Plastic window - what are the best materials?

The boat (whose window it is) is in France, as are we at the moment. I have a temporary polystyrene window in place so I *could* bring the old glass window back with me. Home is South Suffolk, near Ipswich, what sort of business should I be looking for? "Glass Suppliers"?

Warning: take advice from me on glazing as you would advice from Jeremy Clarkson on fashion or political correctness.

The only firm I've used direct is in Ilford so not much use to you save possibly to see what services such firms offer.

I didn't find any such at a first, quick look for Ipswich.

PS I've no idea where on boats windows should be toughened, where laminated, and where laminated, toughened.

PPS I've failed on the riddle. Why pl. do you need 2mm trimmed off?

OK! :-)

Well they're not so far away *and* they're on the way from Ipswich to and from the boat. However they don't seem to have any 5mm glass, either toughened or laminated.

I'm not sure that it's terribly important to have either, they are just windows that you look through and the boat's maximum speed is all ot 10mph. However I guess some sort of toughened glass makes sense for security.

Ah! :-) I'll explain.

There was serious corrosion along the bottom of the window so I had to cut off a long chunk of rusty steel and replace it. The piece of metal I welded in to replace the old cut away piece was a little wider and thus the window has become a few mm smaller than it was in one dimension! The corrosion was the reason we had to take the old window out.

I held them out as an example of the sort of supplier I thought you needed without any idea they might be convenient for you. I wonder though what kind of seal you have that won't cope with +1mm or (especially) -1 mm. Is it glazing tape or sealant?

I suggest you now re- read my warning about my glazing expertise and hope someone who knows comes along soon ;)

Thanks for indulging my bird brain.

Undersize frame? Isn't this what angle grinders were invented for? (OK you also have to be clever in the corners with a dremel or similar).

:-)

Yes, OK, I think I've found some who have 5mm glass. The seal is a rubber extrusion and, while I coud change it, I'd prefer to have all the windows of the same thiickness.

:-)

Cutting along 1 metre of steel was bad enough (angle grinder with a cutting disc), I didn't fancy clearing up after grinding off two or three mm of 3mm thick steel. Not to mention that doing it straight would be quite difficult.

A slightly smaller window was easier! (Somewhat)

Sorry, that was meant to be a (semi) humorous comment, not necessarily needing an explanation! I can see exactly what you mean. But I do find an angle grinder (alternatively using a coarse sanding disk, which will also remove metal quite effectively) an amazing tool for tweaking stuff to fit. To get a straight line, you need to be able to draw or scribe a very clear line to work up to. Easy enough on wood, more tricky on metal. You could I suppose work to a batten.

Yes, I did note the smiley! :-)

My local place does the cutting etc, then sends it away for toughening.

Glaziers are rather odd. For anything other than a rectangle etc, they seem to need a pattern. Computer controlled cutting machines seem to have passed them by - except for perhaps specialist firms.

Interesting. Do they offer radius corners and drilling as well as "weird curves"?

Anyhow, seems to me that introduces the additional risk of the glass being chipped or cracked on the way to being toughened - not to mention arguments between the 2 firms as to who chipped it. My local glazier freely admits that for toughened he is just a taker of orders and - crucially - adviser.

And yes, if you deal with a specialist firm, you don't need a template if you can send them a compatible file. But it ain't cheap.