Tempered Glass for Ms.Pac-Man style cab?

[JoyMonkey]

I'm looking for a piece of glass for the top of my Ms.Pac-Man style cab (the top is 32"x22"x1/4", 3 3/8" corner radius).
I've been quoted $79 for a piece of tempered glass with polished edges and corners rounded from my local glass cutter.

Is this what I should be expecting to pay, or am I being ripped off?

I tried to get a non-tempered quote, but he insisted that it needed to be tempered. I guess it's best to be safe anyways.

[MameFan]

There is a guy who is constantly selling it on eBay for $70 INCLUDING FedExGround insured shipping.  So already that is cheaper than your quote.


However call around to your local glass shops or marine/auto glass places (side/back windows on a car are plain tempered...which is different from the front which is "safety glass")

I called my local shop in my 100,000 population 3 city area in the midwest and they wanted only something like $43 for a 32x22x1/4 with corner radius and sanded (frosted-polish) edge.

Yes, you MUST have it tempered. It wouldn't take much to break it otherwise. Also it will scratch easier if it's not tempered. And over time, non-tempered glass will tend to sag and produce optical warping. Yeah, it would take a long time, but it DOES happen (look at 50 year old plate glass windows on older homes... the glass slowly sags to the bottom leaving "stretch" marks visible.  The horizontal installation on a cocktail would seem to make it worse?

[creatine28]

I think that the going price from Glass cutters,  I've also looked.  I did however find a new piece of tempered glass for my cocktail cabinet on e-bay.  I think I paid something like $65 with shipping.  If you like, I can send you the guys e-mail I bought the glass from?

Steve

[JoyMonkey]

If you like, I can send you the guys e-mail I bought the glass from?
Steve

Thats okay, I think I'll just go ahead and order from my local glass cutter. They say they'll have it ready by Monday and it's just 2 blocks down the street from me. It's probably the easiest option.

[BobA]

2 blocks away and picked up is always better then getting glass shipped.

BobA

[SirPeale]

Yes, you MUST have it tempered. It wouldn't take much to break it otherwise. Also it will scratch easier if it's not tempered. And over time, non-tempered glass will tend to sag and produce optical warping. Yeah, it would take a long time, but it DOES happen (look at 50 year old plate glass windows on older homes... the glass slowly sags to the bottom leaving "stretch" marks visible.  The horizontal installation on a cocktail would seem to make it worse?

Actually, that's an urban myth.  The 'stretch' was due to the way the glass was manufactured.

Here's a good site for more: http://www.ualberta.ca/~bderksen/florin.html

And here: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/Glass/glass.html

Oh, but I have to agree: tempered glass.  Not only is it harder, and more difficult to scratch, the safety implications are enormous.  If it breaks, it will fragment into slightly rounded pieces.  Regular plate glass will fragment into shards, which are notorious for sticking into people.  I'll go with smaller, rounder shapes any day.

[Thenasty]

I'm looking for a piece of glass for the top of my Ms.Pac-Man style cab (the top is 32"x22"x1/4", 3 3/8" corner radius).
I've been quoted $79 for a piece of tempered glass with polished edges and corners rounded from my local glass cutter.

Is this what I should be expecting to pay, or am I being ripped off?

I tried to get a non-tempered quote, but he insisted that it needed to be tempered. I guess it's best to be safe anyways.

Whats wrong with the Thick Plexi/Lexan ? That will be really cheaper than $75.00.

[MameFan]

Actually Lexan/Plexi is not much cheaper.

My quote for rounded corner size of TEMPERED GLASS was $44 something locally.

While a 2x4 sheet of 1/4" for Plexi at Home Depot/Lowes/Menards costs $28. That was just cheap 5x strength Plexi.  10x Lexan will cost more

You need to then buy a plexi cutter for a few bucks, have a good level/straight edge to trim 2" off one side and 16" off the other side.  Then you have to figure out how to cut the corners correctly.  Once you do all that, then you have to figure out how to slightly round the edges and sand it.

TRUST me... I did this for a friend... It took me over 5 hours of working with the plexi with wood planers/sanding blocks and stuff to get it even close to what looked okay.  The edges turned out really nice, but not perfect. The corners were quite bad but luckily it went on an Atari cocktail not a midway one, so the corners were 80% covered by the retaining clips, hiding my awful curves.

Then, to top it off, the surface is VERY scratchable.  Yeah you can buff out light scratches with Novus polish but once a good gouge is in it, it's there to stay.

I wish I had convinced him and myself to "just spend" the extra $16 for a solid piece of tempered glass.  The work was not worth it in the long run to make it look good.

Now if you're talking a front bezel for an upright that is entirely sealed by the edges so no sanding/rounding/curve cutting is needed... Plexi is a great product (and there you wont need 1/4" either). Just cut one or two long edges (~10-15 minutes work) and you're done.