Which glass for a DIY table?

[OneMoreFarang]

I think about building one or more glass tables from aluminium extrusions and glass.

I found already several companies for the aluminium extrusions but I don't know which glass type and size I should use.

Here are some types of glass, i.e. Tempered Glass, Laminated Glass, Color Glass, Architectural Glass

https://www.onestockhome.com/en/categories#glass

 

Which glass do you recommend? That supplied is just one sample.

I want to use such a table for computer and electronic hobby work.

 

 

[ourdon]

"There is a large difference between these two types of glass. In the end, the main difference all boils down to how the glass breaks. Tempered glass breaks into smaller pieces, and laminated glass will crack but remain together due to the plastic layer that is baked between the two pieces of glass."

 

Thank you google and image glassworks.

Personally I've been using tempered. 

I like your aluminum framing.  I have unframed pieces and a series of scars on my shins.  You'd think I'd eventually learn where the damm things were. Nah!

 

It seems the choice remains yours.  ????

[userabcd]

Tempered laminated glass.

[sometimewoodworker]

52 minutes ago, userabcd said:

Tempered laminated glass.

That is very expensive if you can get it. Tempered is the usual material.

[blackcab]

Get tempered glass. It breaks into small pieces for safety, like the side windows on cars.

 

No need for laminated glass, which is a number of layers of glass and plastic glued together in a sandwich, like a typical car front windscreen.

 

Laminated glass is designed to stay in one piece when it is broken for safety or security.

 

For example, you don't want your front car windscreen to break at speed, with hundreds of small pieces of glass then flying into the inside of the car at 60 kmh.

 

This level of integrity is probably not needed for your coffee table. Tempered glass is also going to be thinner and much lighter.

[OneMoreFarang]

Thanks for all your information.

 

Now the question of the thickness.

Here they offer from 5 to 12mm. 12mm is still not expensive, I guess I will go for that one.

Recommendations?

 

https://www.onestockhome.com/en/products/76527865/tempered-glass-eg_glass?item_id=68017174

 

The frames in the pictures are just samples. I have to make up my mind about the sizes I want/need.

 

[recom273]

I have a home made dining table 180x80 it has two braces - at 60cm intervals - I use 10mm glass, for smaller coffee tables you will probably get away with less.

[Cake Monster]

Use Laminated Glass.

Its a much safer option should you have a breakage of the glass.

Thats why its used in Car Wind screens Etc.

[recom273]

44 minutes ago, recom273 said:

I have a home made dining table 180x80 it has two braces - at 60cm intervals - I use 10mm glass, for smaller coffee tables you will probably get away with less.

Just to add, no need for laminated. Tempered is just fine - I have had the table for 10 or more years. My wife is sooo heavy handed, she's had some right moments when she has slammed a glass down on the table with zero effect. We moved it 1400km in the back of a truck with just basic blanket protection and its still going strong.

 

Just out of interest where are you going to source you aluminum extrusions from? I looked on aliexpress a while back, they are quite expensive.

[sometimewoodworker]

48 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

Use Laminated Glass.

Its a much safer option should you have a breakage of the glass.

Thats why its used in Car Wind screens Etc.

No, it isn’t safer, in the case of a table top. In a car the glass is often going to brake when you are travelling reasonably quickly, for that you absolutely need to see where you are going. That is why most (not all) windscreens are now laminated while in the past they were toughened and you might have needed to punch a hole so you had any visibility. Laminated glass is softer than toughened, so a good reason to use toughened, you have no need to see through a broken glass table. 

 

So you need to use the correct glass for the job and it isn’t laminated for tables 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, recom273 said:

Just out of interest where are you going to source you aluminum extrusions from? I looked on aliexpress a while back, they are quite expensive.

https://www.trusco-resolution.com/home-home.page

https://www.guenter.co.th/

https://th.rs-online.com/web/c/engineering-materials-industrial-hardware/structural-systems/tubing-and-profile-struts/

https://www.lazada.co.th/shop/the-pearl-corporation

 

I bought a few parts from the last one but until now I didn't compare prices and other details.

 

[blackcab]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Now the question of the thickness.

Here they offer from 5 to 12mm. 12mm is still not expensive, I guess I will go for that one.

Recommendations?

 

The thickness of the glass required is a derivative of the unsupported area of the table top. In your designs, the glass is supported by the frame around the perimeter of the glass. It is the glass itself that must provide the support for both itself and and items you place on top of the glass.

 

As such, the larger the unsupported area, the thicker the glass will need to be.

 

For the tables in your OP, 6mm would be a good choice.

 

Be careful, however, as glass thicker than 12mm will be very heavy indeed, and your frame will have to be up to the job.

 

6mm glass weighs about 15kg per square meter. 12mm glass is 30kg per square meter. The weight of glass is proportional to its thickness.

 

There are glass strength calculators on the internet that can calculate the maximum supportable load for the dimensions, thickness and unspanned area of glass if you are building a very large table.