To smoke, or not to smoke...THAT is the question.

[ArtsNFartsNCrafts]

And no, I'm not talking about illegal substances.

I'm talking about the glass (or plexiglass) that goes on the top surface of my cocktail machine.


Question 1:  Should I get regular glass, or plexiglass?

Question 2: Should it be "smoked" or not?  I noticed that a lot of people suggest it.   But the last time I was at my local shopping mall, I noticed that the galaga/ms pacman reissue had regular tempered glass that wasn't smoked.

Question 3:  Should I clamp it down?  My surface is made from 3/4" plywood (you can't get 1" around here without special ordering it), and with the glass top, it'l be about 1".  I assume clamps would cater to that combined thickness, but I wasn't sure.

[javeryh]

You should use both smoked glass AND clear (tempered) glass.  I routed an edge around the monitor area about 1/8" deep and dropped a piece of smoked glass in there.  This piece just covers the monitor area.  The larger glass tabletop is made from clear tempered glass about 1/4" thick.  If you put a smoked piece over the top of the whole thing your artwork would get distorted and you wouldn't be able to totally see through the little cutout where the controls are.