Q: in wall mounted glass shelf

[mental]

Hi,

I want to build a glass shelf with no visible supports. I'm thinking about securing to a depth of approx 65mm of the glass shelf into the wall (i.e. channel out groove the thickness of the glass and then bonding the glass into the wall).

The "wall" in this case is timber 65mm deep - so would router out a channel thickness of the glass (12mm?) to a depth of 65mm and set the glass shelf into it.

Questions: Has anyone seen / done this before? The shelf is only going to be 30cm deep, and hold approx 6-9kg (AV equipment), so would glass be strong enough and what thickness of glass would I need? Any other advice???

Cheers, M.

[Adrian]

Glass is used all the time in shopfitting applications - so 'yes' it's possible. If it's sitting in a groove in the timber wals then you need to make sure that there's no chance of the timber 'moving' (heat, moisture, warpage) and putting the glass under pressure - so leave some 'slack' when you route out your slots.

Also - you'll want the glass to be treated (toughened) - which needs to be done after it's cut to size and the edges have been polished. However, toughened glass does have the disadvantage that it can shatter if 'caught' in the wrong place - typically the edge....

When this happens, it's 'safe' (because it breaks into small pieces rather than large, sharp shards) - but id does mean that any AV kit sitting on it will come crashing down rather suddenly.....

AS to thickness - ask your local glazier, or (if they're not helpful) then try your local shopfitter.

HTH Adrian

[TMC]

your post carefully I wonder why you would want to route a channel right through the timber.

Tony