joining glass

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GTi_Leo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 15, 2011
47
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Toronto, ontario
this is my first post here so i'm new to this community, i've been on aquarium advice since i started my saltwater FOWLR but their DIY section wasn't much help

so i have some glass that i took from work. they were shelves in a clothing store that was beign demoed for a grocery store addition. anyway they sheets are 48"x16"x3/8" and i was just wonderign if i would be able to rip the glass to say 12" and join two pieces together to make a wider reef tank.

my plan was to find some 3M 5200 silicone and use that to join it all together
 
GTi_Leo said:
I have some glass that i took from work. they were shelves in a clothing store that was beign demoed for a grocery store addition. anyway they sheets are 48"x16"x3/8" and i was just wonderign if i would be able to rip the glass to say 12" and join two pieces together to make a wider reef tank.

my plan was to find some 3M 5200 silicone and use that to join it all together
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If they were shelves, they probably are tempered. Tempered glass can take a little more abuse, especially in a store with customers. You can't cut tempered glass or it will shatter into little pieces. Most shelves are tempered and stereo glass doors ..unless someone home made them with regular glass (but I think the store didn't have Joe shmo make them) ... :)
 
they are not tempered glass. they have small chips in the corners and what not. i doubt they would use tempered glass for shelves as if soemone hits it slightly hard they would shatter rather then just chip or crack.

do you think it would work to joing them though, i don't really see an issue with it considerign silicone holds the corners together and i would have a flatt top with plywood on the stand so it wouldn't flex at the seem
 
GTi_Leo said:
they are not tempered glass. they have small chips in the corners and what not. i doubt they would use tempered glass for shelves as if soemone hits it slightly hard they would shatter rather then just chip or crack.

do you think it would work to joing them though, i don't really see an issue with it considerign silicone holds the corners together and i would have a flatt top with plywood on the stand so it wouldn't flex at the seem
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Tempered glass can withstand a lot of top pressure.... It's the side/ edge pressure that makes it shatter. Chipping can occur on tempered glass without shattering it. The edges of tempered glass can withstand so much chipping until it reaches the hard part of the glass and boom... I had a piece of tempered glass and took a glass cutter to it. When I tried to snap it in half I couldn't . Even the scribe mark from the cutter didn't penetrate to the hard part of the glass to make it shatter when I tried to snap it in half... :)
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lol i guess i'll see when i cut it,do you think i could join it? if it shatters i guess i'll just build a plywood tank with it and save some of the glass
 
As stated above, tempered glass can and will chip. How much it can chip is another matter. You won;t know until it explodes on you.

Be very careful when trying to cut it. I will say with 99% certainty that this is tempered glass. I broke a piece in my garage and spent the next half hour picking pieces out of my hands and forearms. This stuff shatters violently.
 
Most Glass aquariums have tempered bottom glass to withstand all the weight of the water and gravel/sand. You want tempered on the bottom...I have seen two 55 gallon aquariums joined together to make a 8 foot tank (how long it lasted I don't know). Your stand has a plywood piece to hold the glass. Does it have cross members across the width of the plywood. You don't want the glass to flex at all. If it doesn't I would add some.... I would butt silicone them together and silicone a piece of 2 to 3 inch piece of glass on the seam for extra so I can sleep at night security. Your gravel/sand will hide the seam... I think it would work..... but this is my opinion.... maybe some other members have done this and will speak up..... Don't do it just because I said so. Get some more opinions....... :)
 
Hello; The glass may be plate glass. In the 70's I recycled some sheets of glass from a depatment store that had been used as shelving. It was fairly thick plate glass. I have cut some of it to make covers. You may have to try a piece just to find out. Wear eye protection for sure and gloves and long sleeves wont hurt. If it is tempered, it will shatter voilently and with a loud noise. I scored (scratched) some tempered glass without a problem, but it would not snap apart like other glass. I tapped it a bit harder and it shattered into hundreds of small pieces, some of them flying a good distance.
 
ruddybop said:
Most Glass aquariums have tempered bottom glass to withstand all the weight of the water and gravel/sand. You want tempered on the bottom...I have seen two 55 gallon aquariums joined together to make a 8 foot tank (how long it lasted I don't know). Your stand has a plywood piece to hold the glass. Does it have cross members across the width of the plywood. You don't want the glass to flex at all. If it doesn't I would add some.... I would butt silicone them together and silicone a piece of 2 to 3 inch piece of glass on the seam for extra so I can sleep at night security. Your gravel/sand will hide the seam... I think it would work..... but this is my opinion.... maybe some other members have done this and will speak up..... Don't do it just because I said so. Get some more opinions....... :)
Click to expand...

thats what i was thinkign of doing, siliconing some glass bracing across to join the two pieces together, as for the stand it would be a DIY stand so i wouldn't just put plywood on the top i would also use 2x4 bracing from front to back, which would keep the bottom from flexing and pull at the joint
 
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