Tempered glass cost is outrageous!

[eightbit]

I called trying to get glass for my new cab today and a 26 1/2 x 27 1/2 sheet of 1/4 tempered glass was $87! Is that high? Is tempered glass what I want for a cab?

Whats is plate glass? Is that more expensive or cheaper than tempered? Would plate glass be ok in a cab? What happens if I use regular glass in my cab?

[OSCAR]

I bought a 22" x 32" 1/4" clear tempered glass for a Midway cocktail locally, it was around $60.  Then the best price I could find locally for my Reunion cocktail, about 27" x 37", for the same glass was $100.

I'm not sure why the extra 5" each way made the price jump so much, but I called all over around me and that is the best I could come up with.

The tempered glass is harder and more scratch resistant, and if it breaks it is supposed to crumble into less dangerous chunks instead of breaking into shards.  Most people buy tempered glass for safety reasons.

[Generic Eric]

Doesn't sound too much to me.  Not that I am an authority on glass, types of glass or their pricing.  I am just thinking of the cost of all of the different parts for the cabinet I plan on building, that $87 doesn't sound like too much to pay for the glass.

I suppose you can shop around if you haven't already.  Plate glass doesn't seem like the best route.  Not necessarily an authority on glass, but dictionary.com defines plate glass as:
A strong rolled and polished glass containing few impurities, used for mirrors and large windows.

I know mirrors brake fairly easily, but I haven't broke any large windows lately.

[SNAAAKE]

WHAT  
This local glass place charged me $46 for a 26"X22" 1/4" piece. Open up yellow page and start calling.

[RandyT]

I worked in the glass industry for about 10 years, but we didn't do much with tempered materials.

I'm not positive about this, but I think that tempered glass has to be tempered after it is cut to size.  As one who has tried to cut tempered glass in traditional ways, I can tell that it doesn't work.

Any jump in cost might be attributed to the need to use a bigger oven for the piece to fit.  Bigger ovens cost more to run and may account for the difference.

FWIW,
RandyT

[shmokes]

I haven't bought much glass, but last summer I had to buy  a 1/4" x 23" x 30 " sheet of tempered glass (I mentioned this in another post very recently) and a sheet of white plexi of exactly the same dimensions for a light table I built.  It cost just under $50 for both pieces combined.  YMMV.

[Generic Eric]

Is glass one of those products whose price changes depending what store/city/state you are in?

[shmokes]

It could be that sand is in short supply lately  

[paigeoliver]

Glass prices vary wildly between shops. Plenty of "glass shops" may let you order anything, but they themselves only do a select few things, and order everything else from somewhere else. Thus you are paying a middleman, or two, or three.

So call every shop in town until you get a reasonable price. I got smoked tempered glass for my last Pac-Mini for only $20.

[SpamMe]

The cheapest local place I found could get smoked, tempered 26"X24"X1/4" glass for $32 (after tax). The highest I found was like $50ish, but a couple of places I found on the entor-net before calling around were in the $70-110 range (might have included shipping, I don't recall).

[bionicbadger]

Yes tempered glass needs to be cut before its tempered.  Not all glass shops do tempering, some will just buy the stuff from another glass shop and sell it to you for a more expensive price.  Call a bunch of glass shops and get quotes and ask if they temper the glass themselves.  I was looking for a replacement glass for my pinball machine and the cheapest I found in my city was just under $60 Canadian.  Some places were quoting me close to $100

[Stingray]

I don't really see the point in using tempered in the first place. I've got a big sheet of non-tempered glass in every room in my house. we call them windows. They've never been a safety hazard.  

-S

[Tilzs]

I'm haveing a glass shop cut a piece 37" x 22" x 1/4" of smoked plate for my cocktail for about $50 was the quote give or take a couple bucks. Pretty good deal I think.

They actually recommended that just go with the plate and not the tempered. Reason being they said it's a little easier to breakif someone came by with a knife or something and hit the corner it might shatter, while the plate will most likey just chip if anything. Obviouslly there is a safety concern if the untempered top does shatter. Trade off, take you pick i guess.

One thing I would suggest when looking for a glass shop, if you live in a metro area and don't mind driving out to a rural area, call some rural  shops. Chances are you'll get a much better price from a small town shop than a big city shop.

[atog]

Is there a specific reason you aren't using cheap plexi in your cab?  I know I just have a cheap piece of plexi covering the screen.  I paid for the more expensive lexan to cover the cp, because of drilling issues for the buttons, as well as much greater use.  

It may not look as nice as true tempered glass, but the fact is that you should be looking through it, not at it.  I am probably as anal as the rest of you guys about such things, but never have I got on my machine and thought "hmm, wish I would have gone with tempered galss instead of plexi."

[eightbit]

I called around and I found a place that would do tempored for $47 and plate for $17. I cheaped out and went plate glass.

[Stingray]

Again, I don't see the point of paying extra for tempered. I treat my toys very gently, and anyone who hits my cab hard enough to break the glass deserves to get lacerated.  

-S

[nipsmg]

oof.. does the glass have to be 1/4 in thick? Would 1/8 not do the trick if it was tempered?

I almost ordered a piece of 27x27x1/8 in thick smoked tempered glass today.. would that be too thin??

--NipsMG

[allroy1975]

I made some calls today and found a place that will do a 24 5/8" x 25 7/8",   1/8" thick Tempered Glass for $21.70 and the same size in tinted glass for $25.50.

i'm gonna squish my foamboard monitor bezel between these 2 pieces of glass and smack it up there in front of my monitor.  Clear in front of the bezel and smoked behind.  

That didn't seam outrageous....

Allroy

[mushmouth]

NIPSMG,

The original glass in my Pac cab was 3/16" thick. That's what I got. Tempered and smoked. $30...

[Auntie MAME]

I just bought a 20x23 3/16 tempered for $35.  Isn't 1/4 inch a bit thick? After all, it is tempered.

[paigeoliver]

Well I got tempered glass last time because it was cheaper than smoked plexi, at least it was from my source. If I just want clear glass for an upright then I usually just get regular glass or plexi, not tempered.

Always get tempered for a cocktail though. The local glass shop probably doesn't know better than the original manufacturers did.

[Wade]

That price is REALLY high!

You should be able to get that for $30-40.  I got a piece that was 27x24 for < $30 recently.

Some tips to get a good price:
1) call around
2) don't get the edges polished if you don't need it (extra cost!) For example if it is a cocktail table where the edges are exposed, get the edges polished, if it sits inside the edges of a regular cab, don't.
3) don't get rounded corners unless you NEED them

ALWAYS get tempered glass if you are going to use glass!  Regular glass breaks very easily, tempered glass is not only safer (breaks into chunks) but it is MANY times stronger.  I have never broken a piece of tempered glass (yes, it is possible of course) but it is easy to break plate glass.  My CAT broke my original piece of plate glass after only a week!

Wade

[nipsmg]

Yeah, seriously. I just got quoted a 27x27x1/8 smoked/tempered/polished edges for $45.. but I don't even need it that big. I just got quoted like $35 for a 27.25 x 25.25 x 3/16 piece, because it's a special order...

that's awesome.. A sheet of plexi big enough to do what I wanted to with it cost nearly that much (ok not QUITE< but it's worth it for the glass).

Just find a local glass company. Hint: Yellow Pages under GLASS!


--NipsMG