Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Santo8742 on August 11, 2006, 05:51:31 pm
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It has come time in my construction to purchase the glass and glass substitutes for my arcade machine. I just want to get some opinions from people who have already been through this stage. I found a local glass store down the road from my house and they quoted me a price of $28.82 of a sheet of clear plexiglass with the measurements of 48"x18" and $48.80 for a sheet of Lexan with the same measurements. My question is are these fair prices and is Lexan that much easier to work with to justify paying twice as much?
The price they quoted me for a 1/4" thick sheet of smoked glass 26"x24" was $31.69 also they gave me the option of bronze or gray as colors, I want gray right? Thanks for the help in advance.
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Yes, grey.
Check your local glass dealers (The folks who do windows) ask about tempered glass. I got my piece (25 x 19) for $25 tinted.
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Go with Tempered glass, I used plexi on my first cab and ended up replacing it as the plexi had some fine lines in it that showed up bad when the monitor was turned on.
Gary
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I got a piece of 25 x 25 greylite 14 for about $45 at a local glass shop here.
It took awhile to find shops that actually knew what the hell greylite was, much less supply it.
Best advice I can offer is to call ALL of the shops by you, the price quotes I got varied from $45 to about $100, all for the same size piece.
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I agree with the Angry Radish, Greylite 14 is the way to go. I got a 28 x 31 piece fo $40 at the local glass store (Iowa) It may look way too dark at first, but it'll hide a lot of construction imperfections, and when the monitor/T.V. shines through it is perect and has a sweet filtering effect that reminds me totally of the old school games I used to play back in the 80's.
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Thanks for all the responses. I guess I should have specified, the plexi I need is for the control panel and the glass is for the monitor area. I'll ask the glass guy here if they carry Greylite 14, I know they can order some things, maybe they can get it. If I go with the Greylite would that mean I wouldn't need a bezel for my monitor due to the darkness?
KonkeyKong, what part of Iowa are you from? I live in the Quad Cities, please let me know the store if you are in the same area.
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Does anyone have a picture comparing the plain glass and graylite? I would like to see the difference so when I buy it I know what I want. It will be for my cocktail table and I may want graylite in the center.
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Just bumping to see if anyone has pics for comparison.
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here's the comparison pics:
http://www.oscarcontrols.com/smoked/ (http://www.oscarcontrols.com/smoked/)
I'm using this stuff and it hides construction imperfections great ;D
EDIT: This is plexi, sorry... no glass pics there.
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I went with the Greylite 14 because most people on here recommended it. It is quite a bit darker than the smoked glass, it looks almost black when nothing is shinning through it. The smoked glass (or grey glass as the glass guy called it) was quite easy to see through but seemed like it would show too much when the monitor is shinning through. The Greylite cost me about $5-$10 ($48 for 26" x 25") more than the smoked would have, but seemed like the right choice.
The glass guy claimed that Greylite 14 use to be called Greylite 31, but it said right on the glass that is was Greylite 14. Just a note for those having trouble finding it.
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here's the comparison pics:
http://www.oscarcontrols.com/smoked/ (http://www.oscarcontrols.com/smoked/)
I'm using this stuff and it hides construction imperfections great ;D
EDIT: This is plexi, sorry... no glass pics there.
Wow those pics of the smoke and non smoke make a BIG difference. Is that an Arcade Monitor? Did you adjust the brightness? It almost looks as if some of those games were colored WITH the grey tint on design.
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Santo,
Sorry for the slow reply, I live in the N.W. corner of Iowa, so I'm thinking you probably won't wanna be glass shopping in the same place I got mine. ;D
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Wow those pics of the smoke and non smoke make a BIG difference. Is that an Arcade Monitor? Did you adjust the brightness? It almost looks as if some of those games were colored WITH the grey tint on design.
I can't take credit for those pics, though I will say that my setup using a TV showed similar results. I thought I'd need to adjust the brightness, but I actually left it as it was and it's great. Keeping the brightness down, the borders of games with black borders (such as pac-man) fade into the rest of the cabinet: you can't tell where the monitor screen ends as it fades into the "bezel" (if you have one).
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Greylite 14 smoked/tempered 1/4" glass is what I used and I love the way my monitor has that suspended in space look. The trick is to get the glass close to the monitor (within 1"). Try different distances with the montior on.
John
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KonkeyKong, my hometown is in Sac City. Where did you get your glass from? Sioux City? I currently live in Lincoln, NE and need to begin looking for dealers that have lexan, tempered, or this greylite.
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Flyguy,
Got my glass in Sheldon IA. Looks like that would be about 2.5 hours from Sac City. I'd think Lincoln would have a glass store or two, and I'm sure Sioux City would. Heck, Sheldon is only 6,000 people and they've got 2 glass/paint stores.
