I'm about to build a hiFi cabinet, the bottom half of it will be a
500mm kitchen base unit with drawers to hold DVDs etc.
The top half will be an adjustable shelf unit to take the electronic
units. The whole will stand approx 6 ft high.
I need glass doors for the front of the shelf unit to keep dust out, I
suppose they will have to be toughened or similar
and would have to be of a minimum thickness to withstand the stresses
imposed by hinges or whatever.
Are there specialist firms that would supply these to fit or would I
have to build the cabinet to suit stock sizes? Could I have these made
by an ordinary glazier supply firm. or would they be heat treated after
manufacture? Can you drill toughened glass to take hinges?
Cost?
Any advice gratefully received.

TIA

Don

Donwill wrote :
I'm about to build a hiFi cabinet, the bottom half of it will be a 500mm
kitchen base unit with drawers to hold DVDs etc.
The top half will be an adjustable shelf unit to take the electronic units.
The whole will stand approx 6 ft high.
I need glass doors for the front of the shelf unit to keep dust out, I
suppose they will have to be toughened or similar
and would have to be of a minimum thickness to withstand the stresses
imposed by hinges or whatever.
Are there specialist firms that would supply these to fit or would I have to
build the cabinet to suit stock sizes? Could I have these made by an ordinary
glazier supply firm. or would they be heat treated after manufacture? Can you
drill toughened glass to take hinges?

I would suggest getting an idea of the ranges of size you would find
acceptable and looking around the charity shops for a unit with glass
doors. They sell the second hand units for not a lot, especially if
they are battered, but the glass will perfect.

Cost?

£10 - £30. Much cheaper than buying the glass doors for the job.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

On 03/12/2010 16:10, Donwill wrote:
I'm about to build a hiFi cabinet, the bottom half of it will be a 500mm
kitchen base unit with drawers to hold DVDs etc.

Er, buy yourself a NAS, rip the media, archive the originals and save
all this effort and space?

The top half will be an adjustable shelf unit to take the electronic
units. The whole will stand approx 6 ft high.
I need glass doors for the front of the shelf unit to keep dust out, I
suppose they will have to be toughened or similar
and would have to be of a minimum thickness to withstand the stresses
imposed by hinges or whatever.

Have a hunt on eBay. When I was looking for glass doors for a media unit
I was building (er - still to finish!), I found something tall and tough
that originally fronted a 6ft 19" computer rack - for less than a
tenner. Fellow was local to me to pickup!

Or, check what Ikea are currently selling as HiFi cabinets.

--
Adrian C

"Donwill" wrote in message
...
I'm about to build a hiFi cabinet, the bottom half of it will be a 500mm
kitchen base unit with drawers to hold DVDs etc.
The top half will be an adjustable shelf unit to take the electronic
units. The whole will stand approx 6 ft high.
I need glass doors for the front of the shelf unit to keep dust out, I
suppose they will have to be toughened or similar
and would have to be of a minimum thickness to withstand the stresses
imposed by hinges or whatever.
Are there specialist firms that would supply these to fit or would I have
to build the cabinet to suit stock sizes? Could I have these made by an
ordinary glazier supply firm. or would they be heat treated after
manufacture? Can you drill toughened glass to take hinges?
Cost?
Any advice gratefully received.

TIA

When I did this ~40 years back I found a glass company who stocked
quarter-plate smoked. They cut, drilled and ground the edges, t'would prolly
cost an arm these days though.

On Dec 3, 4:19*pm, Huge wrote:

cannot drill toughened glass - loud bang and big shower of fragements...

Although it's still easier to drill then toughen, there are several
processes for drilling toughened glass, if you have to. You can even
do one (copper pipe and diamond abrasive) at home.

