The ultimate deciding factor whether to cut the glass before or after woodworking really comes down to which way error(s) go and how sever / correctable they are. Had you cut your glass too short for example or had you made your lanterns too wide or too narrow, it would have been easier to adjust the glass had it not been cut already. I look at it as the labor that goes into the woodworking is far greater than that of cutting glass so I am a cut after the woodwork believer. By you cutting your glass height first for example, you didn't even know it was bad until your woodwork was done. Had the woodwork been done, you would have been able to detect the glass dimensional error immediately.heathicus wrote:The toppers are glued up already for the large and medium lanterns. I cut each of the four topper pieces for each lantern a little long, then sanded each one for a custom and perfect fit, dry fitting the entire assembly along the way. I understand what you're saying about the groove, but it ended up being plenty wide enough for "wiggle room." The kerf of the blade wasn't wide enough for the glass to fit, so I had to make the groove in two passes.
I have to say no. At least for this project. In fact, I think it reinforces the "cut the glass first" argument. What if I had cut and assembled the sides and toppers before cutting the glass, then accidentally cut the glass 3/16" long? Or cut them long by even less of a margin - like 1/32". Just enough so the topper wouldn't sit flush on top of the lantern. It's really hard to trim that small of an amount from the glass. But it would also be too late to cut a relief groove in the topper pieces (except by hand with a chisel). Cutting the glass first, then working the wood to fit it has worked fine so far.
A different project might lead me to a different conclusion, but so far, and for this project, I'm not convinced that it would have been best to cut the glass last.
Your assembly issue would have also been prevented had you not been trying to fit your woodwork around the precut glass.
I'm just sayin'........
