Picked up a free curio cabinet today... two of the shelves measure close to 3/16" and the other two just under 1/4" at .225"
I tried setting just a couple of verticals on the 12" wide by 34" long shelves and the 3/16" shelving was already sagging after the third engine. Definitely not something I want to fill up with engines... The .225" shelving seems a little stronger but the edges are rough cut and some have chips, so I was worried about them being weakened. I called the local glass store and they recommended 1/4" or 3/8" for a curio cabinet. They have 1/4" in stock and can do each shelf for about $20 (I need 4) but 3/8" has to be ordered in and would be at least $70/shelf. I went to the store late this afternoon and ordered four at 1/4", I measured while I was there and their's also comes in at .225", not .25". Did I make a mistake? Should I have gone for 3/8"? I don't want to put $300 into glass when I could probably buy a nicer/vintage cabinet for $100-200
Long story short, do any of you display on glass shelving? How thick is yours? Length? Width? How many engines per shelf?
I was estimating that I would have anywhere between 25-40 pounds max. on each shelf. I DO NOT want them to come crashing down as it will be my nicer/favorite engines in the display
This free shelf is already nearing $100 with the 4 new shelves on order...
The shelf uses those little squares with a peg that go into the pre-drilled holes, so it's held up at four points. The cabinet has a wood backing instead of a mirror, so I was already thinking of running a strip of wood along the back under each shelf which should greatly increase the capacity.
Cabinet # 1 glass she;ves 6 mm or you heathens .238 inch or just under 1/4 inch
17 1/2 inch deep by 25 1/2 inch wide
Supported in four corners with 8mm horizontal pins about 3/4 inch long each corner.
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Cabinet # 2 glass same thickness
13 1/2 inch deep by 37 inch long .
Supported same as other one .
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Hope this hel-s
Thanks Dennis, looks like the 1/4" (actual .225") shelving on order should work then as yours are loaded quite a bit more than I am planning. The wood strip on the back probably isn't necessary, but would be easy once I get the height/spacing figured out and would help me sleep through the night... hopefully without a crash of glass breaking
The glass store recommended 1/4" over 3/8" as they said it should hold at least 100 pounds depending on the mounting, where I only need 25-40. They said once you jump up to 3/8" you need to increase your mounting hardware as the sheets themselves will be over 15 pounds and if you have plastic pegs they can shear off from the weight.
I read on one site where someone used an acrylic rod cut to the exact length and placed in the center of the cabinet between each shelf. Being clear it wasn't as noticeable.
This shelf is only temporary as I want to get a full wall length display when the room is remodeled, but that will come after removing 4 to 6 layers of painted over wallpaper and lots of cracks filled...
The shelf support pegs are aluminium on mine
Yes i know mine are a little bit full but I am not allowed any more cabinets.
Wife says two glass and 1 wooden for engineer engines is enough .
Cheers
Dennis
Mine are all on ugly plastic shelving stacked two deep on both ends and down the center of a spare bedroom. I say "spare bedroom", but two of the kids share a room
This is my first branching out to displaying throughout the house, so I'll have to keep it looking nice
I don't trust putting too much around the house yet with 3 little boys running around...
Still think I need to put up a new, heated tractor shed that could double as a mini toy steam museum...
Nick, it's all about how you word it.
"Honey, I need to build this heated tractor barn, so that I can open up more space for the boys."
"Honey, I'm finally going to clean up my mess and get it out of your way. "
"Honey, can I move all this stuff out of the house? The boys need space...of course, I would have to build a shed of some sort..."
Oh, she would love for me to build a shed for all my junk, it's the bank that I need to be begging
You could maybe call some of the local steel suppliers. They might have some deals considering the economic problems, and then just gather friends and family around for a good old fashioned barn raisin'. Site prep is time consuming but not impossible if you have a boxblade and the land.
Mine all have the 1/4” glass Nick.
I never had a problem.
A nice “free” score!
Oh yeah, I forgot the glass part when he started talking about a shed.
Mine are 1/4, and all replacements I've had made are 1/4" beveled non-safety. I think the safe load you mentioned is about right according to the guy I buy glass from- he does all sorts from auto to window to case. I dont think the tempered glass has a load capacity that much greater as much as the obvious safety aspect.
I've only broken the 1/4" glass by hard impact so far, at least the shelf panels. I had a bow in one display case top, but it was when I bought it and it had stacks and stacks of wet paper on top. Once removed the glass was fine, but I imagine if I had rapped it hard enough while loaded it would break in an instant.
Fyi the beveled edges look great and guard against breakage somewhat as well.