Can I make my own windows??

[mongo75]

I'm not sure if I already asked this question anywheres, but I'm at the point in my resotration where I need to put some windows on the thing. I plan on having it about 6 feet ong, 18" high, 90* in the front and a nice sloping curve at the rear end (no jokes LOL) .

I've priced some marine window manufactures and they are pretty damned expensive for my budget. Can I just use some extrusions from Lowes and then have a glass company cut and temper some windows for me? And if so, can I get away with using 3/16th glass on a flybridge, or do I have to go with 1/4"? It's my impression that the glass doesn't, or rather shouldn't, support any of the weight of the cabin correct?

Please let me know if this is feasible!! Thanks !!

[the1much]

it may not "support" anything,, but it does take alot of "pressure" against wind, waves, and flexing of the boat.i'd go with the 1/4. i know ya can get them made,,but i dont know bout them having it tempered after,,,,, never thought about it that deep,,hehe ;)

[the1much]

Can I make my own windows??<< can ya blow glass? ,,hehe :D

[TeddyDiver]

I'm planning to anyway..
Acrylic is the way if making curved windows in a carage.

[Fanie]

Of course. Acrylic is lasercut very well. If you're a bit clever on the design they can even open and close.

[mongo75]

There's a glass shop not too far from where I live that can cut to shape and then temper the glass for me at a reasonable cost, vice the $2000 another company quoted me. If I was redoing a 50' yacht then $2000 would be a drop in the bucket, but to my military paycheck it's a different story. I was also thinking acrylic because I can do it myself, but am concerned with the eventual scratching of the plastic. The reason I wanted to use 3/16th is because I have 2 4x8 sheets of the stuff, and Lowes sells double channel 1/4" extruded aluminum I could use for a frame.

[Kaptin-Jer]

Mongo,
I had to make mine to replace the ones that were blown out. You can get alum. extrusions and the Alum, male / female screw bolts that I forgot what they are called. I used dark bronze acrylic. Some advice - the plastic lays on the outer surface on a bed of mastic. Drill oversize holes for the thru bolts that Ican'trememberthemameof If you are using a 1/4" bolt make a 1/2" hole in the plastic. (keep the 1/4" for the alum. extrusion.) This will stop the crazing. Acrylic expands and contracts a lot.They will last about 2 years. Thats what I'm giving mine, but they are cheap and easy to replace.

[mongo75]

The more I think about it, the better acrylic is looking. However 2 years is kinda short isn't it? But then again if it's even half as cheap as glass, then it'll be worth it. Just gotta be carefull cleaning them.

[Kaptin-Jer]

It's a trade off. I needed to dry-in the deck and I didn't have lots of money. Of course glass is the best way to go, but we all have to compromise -- I learned---I'm married.

[naturewaterboy]

There is some polycarbonate (tradename Lexan) that has a scratch resistant coating - kinda like a glass coating on the plastic - like expensive plastic lens sunglasses. It is available in different thicknesses. It is pricey compared to uncoated lexan if I remember right - but lexan holds up much better to UV than acrylic, and it is very, very difficult to crack. It's much easier to drill because of this. It also will stop bullets too.

[mongo75]

Thanks waterboy!

And yes Jer, being married myself I feel your pain. I gotta sell stuff on ebay and recycle metal to pay for my boat, the wife gets pissed if I take too much outta the budget for the boat. Women just don't understand!!

[Kaptin-Jer]

Yep, I should have said I only compromise my materials. There is no compromising with the wife.

[TeddyDiver]

There is no compromising with the wife.
There's some differences btw female's of the western and the third world. No explanations needed anymore:D

[Arildo]

Hi there (kinda late?)
You should be very careful about using plexiglass (/lexan?) because they tend to crack over time! Acry is a much better choise - as they dont crack so easily. Plexiglass has a better protection against scratches, but you have to be extremely careful of the installation methode - using rubber all the way around, also in the screw holes. And never put any force to it, as it will for sure crack over short time...

[boat fan]

Hi there (kinda late?)
You should be very careful about using plexiglass (/lexan?) because they tend to crack over time! Acry is a much better choise - as they dont crack so easily. Plexiglass has a better protection against scratches, but you have to be extremely careful of the installation methode - using rubber all the way around, also in the screw holes. And never put any force to it, as it will for sure crack over short time...

Can you apply window tinting film over the acrylic to slow down the " crazing " that always seems to happen ?

[marshmat]

I've seen tint film on acrylic, but the film always seems to bubble and it crazes anyway. Then you're left with something that looks like a bad high-school tuner version of an '88 Chevy.

The structure around a window should be reinforced so that it will not deflect under load enough to compromise the window. The original builder should have done this.

