Replacement glass recommendations

Advice and guidance on repair and restoration techniques.
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treefrog
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Re: Replacement glass recommendations

Post by treefrog »

I am fascinated though when glaziers sell glass cut and say it is toughened as I reckon most of the time it is not as most cannot do the tempering in house.

We have a glass specialist in our list, Junior help!

I think as has been mentioned before, laminated glass tends to fit our old machines as often closer to imperial sizes used like 6.4mm laminated is quarter inch plate....
pauljt71
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Re: Replacement glass recommendations

Post by pauljt71 »

Finally sorted the glass. I have two pages of laminated glass coming tomorrow. Total price £28. I will fit them and post pics once completed.😀 I have been looking forward to starting work on my Brenner ball past the arrow but without glass my balls drop out “oh matron!” :HaHa:
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badpenny
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Re: Replacement glass recommendations

Post by badpenny »

My mate Dave used to work at a glass cutter's in Derby twenty odd years ago.
He told me that thanks to The EU good old Brussels had levied a procedure and manual on their trade.
In short they were responsible for ensuring the correct type and gauge of glass was supplied, 'Elf & Safety don't you know.

As usual everyone else in The EU ignored it and we embraced it passionately. Which is why as soon as you ask to buy glass they ask you what it's for/how you're going to use it etc. If it's not bog standard like for a window or picture frame they can refer to a trade manual which indicates thickness and type.
I think 20 years on they've eased off a bit (sadly Brexit won't change anything) but at the time I was looking for a piece to cover the playfield of my 1930s Genco non electric type bagatelle sort of game.
They insisted that due to it being described as an amusement machine they had a responsibility to the general public only to supply tempered safety glass and quoted me about £60 and a lead time of about a week.
I pointed out that window glass would do fine and the groove wouldn't accommodate the thickness they were insisting on.
It did no good.
As I said they seem to have slackened off a bit nowadays. However to be sure, if I buy glass now I describe thick window or picture frame as the use.

If it's metric and rattles around in the imperial gap I whittle a very small piece of wood into a wedge and push it between the glass and frame at the top where it's out of sight.

BP !THUMBS!
sutty
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Re: Replacement glass recommendations

Post by sutty »

Never occurred to me that glass might look too new, as I just read above. I have what I thought was original glass for my Sega Mad Money restoration, but it has the original decals on, in very poor condition, so I decided to go for new, because I didn't want to lose the original art. Keeping it for nostalgia purposes, for reference and because I simply like keeping original parts, if possible, even if not used. I took the original glass to my local glass merchant, and he said the nearest thickness, to match, was 6mm laminated, which came out at 6.4mm, if I recall correctly. Presumably, 2 x 3mm, plus the laminate between. Seems to be fine for the purpose, but my original was loose to begin with, so maybe it isn't completely original, or, as I presumed, there should have been some form of gasket, which was absent? Whoever had worked on it, long, long in the past, had used tape, and strips of card, to make it fit tightly. I have now made a gasket, out of black rubber sheet, but having read about rubber dots, in the corner, that would have been much simpler. Anyway it works, so I'm happy.

No idea what I would have done if my reel cover glass was damaged? That is hugely thick, and is slightly green, with angled ground sides. For sure, I can see how new glass there might look 'odd', but I've no idea how you'd find a replacement for that if damaged or lost.
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treefrog
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Re: Replacement glass recommendations

Post by treefrog »

You haven’t mentioned which glass panel, I assume the top box. !PUZZLED!

The use of wadding is standard on most machines. I use strips of cardboard on many locations, like reel windows, escalator window, top box etc. If stops rattles and reduces the risk of a crack occurring when tightening up.

The reel glass on these is tapered and would be very costly to get made. I noticed the chap who restored loads of these machines recently in dayglow colours has made some using a mold and clear resin. No idea how good the clarity would be. !LOOK!
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coppinpr
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Re: Replacement glass recommendations

Post by coppinpr »

gameswat wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:16 pmI only had an old toughened pinball glass explode in my hands as I was carrying it and the pieces flew 20ft, scared the crap out of me! It was a very cold day though and the glass was old and had small scratches
I had exact same thing happen to me. I was carrying a replacement pinball glass (not a new one) between two arcades in London's Soho on a very cold day when it exploded in the street. Luckily it was in a special part open, latticed wood carrying case we used for said purpose. The case stopped the glass flying so far as yours but scared not only me but everyone in London's West End that night. Thankfully it was in the days before terrorist threats or I would most likely have been brought down by the trigger happy cops who roam the West End these days. :lol:
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