Tempered glass control panel?

Tech Talk
1

Well it’s my first thread ever :slight_smile: Spent 2 days searching the forums and even longer searching Google so I’ll kill myself if this has been brought up already :sweat:

Check out the vid from Time Warp to see what kind of result I am hoping for:
[media=youtube]0QeLz_iUF6c[/media] go to 1:20 if you’re impatient :rofl:

So with that said, all the websites and videos that deal with drilling tempered glass never go into what people do after it breaks, or how hard it is to work with. I was hoping for some feedback in that regard, but also opinions/ideas :slight_smile:

Currently I plan to cut my MDF and plexi to the shape I want as well as the hole layout. Once finished, I would place the glass between the plexi and PDF. This stuff’s pretty cheap actually (I bought 2 12"x48" pieces for $10 each). Anyway, at this point I would hope to crack the glass, then remove some excess glass so the plexi and MDF both extend further than the glass, this way I can seal it inside the two.

This process should also cause excess glass to fall out the button holes I drilled. I should be able to remove more excess and like the outside, create lips that I can fill with sealant to keep the glass in. I should be able to sand excess sealant to keep the shape of the holes.

All of this needs to be done while the panel is laying flat, God forbid glass pieces start sliding out from between the MDF and plexi, would mess everything up.

I am maybe considering hot glue to seal in the glass? I’m not sure how ugly it would look but it would be easy to remove once dried to make a decent trim.
Edit: Anyone used Liquid Nails before? Might be less messy.

I also haven’t considered putting anything under the glass. It’d be a shame to get a design only to have it blocked out by the glass. On a same note I was tempted to grab some cheap lasers I have (the $2 kind) and having them shine in from the side to see how they refract. I would probably wire them in instead of using batteries of course.

I guess at this point I’m wondering if this is even possible? I’ve thought out the plan, but I understand there may be obvious flaws relating to physics, design, etc that I’m missing. But if there’s a shred of hope I thought I’d get some opinions :slight_smile:

2

I admit I know nothing about glass cutting but the whole ordeal sounds frightening. Whenever we need glass its watercut by a third party. I didn’t even know its possible.

Looking at vid I may be right :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

3

Hehe yeah I’ve seen a few water cut vids on Youtube. Considering I am planning on breaking the glass on purpose at some point I was hoping to avoid any cutting that requires lots of skill :slight_smile:
Not to mention 99% of the videos end up in the person breaking the glass in the process lol Most people say glass can not be cut once it is tempered. Luckily if the plan fails it’s only $20 out of my pocket.

I guess a poor example of my idea would be to imagine a bunch of gravel, and move it around to form a shape haha
Once it’s broken tempered glass isn’t sharp, I just want to make sure it all stays in place so I don’t have random gaps, but can also fit my buttons.

If at least 1 person is scared I must be doing something right lol

4

maybe carefully cut the button holes with a circle cutter, tape or glue the inside of the button holes and insert the buttons. surround the glass with gaff tape like they used, and once everything is installed, then try their glass shattering thing and see how it holds up. I would think the buttons and stick would help keep the inner pane of glass from coming out, further reinforced with the glue/tape of some sort.

5

Please enlighten me more about this. Is it dangerous to deal with glass shards?

6

Tempered glass is made by processes which create balanced internal stresses which give the glass strength. It will usually shatter into small fragments instead of sharp shards when broken, making it less likely to cause severe injury and deep lacerations.

I would say… Less dangerous. No point in taking unnecessary risk but they call it safety glass for a reason. Some people have talked about taking the shards and putting them in a bag with stained glass paint. Would be pretty insane to have a stained glass Street Fighter panel :looney:

7

So the Gaff tape will support the glass without a problem?

8

In the video, they sandwiched the glass between two planes of Plexiglas. The tape is so that pieces don’t fall out the sides. Definitely don’t just tape the glass and break it hehe

9

Just thought I’d throw a link out here. Considering plexi is about $25 and tempered glass would cost around $20, this seemed pretty neat, not to mention safer and easier :stuck_out_tongue:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23538&catid=442
I still have a new idea up my sleeve, I’m only bumping cause I’m planning to get pics when I build the darn thing (boo cold weather).