Replies

1. 
   Sphere | Jan 07, 2004 05:46am | #1

   YEP...Anything below 16'' is tempered.

1. 
   chrisindiana | Jan 07, 2004 05:58am | #2

   Thank You.

2. 
   WayneL5 | Jan 07, 2004 06:00am | #3

   It's common to not use tempered glass, but certainly a good idea.  Don't forget that glass cannot be cut once it's tempered, so you have to measure correctly and order the exact size(s) you want.  Thin glass cannot be tempered well, so tempered glass will be slightly thicker than normal window glass, say about 1/4" thick.  You may want to talk to the glass supplier before finalizing your design.  There will be a little weight to it.

1. 
   Sphere | Jan 07, 2004 06:08am | #4

   Common?...tricycles and single strength glass is why code dictates temp. glass..Home furnishings I think fall under Underwriters Labs. for safty. You are right about cut first temp after..I have cut temp glass but it is never a clean cut and very risky..

1. 
   JBD | Jan 07, 2004 07:17am | #6

   I highly doubt you've ever cut tempered glass, Sphere.  If you had, then it wasn't tempered.  Did it have a maker's stamp in the corner?  I have to grind and polish tempered every once in a while in my dichroic glass laminating business, and if I grind a little too much - a gunshot sound goes off and I have glass gravel.

   Its impossible to cut tempered.  Its like poking a wolverine hyped up on caffeine - it'll snap under stress. 

   "The furniture designer is an architect." - Maurice DuFrenes (French Art Deco furniture designer, contemporary of Ruhlmann)

   http://www.pbase.com/dr_dichro

1. 
   Sphere | Jan 07, 2004 04:19pm | #7

   Neo-ceramic "safty" glass..High temp, for a coal stove 90.00$ for a pc. about 10x18...Coal stove door pc. broke (with a full burn going) and I had to do something REAL quick..swiped a door from a woodstove that we were not using, removed the glass from the door and cut it to fit. Probly not tempered as in what you would just go order at a glass shop...but it behaves the same..the scrap exploded into little diamonds. Glass cutter, and beltsander and the main pc. is still working in coal stove door. Replaced the woodstove door pc....@ 90.00$  FWIW.

1. 
   JBD | Jan 07, 2004 05:26pm | #8

   Wow Sphere, So you're saying that you cut the unused pc of glass from the other stove to fit into the current stove, and that the scrap cuttoff cracked into a million pcs like tempered would, but the good part stayed intact for use?  Thats truly amazing.  God must have realized your plight, and preserved that glass !!! :)

   In one of the dichroic glass laminates I make, I laminate tempered glass between two lites of annealed, and hit the middle tempered lite with a punch and the whole pc shatters into an amazing effect, yet held permanent by the outside glass.  Commonly done, and really harnesses the uniqueness of tempered. 

   "The furniture designer is an architect." - Maurice DuFrenes (French Art Deco furniture designer, contemporary of Ruhlmann)

   http://www.pbase.com/dr_dichro

2. 
   Sphere | Jan 07, 2004 05:36pm | #9

   God was on my side...first, I had a fever of 102, it was a blizzard like condition out side, it was at midnite, the unused stove was a 1/4 mile away (in my other house) and to top it all off..I broke the coal stove glass with the poker, uncloggin clinkers...somethin had to work right.

   I really like the continued crackling of broken tempered glass..like rice crispies...<G>  for a while.

   Edited 1/7/2004 9:37:57 AM ET by SPHERE

3. 
   HenryVIII | Jan 07, 2004 06:57am | #5

   There's another option:  Laminated glass.  It can be cut, but not easily, and is usually cheaper than tempered.

   The main difference, other than price, is that annealed glass can break into large pieces, which can cut pretty badly when they fall.  Tempered glass breaks all at once into pieces about as big as a grain of rice.

   If you do decide on tempered, remember that tempered pieces will take a pretty good lick without breaking, if it is in the middle of the pane.  If you bump the pane on one corner, though, it is very likely going to shatter.  When I use tempered, I always use neoprene setting blocks.  Check with your glass dealer -- I would expect him to have them and be able to tell you how to use them.

   Hope this helps,

   Enery

4. 
   PlaneWood | Jan 07, 2004 05:36pm | #10

   Another option might be plexi glass.  It's thin, light and a some of it is almost unbreakable.  They have it at HD.  Might be worth checking it out.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
   PlaneWood