# Glass panel door / joinery question



## HomeBrewJeff (Jan 2, 2010)

Sorry for asking a question on my first post, but such is life, eh? 

I'm making a bearded dragon enclosure for my son, and would like to have a large glass door in the front that will open up. I'm a little confused about the best way to make the door frame, as the glass will be 1/4" tempered glass. 

Here is a pic of what I'm going after:










The door will be attached to the face frame with ever several hinges, or a 30" piano hinge. As mentioned the door will open up. The door frame will have a .25" rabbet in the back to receive the glass.

The pic is a bit small, but the door would be 42 1/4 x 16 1/4.

- Is this feasible?
- What is the best way to join the frame considering the weight of the glass and the size of the wood for the frame (1.5" red oak)

Visually, the proportions are what I would really like to use, but if something seems way off, I suppose I can change it a bit. I'd really like to get away with a single glass panel with no obstructions.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks! :thumbsup:


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

If the door will be 4 pieces, I would use glued half lap joints for the corners. Depending on how you mount the glass in the rabbet, even if you used glass retention clips, 1/4" glass will add some rigidity to the door frame.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*and...*

Silcone the glass with multiple dabs every 6" around the perimeter. This will also make the glass a structural element. 1/4" thick glass seems like a bit of overkill, unless this dragon is alive and very strong. JMO. If you hinge the door full length across the bottom it will act as a shelf of sorts, and a latch on the top or ends will secure it. Any other hinge location will be problematic because of the length of the door. A top hinge would work if you can completely over center the hinge as with concealed cabinet door hinges to get it out of the way when opening.
Like these: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5408&filter=cabinet%20door%20hinges :thumbsup: bill


----------



## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

"As mentioned the door will open up."

In your picture it looks like the door will be recessed into the main unit.

Just what are your plans on keeping this door from falling into a closed position? With a piano hings, or any other standard hinge, the most you could open the door would be verticle.

With that big a frame/door I do not think I would want anything less than a 2" frame, preferrable a 3" frame.

Maybe if I knew what a "bearded dragon" enclosure is I might have a better idea. 

George


----------



## Ogee Fillet (Aug 20, 2009)

*That's a big chunk of glass*

Hi Jeff
That’s a pretty heavy piece of glass. By any chance would Plexiglas work in your project?
I have a link for you. http://708designs.netfirms.com/customcage/customcage.htm


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

If you want to lift up the door to open, this hardware will lock the door in the up position, and when lifted again it releases and lets the door down.


----------



## Dusty82 (Dec 23, 2009)

As far as the joinery is concerned, that's a perfect example of the right place to use a pocket hole joint like in the pic below. 










Cut the oak stiles (left and right sides) and rails (top and bottom) for your door, drill pocket holes into the back sides of the rails, then fasten the rails to the stiles - with glue and the screws of course. Be careful to drill the pocket hole near your rabbet far enough away from the rabbet to avoid hitting the screw with the router bit. You could even cut the rabbet into the rail material before you cut it to length and drill your pocket holes - just to be sure. I'd wait to rout the rabbet into the stiles after the frame is assembled.

With the door frame completed, rout the glass recess into the back side of the door frame, square up the corners of your rabbet with a chisel, and install your glass. I'd agree with a couple of the other posters though - 1/4 inch glass is pretty heavy. I'd consider using 2 to 2 1/2 inch wide material for your door frame, or acrylic sheet instead of glass.

Here's a link to a pocket hole jig that should be available to you locally:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=205297-39450-MKJKIT&lpage=none


----------

