can tempered glass be bent and cut to make a door?

[texasjohn]

So, I busted the glass door on my Kubota Grand L 5030 cab. It is a flat sheet of tempered glass (it busted into a thousand shards each the size of a pea) except that it has a uniform bend at one point of a few degrees. It's straight up and then bends inward a little toward the center of the cab.

Of course, it is not exactly square, but rather has numerous curves, etc. along with a couple of holes for attaching the hinges and door catch.

Am sure I can get a new one from the dealer... will find out how much on Monday.

Question is... can I get a flat sheet of tempered glass, cut it to fit and bend it to match the needed curve, bevel the edges, drill the holes, etc.??

I expect this is a task beyond the usual handyman...but I do see on Craig's list quite a few inexpensive sheets of tempered glass sized right for the task, given "cut and shape to fit."

Just thought I'd ask my TBN community... in case there is a simple trick, toolo or technique that somebody knows about that will make this an easy/doable task. My past experience with glass cutting has not been very successful, but that was a while ago.

 

[Kernopelli]

I have never had any luck cutting tempered galss. I have attempted it several times using a standard glass cutter and procedure but the glass has just shattered when I tried to snap it. I am certainly no expert though. Contact a local glass company and get their input, if there is a trick to it, they will know how to do it.

 

[CurlyDave]

Question is... can I get a flat sheet of tempered glass, cut it to fit and bend it to match the needed curve, bevel the edges, drill the holes, etc.??

I don't think you can do that. The glass is shaped, holes cut, etc. first and then tempered last.

The reason the original one broke into lots of pea-sized pieces is the tempering. Cut or bend one that is already tempered and you will get the same effect again.

If you want to cut, bend, drill yourself get a piece of polycarbonate.

 

[Eagleview]

I had some new glass cut for a car i restored . They were cut from normal glass and THEN tempered . You cannot do this because you don't have a template .

 

[oldhippy]

I cut tempered glass for a car one time. I did this using a sand blaster. Got some mastic from a headstone company and left a small line showing to blast. I then worked from side to side and cut the line in the glass. This is time extensive. I don't think that you could bend it. big dan

 

[studor]

You can cut it but many methods will shatter it --- you will never bend it. The glass is cut shaped and then tempered as others have said.

 

[mcd176]

Like the others have said, Tempered glass is cut, shaped, holes drilled then tempered, I was told this by my local glass company that is cutting the glass for my tractor.

Just take a large wad of cash to your bota dealer and smile

-Mike

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Bite the bullet and buy it for your tractor or order a thick sheet of plexiglass and try that. You can heat plexiglass and bend it if you are careful. Problem with that stuff it scratches easy.

 

[cowboy357]

The only thing I,m aware of that will do what You want is Lexan plastic. its clear much like plexi glass but not near as brittle . It can be heated & shaped , drilled & cut as needed , where Plexi glass & tempered glass cant . Lexan also wont shatter either .

Tempered glass as well as safety glass can be made to fit size wise by Wet grinding , very messy & it takes quite a while to learn how to do it . I went through quite a few pieces of glass & windshields before i got it down .

If it was Me I,d just buy one from the dealer though . . Bob

 

[Ductape]

I know one of us here has broken a Kubota door glass within the past year or two. To be honest...... I was pleasantly surprised at the price to replace it. If my memory is correct, about two hundred dollars. I can't imagine you'd be saving much by spending hours on end trying to cut and bend glass of any kind. I'm curious to see what you dealer quotes you on the new door.

 

[PILOON]

Lexan or Plexiglass can be shaped.

I once formed an aircraft windshield by heating in a PIZZA oven and shaping it over the old one that I patched with bondo, wore cotton gloves and had clamps ready to clamp them together 'till cooled.

Possibly the other door (window) would serve you as a template as I would presume the curves would be the same.
Cut and trim using the door frame as your template.
Cut with a jigsaw and lubricate the blade as you go as the saw will clog and jamb and then shatter your plexi.
Then use glass adhesive sold at auto parts suppliers.

Should work OK, good luck!

 

[texasjohn]

Message received...the dealer is there for a reason... to provide parts I can't realistically build myself, like a multi-curved and bent glass door... thanks for the input.

Have checked two dealers... $410 is cost for glass door, plus shipping if I want it immediately, or wait an extra day and dealer will include order in his stock order and no shipping cost applies....

Gasket is around $80.

Have ordered the door from Lanford Equipment in Austin... good folks. I'll remove glass from old gasket and see if that will work, if not, will purchase that new too. It appears that the glass is simply inserted into the old gasket...not glued in any way. Just need to pick out the small pieces.

 

[firefighter9208]

I would suggest that you let your dealer install the glass. Or get a "glass shop" that does car windows to install it. That way if it gets broken doing the install your not our another $400.00.

There is an art to installing glass with the rubber gasket that your talking about. It involves using a string, but I can't explain. I have seen it done and it's amazing that they could install the glass in 5 minutes when it would probably take me two hours.

Chris

 

[ccsial]

I would suggest that you let your dealer install the glass. Or get a "glass shop" that does car windows to install it. That way if it gets broken doing the install your not our another $400.00.

There is an art to installing glass with the rubber gasket that your talking about. It involves using a string, but I can't explain. I have seen it done and it's amazing that they could install the glass in 5 minutes when it would probably take me two hours.

Chris

DITTO.......

 

[oliver28472]

I did that one time when I replaced a back side window on my son's Corolla. Junkyard man just told me how to do it using a string and liquid soap. On this I would let a body shop or other pro do it.

 

[texasjohn]

I understand what y'all are saying as relates to a car front or rear window.

Turns out this is a tractor door... no metal rim.... just a rubber gasket around the edge. Pre-drilled holes are available for attaching the hinges via simple screw in bolts, cushioning rubber in hinges is undamaged. Door should arrive this week and I'll install this weekend, hopefully.

will let you know how it goes.

 

[NH-Rob]

Puting on a new door is easy but you will be on pins and needles worring about breaking it the whole time. I replaced one on the farms m120 I used a bent hook type tool to pick the glass out of the old gasket (quite time comsuming) only to find that the mechanic had ordered the glass with a new gasket. oh well we have a spare now.
Rob

 

[texasjohn]

picked out the old glass today... waiting arrival of the door....that is all I ordered, can order gasket later if for some reason old one does not work.

 

[DUMBDOG]

It seemed easier to remove the hinges from the cab and install them on the door along with the other hardware, then mount the hinges back on the cab. The gasket is the easy part. The door latch is the tough one to get apart.

 

[oliver28472]

Turns out this is a tractor door... no metal rim.... just a rubber gasket around the edge.

Gotcha now. Good luck.