Thread: Desk top - glass expansion???

Originally Posted by TTIT

My next project after they fix my back tomorrow is going to be the desk pictured below. I'm using the 7.7mm thick black glass top off our old desk and want it to fit snugly inside the Rosewood frame but the question is just how snug can I go. I found a formula on the net somewhere and when I punched the numbers in it resulted in 0.01mm/degree for the 1200mm sheet which means for a temperature range of say 30 degrees, I would only have to allow 0.3mm - just doesn't seem like enough to me - anyone know what I should be allowing???

If you can cut a rebate into Rosewood to .1 of a mm, you’re going better than I am after 45 years. Much less get the sheet of glass into the frame with less than half a mil of clearance.

I don't think you'll have any problems. I made three of these jewellers table about 20 years ago. The glass was the closest fit I could get, probably about Riverbuilder's 0.5mm, but no more, and set in silicon. Because he "knew better" the sparky installed dichroic lights with no thermal cutout, and in the shop they left this one on all day. Of course, the top cupped, but the glass stayed OK and the silicon didn't separate. I let it settle down with a bit of moisture, and it's been fine ever since. (I repossessed it from the shop when he went broke and gave it to a jeweller in part-payment for some work she did for me.)

Jeweller's table - silver ash, silky oak & Sydney bluegum.jpg

if you are sure that your glass is 7.7mm thick i would say it is a laminated panel at 7.76mm.
If this is the case it is 2 x 3mm peices of glass, keep this in mind when allowing for expansion.
3mm glass wont take the contact force 6mm glass will.

1 good thing if it is 7.76 lam then it wont explode as it wont be toughened glass. it will crack and stay together until you can replace it.
Also laminated glass is 99%uv resistant.

Laminated glass is usually.38 of a mm over the the glass couponents so it is usually 6.38 ( 2x3mm) 8.38 ( 2x 4mm) 10.38 ( 2x5mm) etc

Well I finished the desk and the glass fit ended up a non-issue - after much careful measuring and messing about, I glued the top frame up and tried it on the glass - - wouldn't you think (as I assumed) that a glass top table from a commercial enterprise would be cut square!!! Had to open the rebate up a little on the ends toward one side but the gap is still no more than about 0.5mm anywhere around it.

Ended up looking pretty much as my Sketchup drawing looked and the only mod' I had to make was adding a bracket from the top frame to the cabinet to help support the weight - those push-to-open full-extension drawer runners weigh a lot more than I expected
The figured Rose Mahogany I used on the drawer fronts came up very pretty - all these years I thought I had one board with that figure but it turned out to be 3 boards from the same billet. The curly grain made cutting the dovetails fun but it was worth it.

Great desk. Very Mid Century.

Very nice - I especially like the multiple dovetails on the drawers.

Originally Posted by scottbr

Great desk. Very Mid Century.

Bummer! - I was aiming for my own contemporary style and I've been pigeon-holed already

Originally Posted by AlexS

Very nice - I especially like the multiple dovetails on the drawers.

Thanks Alex! - Luckily I don't have to show you the 3 sets down the other side of the drawers - but I was pretty happy with them for my 2nd, 3rd and 4th ever hand-cut, half-blind drawers

Very nice Vern, love the look

Nice desk, but will it always be so tidy??
Cheers,

That is an awesome desk!

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