Hi,

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface.

But brittle.

I've made a few inquiries and local mirror shops seem to be the established
businesses fabricating exact replacements.

But, always one to save a nickel, is there something out there that is
"DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

Maybe a very high quality thick plastic that you can cut with special
tools... ?

ng_reader wrote:
Hi,

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface.

But brittle.

I've made a few inquiries and local mirror shops seem to be the established
businesses fabricating exact replacements.

But, always one to save a nickel, is there something out there that is
"DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

Maybe a very high quality thick plastic that you can cut with special
tools... ?


Oh, it is available. But even the fancy stuff scratches easier than
glass, and glass is cheaper by far. Being a klutz, glass table
tops/covers always made me paranoid. Unless you use those plastic
circles or pennies under them, they slide around or fuse to the finish.
And cleaning them is a major PITA, and tends to get the windex trapped
under the edges unless you are super-careful and spray from the far side
of the table. We have lots of conference rooms at work with glass over
the tops of the tables. Almost always, at least one table in the room
has the glass missing or a big chip or crack, from oopsies by cleaning
crew, or somebody hitting it just wrong with their coffee cup or something.

--
aem sends....

We have the same sheet of glass on our dining room table for 30 years.
Except for a few scratches it is still in great shape and has protected the
wood table underneath it. We use the plastic circles sold at Ace hardware.
Maybe twice a year we clean the underside of the glass. We use glassplus
wipes and they do a great job on it.



"aemeijers" wrote in message
...
ng_reader wrote:
Hi,

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface.

But brittle.

I've made a few inquiries and local mirror shops seem to be the
established businesses fabricating exact replacements.

But, always one to save a nickel, is there something out there that is
"DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

Maybe a very high quality thick plastic that you can cut with special
tools... ?
Oh, it is available. But even the fancy stuff scratches easier than glass,
and glass is cheaper by far. Being a klutz, glass table tops/covers always
made me paranoid. Unless you use those plastic circles or pennies under
them, they slide around or fuse to the finish. And cleaning them is a
major PITA, and tends to get the windex trapped under the edges unless you
are super-careful and spray from the far side of the table. We have lots
of conference rooms at work with glass over the tops of the tables. Almost
always, at least one table in the room has the glass missing or a big chip
or crack, from oopsies by cleaning crew, or somebody hitting it just wrong
with their coffee cup or something.

--
aem sends....

"ng_reader" wrote in message
. ..

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface. . . .
is there something out there that is "DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

You will probably find all plastics more than 50 per cent as hard
as glass cost more than glass. Depending on the tabletop size,
you may be able to find a (thicker) polished granite replacement among
offcuts from a kitchen counter specialist: but you will have to
pay for its edges to be smoothed appropriately.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

On Oct 13, 5:07 pm, "ng_reader" wrote:
Hi,

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface.

But brittle.

I've made a few inquiries and local mirror shops seem to be the established
businesses fabricating exact replacements.

But, always one to save a nickel, is there something out there that is
"DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

Maybe a very high quality thick plastic that you can cut with special
tools... ?

Could you apply a film to the glass to minimize the breakage
possibility? Similar to what is done in windshields? A clear,
hurricane-proof type of film might work well.

"nr" wrote in message
...
On Oct 13, 5:07 pm, "ng_reader" wrote:
Hi,

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface.

But brittle.

I've made a few inquiries and local mirror shops seem to be the
established
businesses fabricating exact replacements.

But, always one to save a nickel, is there something out there that is
"DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

Maybe a very high quality thick plastic that you can cut with special
tools... ?

Could you apply a film to the glass to minimize the breakage
possibility? Similar to what is done in windshields? A clear,
hurricane-proof type of film might work well.


It might, as a preventative measure. However, my inclination to
"do-it-yourself" is typically after the fact.

You know, fixing the roof if it's leaking, but I can't when it's raining ---
stuff like that.

ng_reader wrote:

Hi,

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface.

But brittle.

I've made a few inquiries and local mirror shops seem to be the established
businesses fabricating exact replacements.

But, always one to save a nickel, is there something out there that is
"DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

Maybe a very high quality thick plastic that you can cut with special
tools... ?




Plexiglass. Tricky to cut, but doable. Grind and buff edges.

"Norminn" wrote in message
m...
ng_reader wrote:

Hi,

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface.

But brittle.

I've made a few inquiries and local mirror shops seem to be the
established businesses fabricating exact replacements.

But, always one to save a nickel, is there something out there that is
"DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

Maybe a very high quality thick plastic that you can cut with special
tools... ?


Plexiglass. Tricky to cut, but doable. Grind and buff edges.


I think I did do that once, with pretty bad results. Lexan, maybe over
Plexi. But still, I think the poster that said glass is still cheaper, and I
know it's better. so

Back to the drawing board.

ng_reader wrote:

"Norminn" wrote in message
m...
ng_reader wrote:

Hi,

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface.

But brittle.

I've made a few inquiries and local mirror shops seem to be the
established businesses fabricating exact replacements.

But, always one to save a nickel, is there something out there that is
"DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

Maybe a very high quality thick plastic that you can cut with special
tools... ?


Plexiglass. Tricky to cut, but doable. Grind and buff edges.

I think I did do that once, with pretty bad results. Lexan, maybe over
Plexi. But still, I think the poster that said glass is still cheaper, and I
know it's better. so

Back to the drawing board.

There is a special scratch resistant version of Lexan that would
probably be the only viable replacement for the glass, though at
probably 4X the cost. You wouldn't put it over Plexi either, you'd just
get the 1/4" (or 6mm) version. You'd have to get it at a real plastics
supplier, not a big box store.

On Oct 13, 5:07*pm, "ng_reader" wrote:
Hi,

Over the years I have acquired fancy furniture that has this form fitting
glass surface. This 1/4" glass presents a tremendously hard and useful
surface.

But brittle.

I've made a few inquiries and local mirror shops seem to be the established
businesses fabricating exact replacements.

But, always one to save a nickel, is there something out there that is
"DIY", "do-it-yourself"?

Maybe a very high quality thick plastic that you can cut with special
tools... ?

What do you mean by "brittle"? It takes a pretty good whack to break
1/4 plate glass! What is your concern? And are you sure that the glass
isn't tempered?