Reduce a glass table's size

Almost certain to be ...

... therefore, not possible.

No. Toughened glass is toughened *after* cutting. Any attempt to shape it will shatter it.

However do not despair. I have had glass shelves cut and toughened by a reasonably specialised glazing and mirror type company and its not massively expensive. Give them a full size drawing and template of what you want and they will make it.

Random example...

..Legally required to be...

Move away from the shithole of the south and you will be okay.

It'll presumably be toughened glass and will shatter into small pieces if you try to cut it.

A place that can cut glass and toughen it could produce a new top to your requirements - or could perhaps anneal the existing glass, cut it and re-toughen it, but I can't see that being any cheaper than a new piece.

Almost certainly the glass is toughened/tempered. Go at it with a diamond saw, Dremel or even a diamond glass cutter and it is likely to shatter into a thousand pieces, possibly explosively. Think car windscreens, although they are also laminated and that tends to hold them together. If you attempt it at all (and I know I wouldn't), wear good goggles and face protection.

Whether that type of glass can be de-toughened, cut, and then re-toughened, I don't know, but it would probably be cheaper to get toughened/tempered square pieces made from the start.

See

Bear in mind that this would be a one-off, custom job. The people who make TV stands make them by the thousands. It may be *a lot* cheaper to buy a complete new stand than to buy the glass to fit the old legs.

No. a toughened glass shelf with some holes in it is not a huge cost

So it will be even cheaper if bought by the thousands.

Much then depends on what the legs are worth, and how much the OP is willing to pay to get a custom size. But easy enough to get a handle on that with the sites which offer free quotes* - including the extra costs for screw holes for legs, cut-outs for cable, polished edges, ...

Yawn. I have had toughened glass shelves made at less than a tenner.

Why don't you either get some actual quotes instead of hand waving, or f*ck off

A fact which would be more helpful if you added when, where, area, thickness, width and finishing, and number of screw holes.

Thanks for that fine example of "do as I say, not as I do".

Its not my shelf

No. Get a new piece cut to size and annealed (it's not expensive).

ITYM tempered, rather than annealed.

Ooops! That is exactly what I meant, there must be a virus in my keyboard to change the word I typed ;-)

It might be cheaper to buy a table of the right size. One assumes you would need to cut the metal frame and somehow attached the legs back on, then you only have one shot at getting the table top made smaller, if it shatters during one of the processes, then you are stuffed. Brian

Not so sure, but certainly those tables that do shatter have more supports than just around the edges. If it is hardened by having its outermost layer fast cooled, then it will simply fall into a pile of glass crumbs if you try to cut or change it. Brian

It is bound to be toughened. And you can't cut toughened glass. It is possible, IIRC, to un-toughen, cut and then re-toughen, but this would cost far more than new toughen panels to your spec.

A glass that is 10mm thick, is too thick to rework easily anyway.

A glass blower will tell you that glass "crystallizes" as it ages, so the material characteristics change. That makes it harder to predict an outcome, on an older object. And a tempered glass, who needs to add unpredictability on top of the material design.

Any work that involves lasers, is not cheap. I often wonder how specialty shops stay in business, as the economics are very bad (no work queue to keep employees busy).

At least, at the window glass shop, you can see they stay busy cutting windows for people. And the cutting method is low tech.

Paul