Published on 10/11/2026 · by Leandro Caldas, glazier, founder of Routeck and creator of the Arena
Arena do Vidro episode 1: the Hello Kitty mirror in 1h30
When I brought Janael and Rômulo into Arena do Vidro, they knew they'd be competing for R$ 10,000 over four challenges. Nothing else. Episode 1 opened with a finished model on the bench: a Hello Kitty-shaped mirror with a frosted band, an LED strip and a touch switch. The job was to make one just like it. Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The mirror came already cut. Isaac cut it on the Router Glass, which cuts the mirror and also cuts the vinyl with its laser. But in this challenge the vinyl had to be cut by hand. And right there, in the manual work that a lot of glass shops still do every day, Arena do Vidro episode 1 showed where a glazier really struggles.
The episode 1 challenge, step by step
| Step | What happened |
|---|---|
| Breaking out the mirror | Janael broke out first and chose to go edge. Nerves made one of them forget, at the start, to knock down the corners to make the break-out easier. |
| Vinyl | Janael applied it wet. Rômulo, who cuts vinyl into strips in his own shop, did it his way. |
| Cutting the stencil | By hand, with a ruler and a razor blade. Hello Kitty's bow was the hardest part for both. |
| Sandblasting | First time for both on the Jateck. Rômulo started blasting first. |
| Edging | Rômulo almost broke the mirror on the curve and only finished thanks to Vinícius's tip. |
| LED, switch and hanger | Finished right at the buzzer, with adhesive and hanger chosen in a rush. |
The chip in the silvering: what Vinícius explained
Vinícius, a judge with 30 years in the glass trade, pointed out a detail few people think about. The cutter has the diamond head and a ball end where the fluid goes. Depending on how you tap the mirror with it to run the score, it catches the silvering and leaves a small chip, a "butterfly". Later, when you grind and sand the edge, that chip costs you time.
His technique was a light knock: keep turning the piece and tapping gently from underneath to run the whole score first. Only then break it out. Later, when Rômulo got stuck while edging, Vinícius named the cause: the chip came from tapping on top. Tapping from underneath, it wouldn't have happened.
Wet vinyl or strips, and the improvised template
In his shop, Janael uses water with dish soap to lay the vinyl. At the Arena there was only water, and he said he panicked, but the water helped: laying the film dry and getting it smooth is a lot of work. Rômulo saw on his first try that stretching the whole roll by himself wasn't going to work. He cut it into strips, like he does every day, and applied it with no trouble.
Cutting the stencil was another story. Rômulo admitted freehand cutting isn't his strength, which is why his shop has several templates he built himself for tight curves. Without them, he put together a simple copy on the spot to cut the bow. The judges praised the improvisation. It's the most practical lesson of the episode: know your own limits and build a tool for them.
Sandblasting without a booth, and the edging that almost broke it
Neither of them had used the Jateck before. One said that in his shop sandblasting happens in a sealed booth, with a Tyvek suit, a special mask and so much dust you can barely see. He expected to struggle with it and said it was easy. Another point that came up was turnaround: sending sandblasting out costs a glass shop time, and here it was finish edging, peel the film and blast right away, with no mess.
While edging, the machine chattered on the inside curve and Rômulo thought the mirror was going to break. He asked for help, and Vinícius told him to lower the machine's speed and angle. That saved the piece. As the judges said, edging an inside curve on a shaped mirror takes real skill: without it, the mirror breaks or the finish won't come out clean.
Adhesive, weight and the judges' verdict
On mounting, the judges' advice applies to any job: every adhesive has a rated load in the manufacturer's spec, but no adhesive or sealant holds on a dirty surface. With sandblasting dust around, adhesion drops. Clean it well, then use it.
At judging time, the panel didn't go easy. One judge said the only thing that matched the model was the cut, and the machine did that. Vinícius opened his with a question: "Would you buy what you made?". The honest answer was no, not the way it turned out. In the end Rômulo scored 7.5 and Janael 6, and the episode winner earned the right to smash his rival's mirror with a hammer.
- How much time did they have in episode 1?
- 1 hour and 30 minutes to reproduce the Hello Kitty mirror with sandblasting, LED and a touch switch. The mirror came cut on the Router Glass, but the vinyl was cut by hand.
- Who won Arena do Vidro episode 1?
- Rômulo, with 7.5 against Janael's 6. The season had four challenges for R$ 10,000; each episode's scores are on its page.
- Where can I watch the full episode 1?
- On YouTube, in Portuguese, Spanish and English. The video is at the top of this post.
Full episode 1 · Why I created a reality show for glaziers · Routeck blog: mirror and glass cutting in practice