What can I do to smooth and polish hand cut glass edges?
I think I can help you.  To make a living, I carve glass. Tabletops, door fronts, serving platters, and almost anything else made of glass has seen my efforts.  

By far the best tool to use would be a Dremel type rotary tool with either  a diamond burr or a stone grinding bit.  These come in quite a variety of shapes, compound materials and grit levels and are specially suited for this purpose. 

A standard particle mask available at your local hardware store will protect your lungs when used properly.  Oiling the glass  with sewing machine or fresh motor oil will almost eliminate any lingering/ flying dust.  

Exactly which tools are needed to accomplish your task is greatly dependent on exactly what you need to do.  Please visit Dremel.com for details and tutorials.  Great information is also available on YouTube as well.  If you do choose to purchase a rotary tool, you will find it is also very useful for a great many other things.



I use either a 150 grit, cylinder shaped (similar in diameter as a #2 pencil), diamond burr, a silicon carbide grinding stone (same shape/ size) or a chainsaw sharpening stone (the blue one). Information on these bits and others can be found at Dremel.com.

Be sure to wear your mask, oil your glass, and set the tool to a low speed prior to starting. Be gentle and WEAR YOUR EYE PROTECTION.

I can't say enough about the eye protection thing. Been through many pairs of glasses, but still have both eyes. Undamaged!