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If you are still wanting pics, I could prop my glass half over the screen and take a pic, I haven't attached it yet.
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My cab had smoked plexi on it and it did look great. It was dusty and I wiped it with an old rag I had laying around (oops) and it it put a scratch in it. I removed it to clean the scratch but it was not comming out. So now I am glassless and it still looks good. The key is making sure the bezel is spot on.
D-
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If you are still wanting pics, I could prop my glass half over the screen and take a pic, I haven't attached it yet.
I would like to see that pic.
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If you are still wanting pics, I could prop my glass half over the screen and take a pic, I haven't attached it yet.
I would like to see that pic.
Ditto
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Please excuse the quality of the pics, taking photos with my camera's flash off is an iffy thing at best :)
I haven't adjusted the brightness or anything on the TV screen, and I'll let you draw your own conclusions, but I think the colors look WAY better under the greylite, and it DOES hide the terrible job I did mounting the screen ;D
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Photos of tinted glass over a monitor are misleading (especially Oscar's), as they suggest it makes colors more vibrant, which is far from the truth. Photographing a monitor is difficult, it requires turning the flash off, which in turn causes the brighter non-tinted monitor to appear washed out, and the darkened tinted monitor ends up looking better.
Primarily, tinted glass is used to hide a screen-burned tube, a poor monitor installation, or a poorly fitting (or missing) bezel. If your cabinet doesn't fit into any of these categories, I'd suggest using clear Tempered glass.
Keep in mind that practically all newer monitors have a black/grey tint to the tube already. I have had problems with brightness with tinted plexi on some games with perfectly good, new monitors! I used tinted plexi on these games just because I have a BUNCH of it scrap (it was free).
I have a dozen games, and some have tint from the factory, some don't, and none that I have built have tinted plexi because in general, it doesn't look as good IMO. Generally, the older games had some light tint, and newer ones don't. The dividing line seems to be somewhere around 1990.
I've never felt I needed to "add tint" to a monitor. The best lighting for playing games is a dim ambient light, and under those conditions I haven't had trouble seeing the monitors or getting enough contrast out of the monitors. Tinted or not, when I have the overhead lights on in my gameroom, it is hard to see the monitors. Those lights are only on if I'm working on a game.
I know I'm in the minority on this forum on the tinted glass topic. :/
Wade
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Wade, I hear what you're saying. I have Graylite 14 at the moment, but part of me wonders if Graylite 31 would be a better option. I've never seen it personally, but it's not as dark and my installation looks good so no need to hide anything. I should try without any glass for a while, see how my eyes like/dislike it...
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Does the number equate to amount of light let through as in vehicle tint? Example graylite 14 lets less light through than graylite 31?
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Does the number equate to amount of light let through as in vehicle tint? Example graylite 14 lets less light through than graylite 31?
Yes. Graylite 14 means that it allows 14% of the light through. I like the tinted look, my first cab has tinted plexi, but IMHO that's on the pretty dark side, I'm not sure why it's so popular.
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Wade, I hear what you're saying. I have Graylite 14 at the moment, but part of me wonders if Graylite 31 would be a better option. I've never seen it personally, but it's not as dark and my installation looks good so no need to hide anything. I should try without any glass for a while, see how my eyes like/dislike it...
Yeah, ultimately it's just going to be a matter of preference. And perhaps the lighting conditions around your games (highly lit room? Tint might be better).
Wade
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FWIW, my cabinet has a piece of clear glass tinted with 27% light transparency film. I tried 16% originally but found it was too dark.
The best bet is to get a sample from your glazier and see which suits your cabinet/monitor best.
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FWIW, my cabinet has a piece of clear glass tinted with 27% light transparency film. I tried 16% originally but found it was too dark.
The best bet is to get a sample from your glazier and see which suits your cabinet/monitor best.
That's a very handsome profile... good work!
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I understand that this discussion is mostly about tinted versus non tinted, but does anyone have any advice on glass thickness? Is there any reason to go with 1/4" over 1/8"? 1/8" should be cheaper right? Would 1/8" glass be strong enough for an application of this size (cover a monitor)?
Jurykov
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I picked up a generic cab and that came with 1/8" tempered glass. It's about 23" x 20" and was meant for a 19" monitor so I'm not sure if you would have to go thicker for a larger monitor.
