we have not heard from jeff on his tempered glass cutting experiment. If you re-read my previous posts, i never said jeff could not put glass in rear barn doors. What i wrote was that you can't cut TEMPERED glass. Then some blowhard windbag had to throw in his usual misinformed opinion . JEFF, what did you end up doing with your barn door project? look forward to seing pics as i think the barn door idea looks kinda cool.

 

I wish I would have seen this post when it first apeared go to www.onedayglass.com

 

GTOMIKE, I already saw this site and pm Jeff a couple weeks ago. He gave them a call and turns out they only deal with flat glass. It was a good try. It is nice that us members are trying to help each other. Jeff is still working on the project.

 

Ok I thought I had a winner idea #2 those old dodge and gm work vans had them crazy 1/2 doors and 1/3 doors on the sides.Should be lots of them around cheap or the auto glass guys should be able to get them new still.

 

Mike...I had the same idea, but I don't think any of the OEM van windows will match the outside edge shape required for the HHR doors. Most if not all of them are square or rectangular, the HHR will require a shape that is rounded on the hinge sides of the doors (match original liftgate window opening). Only on the newly constructed latch sides will the glass be perpendicular to the top & bottom edges. My best option will be to make curvature templates of the original back window & trudge through the salvage yards looking for windshields that match, then buy that particular windshield new (if available), then have it cut down to size since you can cut laminated glass. I'm not quite ready for glass yet though, still fabricating, but getting closer!

 

Just have new glass made and tempered....... IN ONE DAY!
http://www.onedayglass.com/tempered.php

 

Why not do a split oval window? It would give the vehicle a vintage look and you could probably find something pre-made.

 

Speaking From experience-- we (ESAB) in our demo lab have done numerous test with tempered glass-- and depending on thickness and the amount of bow (curve) we were able to cut some of the glass --but if it gets a little bit off it will shatter in a heartbeat.. It is a Fine art as I have cut mirrors and stained glass on the water jet to develope some of the process software for the controls that we use on our machines -- and if you would to look it up we are the only ones with a commericial patent to do waterjet cutting and plasma process on the same machine.

 

I spoke to them on the phone...they only do flat glass.

I want to keep the outer perimeter of the glass stock...looking like it could have come from GM this way.

Please tell me more! If you look at the rear window on your HHR, do you think it's possible to cut a four inch vertical strip from the center of this backlite??? Could I build a plywood buck to support the glass while attempting the cuts? Thanks!

 

In my experience it would be possible maybe-- but if it were me I would venture to a junkyard and buy a chip or half broken rear glass to use as a test piece to get the correct setup parameters for cutting the glass.. Also find a water jet person that has extensive knowledge in cutting glass and like materials and see that they use "bricks" ( coated cardboard material) for the bed to provide a pretty flat surface and from there build your support for the from there.. Other issue I see is getting it perfectly strait lined up with the cutting axis --skewed a few degrees either way will leave the window not usuable.. It may be possible to find someone with a 2 head machine and can strip cut in one pass. Other thing you have to consider too-- is the cost of the time of the machine and the setup for it.. Most companies around here charge about 125 to 150 an hour of use per machine.. Depending on the style of waterjet head also-- the orfice and focus tube needs to be the smallest it can be to support the garnet injection for that particular setup.. I would go with a .007 diamond orfice and .021 focus tube using a 120 hpa grit garnet. This has less chipping properties and provides a smoother cut. Please keep in mind-- these tests were done in our lab-- cutting a thicker glass using different methods.--did we shatter glasses when doing this YES -- will it work for you-- NO PROMISES what so ever..