An internet buddy of mine passed along this advice. Hopefully he will not mind it I post it here for others:
If you ever had a biology class with a microscope, you might remember that there was a thick rectangular glass slide on which you put a drop of liquid or a smear of something, then you would often put a small square thin piece of glass over the specimen. This small thin piece is called a cover glass or cover slip.
You can cut glass this thin really easily with a diamond tip scriber. A friend taught me how to do this. He used a flat piece of styrene for a cutting base, then two small strips of .05 styrene to create a 90 degree corner (like half a picture frame) to hold the cover slip. Then you take the diamond scriber (looks like a retractable ball point pen with a diamond tip instead of an ink tip) and scribe the cover slip. It usually only requires one light scribe line. Then you can snap the glass at the scribe. Or, to cut it thoroughly, you make 2 or 3 light passes with the scriber.
They come in packs of 100 or more. That's almost a lifetime supply! However, they are cheap to buy direct via a supply company.
Electron Microscopy Sciences (
About $8-$15 for a pack of 100-150.
The scriber was about $13. and a refill is about $6.