-Steve
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Depends on if you are playing golden tee or not ;D
I've already had some pretty heavy knocks on the 1/4" stuff I have by overzealous players, not sure how it would have handled it if it were 1/8"
Just a thought :)
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Depends on if you are playing golden tee or not ;D
I've already had some pretty heavy knocks on the 1/4" stuff I have by overzealous players, not sure how it would have handled it if it were 1/8"
Just a thought :)
Tempered glass is deceptively strong. But if you really want to use glass, I wouldn't skimp where there is the possibility of breakage. Go with the 1/4". And by no means should one use non-tempered glass. If you do, and it breaks, the results will be really bad. I know because I used to manufacture optics and I have the scars to prove it. :P
If weight or cost is an issue, I recommend the plexi. I have used mine for years and it still has no visible scratches. I have found that 1/8" plexi works just fine and is more likely to flex when struck than shatter like glass could.
My .0199999 cents
RandyT
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Can't see the point in using tinted glass if your cab's built well and the screen's not burnt. Clear allows you to run the monitor with lower contrast/brightness saving your screen if anything ;D I'd much rather do this than stress the monitor trying to get the same brightness through a tint.
Must say the photo's above are pointless as mine looks like the tinted screen with clear plexi. It'd look like the comparison if I turned it up too high though.
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Can't see the point in using tinted glass if your cab's built well and the screen's not burnt. Clear allows you to run the monitor with lower contrast/brightness saving your screen if anything ;D I'd much rather do this than stress the monitor trying to get the same brightness through a tint.
Must say the photo's above are pointless as mine looks like the tinted screen with clear plexi. It'd look like the comparison if I turned it up too high though.
The difference is that with clear you can see the screen. With horizontally oriented games, this is is not that big a deal. With vertical games on a hozontal monitor, this can be a big improvement in the appearance of your cab. It also keeps you from requiring a fancy bezel for the monitor.
The color / contrast is also enhanced. It's used for the same reason TV manufacturers started using tinted glass for the CRTs. Phosphor is grey when not excited. So technically, true black is not achievable in a lit room with clear glass.
I'm the one that kicked off this thing with the dark glass / Plexi. It's a trick I came up with while working with 3D displays. Oscar did a nice writeup on the use of it and it can be seen at this thread (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=4779.0)
RandyT
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I have 2 reasons I used the tinted glass.
One was the poor mounting of my screen, the bezel wasn't that great, but with the glass over it, it was perfect :)
The other reason was on vert. games, the screen sort of "floats" there, and you can't tell you have the screen chopped on both sides.
I agree completely it comes down to personal preference, and it wasn't my intention to confuse folks with the pics
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No one has really discussed the difference between bronze and graylite. I did a search and found only a few references of the bronze plexi. Any opinions? I bought 2 24 X30 pieces for $14 each. 1/4 inch each. Give me some feedback please. Thanks all.
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No one has really discussed the difference between bronze and graylite. I did a search and found only a few references of the bronze plexi. Any opinions? I bought 2 24 X30 pieces for $14 each. 1/4 inch each. Give me some feedback please. Thanks all.
Check out these posts;
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=4391.msg27590;topicseen#msg27590
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=8096.msg58795;topicseen#msg58795
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=14451.msg113199;topicseen#msg113199
Should at least give you my point of view on the subject. The rest of the threads in those links may provide some additional info.
RandyT
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I prefer the gray because it helps reduce glare from room lights also.....IMHO
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How do you guys have your glass attached to your cabinet. Did you screw it in, or did you just lean the glass up against the monitor/bezel?
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I plan on using hex head screws. I found these at Menard's and are probably at most other hardware stores. I purchased the screw set or base as well. The base gives the hex screw something more substantial than MDF to bite into. It is kind of like putting a nut into the wood. I have used alot of these on my cab.
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I pulled off my speaker panel once and the dang speaker fell out dangling from the wire and bashed and scratched the heck out of my smoked plexi...I tried some of that wax used to fix cd/DVD's.. and it completely removed them.. Honestly I can't even see where they once were.
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I understand that this discussion is mostly about tinted versus non tinted, but does anyone have any advice on glass thickness? Is there any reason to go with 1/4" over 1/8"? 1/8" should be cheaper right? Would 1/8" glass be strong enough for an application of this size (cover a monitor)?
Jurykov
1/8 glass is abit cheaper but is pretty flimsy to use in front of your monitor. Ideally you should have 1/4 tempered glass of your choice in grey bronze or clear. 1/4 glass can take a hell of alot more abuse then 1/8 and with it being tempered there is no chance of big sharp glass shards coming near you or your children if the glass happends to break for some odd reason. That alone seems like a good enough reason to me.
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Are you guys screwing screws in the glass into something. What are you screwing it in to? Or are you just laying it on the marquee? That is what I don't get. It is like the only thing I can't figure out. How do all of you guys attach this glass to your arcade.
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I bored holes into the glass. Then put the screw through it. I suppose you could use a fastener like are sometimes used with screens.
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I had enough of an angle on my cab that I just lay it back and use some adhesive backed velcro for backup