Donwill wrote:
I'm about to build a hiFi cabinet, the bottom half of it will be a
500mm kitchen base unit with drawers to hold DVDs etc.
The top half will be an adjustable shelf unit to take the electronic
units. The whole will stand approx 6 ft high.
I need glass doors for the front of the shelf unit to keep dust out, I
suppose they will have to be toughened or similar
and would have to be of a minimum thickness to withstand the stresses
imposed by hinges or whatever.
Are there specialist firms that would supply these to fit



yes, but not specialist.

Any glass company will sell you toughened class cut to your spec ad
shaped and drilled as well.

Not cheap, but simple enough BUT take in a full size template and a
drawing. The clods who drive the machines are generally ESN.


o

brass monkey wrote:
"Donwill" wrote in message
...
I'm about to build a hiFi cabinet, the bottom half of it will be a 500mm
kitchen base unit with drawers to hold DVDs etc.
The top half will be an adjustable shelf unit to take the electronic
units. The whole will stand approx 6 ft high.
I need glass doors for the front of the shelf unit to keep dust out, I
suppose they will have to be toughened or similar
and would have to be of a minimum thickness to withstand the stresses
imposed by hinges or whatever.
Are there specialist firms that would supply these to fit or would I have
to build the cabinet to suit stock sizes? Could I have these made by an
ordinary glazier supply firm. or would they be heat treated after
manufacture? Can you drill toughened glass to take hinges?
Cost?
Any advice gratefully received.

TIA

When I did this ~40 years back I found a glass company who stocked
quarter-plate smoked. They cut, drilled and ground the edges, t'would prolly
cost an arm these days though.


No, it doesn't.

I got an entire load of glass cut specially for a shower cabinet and the
whole thing using pre-made tray and my own expensive tiles and standard
shower fittings was well less than, and much better than, teh 'ditzy
shower enclosures' from the bathroom shops.


I even got a special glass shelf made elsewhere for an alcove. IIRC that
was about £25.

You can get stock hinges and knobs and catches as well from most
glaziers of any quality.

On Dec 4, 4:26*pm, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Any glass company will sell you toughened class cut to your spec ad
shaped and drilled as well.

Far from "any glass company". Most of them these days don't cut any
glass at all, they simply sell pre-made DG units. I found _one_ in a
city the size of Bristol that was both willing and competent to do
this sort of work (Roman Glass BTW).

As for toughening, then very few places can do that in their
"shopfront" and it's a question of ordering it from the factory. Easy,
but takes time.

I'm now making my own toughened glass (only up to 6" square,
admittedly) which is an exciting research process 8-)

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Dec 4, 4:26 pm, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Any glass company will sell you toughened class cut to your spec ad
shaped and drilled as well.

Far from "any glass company". Most of them these days don't cut any
glass at all, #

Then they are not 'glass companies', are they?


they simply sell pre-made DG units. I found _one_ in a
city the size of Bristol that was both willing and competent to do
this sort of work (Roman Glass BTW).

Our glass companies will make up DG units, single glazed, or DG panes,
toughened or not and sell all the fittings.

Need lots of crap glazing for greenhouses and sheds.


As for toughening, then very few places can do that in their
"shopfront" and it's a question of ordering it from the factory. Easy,
but takes time.


That is the general case. They are retail outfits for glass wholesalers.

I'm now making my own toughened glass (only up to 6" square,
admittedly) which is an exciting research process 8-)

Too specialised for me. I pay up and let them, have the risk and hassle.

Owain wrote:
On Dec 4, 7:01 pm, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Need lots of crap glazing for .. sheds.

Secondhand and mismatched possibly, but surely not crap? For a shed?

Owain

garden sheds use agricultural or horticultural garde glass. cracks when
you look at it. But cheap.

Not allowed in houses except in very small panes.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Adrian C
saying something like:

Have a hunt on eBay. When I was looking for glass doors for a media unit
I was building (er - still to finish!), I found something tall and tough
that originally fronted a 6ft 19" computer rack - for less than a
tenner. Fellow was local to me to pickup!

Or, check what Ikea are currently selling as HiFi cabinets.

Or, a single-fronted 7' tall, glass-doored chiller cabinet.