drstrip wrote:
Jim2 wrote:
I think the doors have to be tempered glass because it's a kitchen cabinet, but I never tried to drill a hole in tempered glass. I have a few glass bits, but they only go up to 3/8" anyway. I can only imagine what it would cost to get holes drilled into tempered glass...
you can't drill tempered glass. It will shatter by design. I've seen a few allusions to waterjet cutting tempered glass, but most references say that it won't work (and I watched a great YouTube video showing it shattering the instant the jet hits it). You would have to have the holes cut before the glass is tempered. Your profile doesn't tell us where you live, so it's hard to guess how close you live to someplace that can temper glass.
The alternative is to make simple frames that are wide enough to bore the hinge holes and place the glass in the frames. These won't have to match the veneer of the other doors. You could even paint them a solid color (like black) so there's no suggestion you were trying to match the veneer.
Various web searches suggest that code does NOT require tempered glass in this situation. After all, you see kitchen cabs with all sorts of specialty fluted, seeded, and patterned glass that is not available as tempered or laminated safety glass. That said, it's still a good idea to use safety glass wherever possible.
You can probably get laminated glass cut on a waterjet. Even so, it's not clear to me how you mount the hinges since they are intended for a thicker material than the glass will be.
Thanks for the insight drstrip
... I had a feeling that it would be risky to try to drill into tempered glass..
I found a place here in Hawaii that would supply the doors with hinges attached, but it's not tempered glass.
I found another place that has the tempered glass, but they don't have the hinges... So I'm just trying to sort out the details.
The doors are 18"X38", and they're above a granite counter top, so safety is a big concern for me. I hate broken glass, I think I still have a tiny shard in my foot, from years back... I would never put this in my own home..
but the only hope of matching the veneer would be if I can re-use the old one... that would be tricky.. it would be doable, but very tricky!
So my ultimate goal is to find a safe way to mount a glass door that has no frame.