Glass and Wood suppliers

[Doki]

I'm thinking of knocking together some sort of stand for my hifi gear, with some sort of wooden frame and glass shelves (presumably tempered?). Do glass suppliers just supply cut glass, or can they put on ground edges?

I'd also be interested in what wood would be suitable (needs to be fairly solid, look OK and cheapish), and if I'd be able to convince the wood place to route me some grooves or would I need to borrow the use of someone's router? Do I want to ring the places listed under "Woodworker's supplies" in the yellow pages or do I want a builders merchant for wood?

TIA

[Andy Dingley]

Getting tempered glass custom cut is expensive. Much cheaper to take a tape measure into Ikea and buy something readymade about the right size. Equally for mirrors, if you want them ground-edged.

Most glaziers don't cut glass these days anyway. It takes a fair bit of ringing around to find one, so don't give up after the first.

MDF. Easy to work, good density for hi-fi supports. Easy to paint if you use MDF primer first. Screwfix's cheap biscuit jointer is a good and quick way to assemble a complex box.

[Dave Plowman]

I don't see just how they can be a glazier if they don't cut glass, given the number of sizes of windows around. Stocking ready made sizes would be a nightmare.

[stuart noble]

What do they do with those 10x5 sheets they buy in then?

[Andy Dingley]

They install ready made sealed units, made somewhere else. If you're using yellow pages, "glass merchants" is a better group to try than "glaziers"

[Doki]

I'd sooner have some variety of real wood rather than MDF. Would holding everything together with screws and glue be a bit beyond the pale? If so, would dowels work?

[Andy Dingley]

Yes, it's probably the best around under £100

I just like the hinged front designs, rather than the removable wedge.

[Dave Plowman]

Perhaps it's where you live, but plenty of houses round here - perhaps the majority - don't have double glazed sealed units. And I reckon plain old fashioned glass gets broken more as well.

[Gnube]

Take Care, Gnube {too thick for linux}

[Peter Ashby]

Screws and glue do work with mdf though you MUST predrill the edge of the mdf to be screwed into by the correct diameter drill or the mdf will split for sure. The hardest part here of course is lining everything up so the two sets of holes are in the right places, especially in the middle of the edges. Making a jig can help with this of course, simply a piece of wood with spaced holes in ita defined distance from one edge (half the thickness). Use lots of glue on the edges as the edge of cut mdf is very thirsty stuff.

I built a shelving unit for a built in wardrobe this way 3 years ago and it is all holding up very solidly.

Peter