found sheets of tempered glass

[metageologist]

well while cleaning out my father inlaws garage this weekend i saw a 4X4 sheet of glass we were origionaly gona toss out so we set it by the door well as i dug deeper back in time in this garage that has never been cleaned out by the past 3 owners i discover about 10 sheets of glass that are 2.5'X 8" and i think cool tank material so i set it aside, next as i pass 1970 i discover 3 sheets of glass that are 4'long 24 high and a 1/4 inch thick and all i can think of if big home made tank so i put the big 4X4 sheet back and prepare to start planning. my first step is i need to figure out how to pollish all this glass so its ready for construction.

so now for the questions

1st how do I polish the glass

2nd being that the Glass is .25" think how many cross struts will i need to support this 4X2X2 tank hold.

and third does any one have any recomendation on what not to do when building a tank.

i have lots of time to plan since its way to cold uphere to use calk out side in the unheated garage. the only thing i can start is the stand maybe its still -22F in the garage. but once its warm enough to not loose feeling in myhands after being out side for 5 minuts i shal begin i hope.

[fishsandwitch]

I would eurobrace it. Read scolley's thread the big kahuna

[metageologist]

i did nt see any over head shots but from what i could see it looks like the braces are 1" cube bars going from side to side

also is 1/4 glass thick enough to span 4'

[chuukus]

scolley's tank is rimless=no braces. 1/4" glass is thick enough to span 4' yes, My only concern is 24" is on the tall side for a tank made of 1/4" tempered or not so I will advise you not to fill the tank all the way. The taller the tank the more water pressure you have pushing on the glass. You need to brace the top of the tank the best,easiest way to do this would be silicone 2" strips of glass along the inside of the front and back then a 4" to 6" strip in the center from front to back. When building the tank if you can cut the bottom peice of glass to fit inside the upright peices the tank will be stronger than sitting on the bottom peice I know tanks dont look so good when the water level is on the low side. May I suggest you build some kind of trim peice out of wood that fits nicely over the top of the tank that hides the top 4" to 6" kind of like a canopy peice that slides onto the tank that will also add support so the front and back glass wont bow outward. You could build a killer paludarium also and you wouldnt be pushing your luck with a potentian tank failure. Good luck with the fun project and do as much tank building reaserch as possible take your time and be patient.

[FBG]

the only aquariums I have made are rather small, and I have never needed to polish the glass. I followed the instruction in this thread.

If I were you I would use some of that glass to make 1 foot cubes, but that is what I have been wanting for a while.

Nice Find!!

[Hoppy]

If you use this calculator, http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium, you will see that you need 10 mm, or .4 inch thick glass for that size aquarium. And, that is with a nominal safety factor. Your thread title says "tempered glass". If it really is tempered you can't cut it, so it is important to find out if that is true.

[fishsandwitch]

Originally Posted by metageologist

i did nt see any over head shots but from what i could see it looks like the braces are 1" cube bars going from side to side

also is 1/4 glass thick enough to span 4'

that thread is just a good read for anyone wanting to make a tank, I dont know how he did his braces...

[metageologist]

Originally Posted by Hoppy

If it really is tempered you can't cut it, so it is important to find out if that is true.

im kind of calling based on looks and its shear weight but i just remembered something one of the edges has been chiped and if i remeber right if it was tempered the whole sheet would have broke please correct me if i wrong

[brinks]

tempered glass sometimes has 2 dimples on one edge cause by holding it while tempering, I don't think you can chip a piece of tempered glass as it would break into little pieces, try cutting a scrap piece with a good glass cutter, if it is tempered the cutter will not make a solid cut, but will skip. I once tryed to cut a piece of tempered glass in my parents kitchen, but the cut edge would not break until we applied lots of force, then boom, little pieces all over the kitchen, lol. If you cut glass don't try to rescore the line (just in case) as this will ruin you cutter, and rince your cutter in light oil after each cut.

[chuukus]

You can edge chip tempered glass. I have seen it done quite a few times. Last year I was working in a college in upstate NY where we built all glass stair wells. Some of the glass sheets were so heavy that gently setting them down on the granite floor tiles caused them to chip without shattering. Altough we did have a suction cup slip off a few inches from the floor and thats all it took for the glass to explode.

You could take a peice to CNY glass and ask him if its tempered or not. IF the glass isnt tempered then you can make a smaller tank. Most 55gallon tanks are made from 1/4" glass. The guy there at CNY will cut and polish the glass for you fast. You shouldnt make the tank taller than 18" thats with top braces. I dont see any problem making the tank 48" long 24" wide 16" tall or 18" tall but definetly brace the top.

[metageologist]

thanks for the tip any idea what CNY glass charges for polishing glass also did i get the right place says there in boonville

[chuukus]

They are in beetween Brewerton and Cicero NY on Rt 11 not a far drive from you. I found his business in the yellow pages I dont think he has a web site. Im not sure what he charges to polish edges but he does it by hand it wont be perfect like a machined beveled edge but he does a nice job. I have done business with him after calling almost every glass shop around and he has the fairest pices I have found.

You can polish the edges yourself with sand paper also.

[metageologist]

thanks i planned to do it myself insted of moving these panes 100miles round trip i also have ot pull these shhets out and clean them to see how much wet sanding i will have to do to get a nice scrratch free finish

[chuukus]

I just called a friend of my father that has been a union glaser for 30 some years. He installs glass in commercial buildings and he told me if the glass is tempered 99% of the time it will have a marking on a corner that will indicate its tempered.

[metageologist]

thanks for all the info i will look at the glass the next time i am up that way. o what will the marking look like