does not lend itself to simple measuring, then you’ll need to make a good pattern. Just follow these steps:
- Use a single piece of blank paper that is larger than the surface to be patterned, with a minimum of 2 inches of paper hanging over the edge. If you don’t have suitable paper, stop by our office and we’ll give you some! Do not use newspaper, cardboard, Christmas wrapping paper, or other printed paper. If your paper is too narrow, you can tape two pieces together. Be sure to use a good quality, strong tape such as masking or duct tape. If you are needing to pattern only the rounded or angled corners of an otherwise rectangular surface, you can use paper that is just large enough to cover the corner (see Figure 2 below).
- Tape the paper down to the surface. Cut holes/slits into the center portion of the paper, approximately every 12 inches. This will allow you to tape the paper down securely without having any tape around the edges, where you will be making a pattern (see Figure 1 below).
- Hold the side of a pencil at an angle against the table edge, and rub it along the edge. A crisp, clear, single continuous line is critical for accurate transferral to glass, and it may take some adjusting of the pencil angle to get a good line (see Figure 3 below).
- For surfaces that do not have a 90° edge angle, tracing can be difficult. Figure 4 below shows the point at which the outer edge of glass should stop on several decorate edges. If you have difficulty making a crisp line on these edges, it is recommended that you bring the furniture piece to us, or call us to come out to make a pattern.
- DO NOT CUT OUT THE PATTERN! Bring the entire paper to us. We will be much more accurate working with a clear, crisp line than with a cut paper edge.
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| Figure 1: Taping down pattern paper. |
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| Figure 2: Radius Corners |
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| Figure 3: Tracing along curved edge. |
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| Figure 4: Tracing a non-90° edge |
