Glass doors for hi Fi cabinet

[Donwill]

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

[Harry Bloomfield]

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.

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

[Huge]

I asked about this kind of thing at the glass counter in Gibbs & Dandy when I was thinking of building a frameless glass shower (bought an Aqata[sic] one in th end). They said "Bring in your drawings and we can get it cut, drilled and toughened." You can't have holes within a couple of cm of the edge (check the number, I can't remember) and you most definitely cannot drill toughened glass - loud bang and big shower of fragements...

[Adrian C]

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

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.

[brass monkey]

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.

[Andy Dingley]

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.

[The Natural Philosopher]

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

[The Natural Philosopher]

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.

[Tim Streater]

My experience too. In my old house was a glass bathroom shelf that I dinged a couple of time - broke the glass at the fixing. Just removed it carefully and went to glazier in Cambridge, they made an exact copy no problem for a small number of quids.

[Andy Dingley]

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-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

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

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.

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

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

[Owain]

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

Owain

[The Natural Philosopher]

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.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

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:

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