Your frames need to be designed to handle the wind and wave impact loads on the window, and be leak-proof, with enough room for movement that flexing of the deck doesn't translate to gaps in the window frame. This is harder than it sounds. The guys who do massive glass curtain-wall installations on office towers have in many cases given up on perfect rigidity and are now using flexible silicone gaskets, seals and tie-ins to allow for movement without cracks.

The window itself needs to withstand wind (easy) and wave impact (harder) loads. The calculation is easy- a uniformly loaded flat plate, simply supported around the perimeter. The hard part is figuring out a reasonable load and safety factor- how much do you want the window to withstand before it breaks?

[Kaptin-Jer]

Marsh,
You are right, if you are doing serious cruising. My marina mate for a year and a half was rebuilding a 30 foot sailboat to single hand back to New Zealand. He used 1/2 inch glass. I am a fare weather week ender, so 1/4 inch plexy was just fine for me.

[boat fan]

I've seen tint film on acrylic, but the film always seems to bubble and it crazes anyway. Then you're left with something that looks like a bad high-school tuner version of an '88 Chevy.



Just what I thought ......:(

[naturewaterboy]

Hi there (kinda late?)
You should be very careful about using plexiglass (/lexan?) because they tend to crack over time! Acry is a much better choise - as they dont crack so easily. Plexiglass has a better protection against scratches, but you have to be extremely careful of the installation methode - using rubber all the way around, also in the screw holes. And never put any force to it, as it will for sure crack over short time...

You've got your resins mixed up a bit -

Acrylic extruded sheet = brand names are Plexiglas, Lucite, Acrilite, and others

Polycarbonate sheet = brand names are Lexan, Tuffak, others

Polycarbonate does not crack like acrylic. Polycarbonate is used for bullet proof windows. If you try to drill a hole in acrylic using a standard drill bit, you run a high risk of cracking it. If you drill into polycarbonate, the plastic sort of gums up, but you can drill using a standard bit without cracking. Same goes for sawing.

You won't confuse these when you get out your wallet - polycarbonate is much more expensive.

[boat fan]

Phil Bolger claims that if a bullet passes through lexan , the bullet hole seals itself. :)

[naturewaterboy]

I've seen some bullets buried in lexan - to stop a large hi velocity round, it does take some thick (1/2-1") lexan.

[mikereed100]

Phil Bolger claims that if a bullet passes through lexan , the bullet hole seals itself. :)

Small comfort if you're standing on the other side of the Lexan! :D

[boat fan]

Small comfort if you're standing on the other side of the Lexan! :D

:D :D :D :D

[Herman]

You were talking about bolts that the name was forgotten, but also talked about your wife. It then surprises me that the name of the bolt was forgotten: Sex bolts... (no joking here)

When I should make a choice, I would prefer tempered glass over any plastic window. Although the scratch-resistant polycarbonate does a pretty decent job. (it also comes near or even over the price of tempered glass...) A brand name is Lexan, and their scratch-proof stuff is called "Margard Lexan". Another brand name not mentioned before is Xenoy, made by GE.

Hope this helps...

[mikereed100]

Danny,

Concerning your question about 3/16 glass, here's an interesting video. I would think that 1/4" would be preferable and not all that expensive for your project. Most of the quotes I have got for my boat are less than $8/sqft for clear and less than $9 for grey. I am biased toward glass over acrylic or plycarbonate because a clear view of the world is very important to me. From what I understand even Lexan with Margard will cloud sooner or later (mostly sooner) and then you have to do it all over again and as pointed out above, it is expensive. Acrylic is good but the 1/2" acrylic windows on my boat were crazed to the point it was hard to see through them after only 8 years. I will be using 1/4" tempered glass for the new windows, most of which are about 2' x 2'.

Best of luck,
Mike

[mikereed100]

Ooops. Here's the video
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&rlz=1T4HPIC_en___US257&resnum=0&q=strength%20of%20tempered%20glass&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#hl=en&emb=0&q=tempered%20glass%20strength

[mikereed100]

Here's a couple more:

http://www.wilsonglass.com/StrengthTWO.htm

http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4HPIC_en___US257&q=how%20strong%20is%20tempered%20glass&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv#

[naturewaterboy]

DAMN! I'm impressed! I never knew that glass was so tough, or so flexible. I found another one on the google site - a guy jumping on a standard US patio door - 3 ft. by 7 ft glass panels - double pane - and he could jump and break the first layer, but couldn't break the second layer, even with a steel crow bar.

I guess I'd put glass in too - unless you get shot at sometimes, then I'd definitely go with the lexan.:D