Glass cabinet door

[Randy Cohen]

I need to make a glass cabinet door. Its not for a cabinet but for an observation bee hive but is essentially the same thing as a cabinet glass door.
Does anyone know the thickness of a piece of glass? anyone know anything about the different kinds of glass....safety glass, tempered glass, etc.?

[Mike Cutler]

1/8" tempered glass should do it for you Randy. No matter what size glass, I'd make sure it was tempered.

BetterBee and Brushy Mountain used to sell observation hives. They may have better material specs. The older Dadant catalogs used to have them also.

[Randy Cohen]

thanks Mike. I think Brushy Mountain still sells an OB hive. I am using the plans at beesource.com as a general guide. i decided to use some leftover red oak flooring to make the hive so I had to modify their plans somewhat.

[John Newell]

Wonder if I can piggyback on this thread, as I'm doing something very similar. Construction of the door is lap joints; stock is 1/2" thick with 1/4" laps.

My question: assuming I use 1/8" (tempered) glass, can I cut the groove for the glass inside the laps, or does it need to be centered on the rails and stiles? To try to do this a little more visually, can I do this (verbal sideview):

[front side] 1/4" | 1/8" (glass groove) | 1/8" [back side]

or should I do this:

[front side] 3/16" | 1/8" (glass groove) | 3/16" [back side]

What's the best way to maximize the strength of the lap joints?

[Randy Cohen]

how are you fastening the glass to the door? i'm going to make my glass groove 1/4" and then use some molding (quarter round) to hold the glass in. hmmm...i may need to make that groove 3/8".

[Hank Knight]

If I racall correctly, glass can't be cut once it's tempered. I believe you have to have it cut to size and tempered after it's cut. I built an end table years ago with a tempered glass top. I gave the glass company the specs and the piece was cut to order and tempered for me.

Hank

[Jamie Buxton]

For a utilitarian door like that, I wouldn't bother making the glass removeable. If the glass does happen to get broken, you make new door.

I'd build the door cope-and-stick style, with everything done on the table saw. Cut dados around the inside edges of the stiles and rails. The dados are the thickness of the glass. Double-strength window glass is 1/8" thick. Form tenons on the ends of the rails. The tenons fit into the dados on the stiles. Glue it up and you're done. The whole process should take less than 15 minutes.

I'd use ordinary window glass. It is inexpensive and readily available; you can buy it from stock at many builders yards. Tempered glass costs lots more money, and there's a long lead time with it. And really, when was the last time you saw a broken window? Or maybe the better way to put it is: how many non-broken windows have you seen since you last saw a broken one? Hundreds or thousands, I'll bet.

[Ed Labadie]

I would make the door std rail & stile construction. Using 1/4 thick tempered glass or Lexan, screw the frame together from the ends, sliding the glass inside, just like a raised panel.
The screws might be a "black eye" on a heirloom cabinet, but for a beehive I would think thats easiest way to do it.

Ed

[frank shic]

take your door frames to a professional glass shop. they'll usually caulk the windows into the door rabbet.

[Randy Cohen]

it seems like 1/8" tempered glass is much more expensive than 3/16" or 1/4" and requires extra time to make up. i was thinking of using tempered glass because the OB hive will be transported and be on display in a public place at times. Plexiglass is an option but it will not be as easy to clean.

[Pat Germain]

I've done some glass work. As mentioned, tempered glass cannot be cut. One way to describe tempered glass is to think of it as a glass core with a thin layer of glass wrapped very tightly around. The result is very strong. But like a toy balloon, if you fracture the outer layer of glass in any way the whole thing will shatter. I've seen it happen and it's not pretty. (Hey, what happened!")

[Randy Cohen]

I've seen it happen and it's not pretty.

i'm thinking it would be a lot less pretty with several thousand angry bees in the mix.

[Pat Germain]

^^Hey, that's a good point. Regular glass will break into large and very dangerous shards. Tempered glass shatters into thousands of tiny and somewhat dangerous pieces. Of course, tempered glass is much less likely to break; unless you touch a tool to it. One tiny nick from a drill bit or blade and KAPLOWEE! Otherwise, tempered glass is amazingly durable.

[Mike Cutler]

i'm thinking it would be a lot less pretty with several thousand angry bees in the mix.

Exactly! and for some reason people just have to tap on the glass of an observation hive.
I have boxes of tempered glass in the garage. I can measure the panels and let you know. maybe one of the sizes will work for you.
I wouldn't use Plexiglas. if the bees attach any comb to it, or attempt to cover it in propolis. It will get too scratched up to see through.
I've been planning to make a Tanzanian Top Bar Hive with one of the sides made of glass for awhile now. Too heavy to move around as a display. Could be an alternative idea for you though.

Funny Bee story for ya'

One day I was in the yard working and I kept hearing a loud "thwap" sound. Turns out the two neighbor boys, about 6 and 8 yrs. old, were throwing a tennis ball against one of my 2 queen Kerkhoff hives and then running in on a dare to retrieve the ball. It was actually pretty comical too watch, but I had to put an immediate stop too it. 100,000+ bees against two boys.,

[Paul Johnstone]

My rail and style router bits make a 1/4" "dado" for the raised panel, so that's the thickness of glass I use.