Safety glass for Shop windows

[Ed Romson]

I'm very lucky that I am able to set up a new shop in new house. Ther best place to locate my lathe is right in front of a large (36"x40") window. Great light and a good view.

However, I know that I'm going to have one of my pieces spinning off the lathe at about 1500 RPM at some point... I'd like to invest in some safety glass so that I don't end up looking like some slasher movie character. Any suggestions? Safety glass? Tempered glass? Wired glass? Plexiglass?

Many thanks and Aloha from Hawaii.
Ed

 

[Bill Boehme]

Any very large window pane should be tempered glass. Polycarbonate and acrylic are fine, but sunlight and the elements will lead to spiderwebbing and haziness. Even though polycarbonate is more impact resistant than acrylic, it scratches more readily. Safety glass usually means laminated glass, but frequently it is used interchangeably with tempered glass. Wire glass is primarily used as a fire retardant in commercial buildings. I don't think that is what you would need. Looking out a window while turning might be a distraction. Odds are 50/50 that a piece flying off the lathe will come your direction. Your face shield is nothing compared to the window. I think it might be worthwhile to work on the cause of unscheduled dismounts.

 

[stu senator]

Mount a polycarbonate (lexan) sheet on standoffs in front of the window and replace as needed.

In FL they make hurricane resistance windows that can take a 2x4 hit. Don't know the specs as to the speed or energy of the hit.

Stu

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

Bill is right—tempered is the way to go. And large windows should indeed all be tempered, in my opinion. Code generally says if the bottom of a window is 18" or high, you don't need tempered. And there are requirements near stairs, doors, etc...places someone could trip. Anymore the price difference isn't that big.

My closest neighbors had an eagle fly through their large window. I think it was a Milgard. The eagle managed to fly out of the room on its own. Granted an eagle has a lot of velocity, but it only weighs about 8 pounds. So imagine a 200+ pound man tripping.

It takes an incredible amount to break a tempered window. A hammer bounces off with moderate force. I've had to break tempered windows for disposal, and a sledgehammer is the right tool.

The final thing to consider for tempered is to go from 1/8" glass to 3/16". Again, the price difference for one window isn't that great. For a 4' X 8' that I installed last year in our house it was a hundred bucks.

 

[Tom Gall]

I'm very lucky that I am able to set up a new shop in new house. Ther best place to locate my lathe is right in front of a large (36"x40") window. Great light and a good view.

However, I know that I'm going to have one of my pieces spinning off the lathe at about 1500 RPM at some point... I'd like to invest in some safety glass so that I don't end up looking like some slasher movie character. Any suggestions? Safety glass? Tempered glass? Wired glass? Plexiglass?

Many thanks and Aloha from Hawaii.
Ed

Cheaper....but not as aesthetically beautiful! Make a frame to mount on or around the window frame and cover (staple) with hardware cloth. The frame can be removed to clean your window if you're that kind of guy.
It shouldn't diminish the amount of light coming through your window and shouldn't create any noticeable shadows.

 

[Mike Johnson]

They do make polymer films that can be applied to a glass pain, that would most likely
help contain the glass pieces onto the polymer film when it is struck by a flying billet of wood.
The window would break but you would not have shards of glass flying everywhere.