PICKED UP SOME NICE SHEETS OF GLASS...
- Thread starter nero6370
- Start date
WELL, AT THE MOMENT, 8' FOR THE LENGTH, 2' OR 3' FOR DEPTH, 2' FOR HEIGHT. MY BIGGEST PIECE OF GLASS IS 64" X 18"; I'LL PROBABLY USE THAT ONE. I AM THINKING OF BRACING THE GLASS EVERY 16", DISTRIBUTE THE PRESSURE EVENLY.
Nero kill the caps lock!
What you should do is do a search for aquarium glass thickness calculator on google or ask geeves. There is a calculation for the glass thickness. From what I understand the thickness matters mainly in the hight not the lenght of the glass. I am sure it will hold but you might be at the bottom end of durability and that would be a bad thing if someone knocked it by mistake and had the whole thing shatter due to it being over stressed.
What you should do is do a search for aquarium glass thickness calculator on google or ask geeves. There is a calculation for the glass thickness. From what I understand the thickness matters mainly in the hight not the lenght of the glass. I am sure it will hold but you might be at the bottom end of durability and that would be a bad thing if someone knocked it by mistake and had the whole thing shatter due to it being over stressed.
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/aquariumdiy/l/blcustomtank.htm
With a 5 foot piece of glass at 18" tall you're looking at a safety factor of 2.05 using 1/4th glass, at a safety factor of .99, it fails. So if ya bump the tank and the water sloshes, the force of the water moving backward, then crashing forward could surpass the 2.05 safety factor. Lower quality glass also isn't as strong.
I'm not how using a plywood brace would work, since plywood bends easily, I don't think it offers alot of support for already weak glass.
I'd shoot for a safety factor of 3.0 at least, 4.0 would be better IMO.
With a 5 foot piece of glass at 18" tall you're looking at a safety factor of 2.05 using 1/4th glass, at a safety factor of .99, it fails. So if ya bump the tank and the water sloshes, the force of the water moving backward, then crashing forward could surpass the 2.05 safety factor. Lower quality glass also isn't as strong.
I'm not how using a plywood brace would work, since plywood bends easily, I don't think it offers alot of support for already weak glass.
I'd shoot for a safety factor of 3.0 at least, 4.0 would be better IMO.
