Glass shelves with plate grooves

[Craig D Peltier]

Im building a built in. Customer wants glass shelves with plate grooves in it. I went to my local supplier and asked if they could cut grooves in glass. The guy was very leary that they could but an expert would call me. I didnt get call back. As of now till monday im assuming they cant.
Is it not doable?
I may have to ask the client to use plate holders instead (mini easels).
I could epoxy a piece of wood but that wont look good from underside and it will permantely be visible if usage changes.

Anyone had this done before? Grooves?

[Simon Sharp]

I think they can drill holes....then you can use pegs or fasteners

[Nancy Laird]

Craig, we didn't do grooves in our glass shelves, we used clear acrylic caulk to run a bead across the back of the shelf about 1" from the edge. It can't be seen but it works to keep plates standing up and, if the owners ever want to change things, it can be removed with a razor blade.

Just a suggestion.

Nancy

[Joe Chritz]

Silicone caulk like Nancy mentions.

I have rebuilt and/or added parts to fish tanks using it and it is way more strong then needed. Especially for a low stress environment like you are looking for.

You may want to do a mock up to see what kind of edge treatment would look best once attached. Besides I don't know how deep a groove you would need to stand up plates without a second point of support on the back or top.

Joe

[Phil Warnement]

I don't mean to steal the thread, but how do you get an even bead all the way across the glass?

[Mike Cutler]

Craig

Yes it can be done. I've seen it. The glass was a fairly thick piece of tempered glass that had a "dado " running the length.
I have a feeling it will also be fairly cost prohibitive once you find a glass place that can do it.

[Stan Tilley]

This may not be responsive, but I have a bookshelf with glass shelves that have plate grooves ground in them. I don't know where they came from, but I'd try other suppliers if my primary supplier wasn't helpful.

[Jeff Duncan]

Call another supplier, if someone delivered a glass shelf to me with silicone caulk on it, you can guess where I'd tell them to put it. If a client wants a plate groove you better be able to provide it, otherwise someone else will. Generally speaking your local shop will most likely not do it themselves, but order it from a bigger glass supply house.
It's not uncommon, not difficult, and not cost prohibitive, customer wants it, customer pays for it, and if they can't give you a price within a couple of hours, call someone else. Believe me I use glass frequently and have done far more complicated projects than a simple plate groove.
You want to see cost prohibitive, get a quote to do leaded glass for your cabinetry. Last one I did was $1600 for 2 doors and 2 sidelights.
good luck,
JeffD

[Fred Linthicum]

These plate grooves are made in annealed (not tempered) glass using shaped grinding wheels. An old-time local glass shop, if available, may still have the necessary machinery available. Otherwise they may be able to order the pieces you need from one of their fabricators.

Good luck,
Fred

[Peter Quinn]

Ditto Fred....the glass is 'softened' ie annealed and ground. Find another glass shop. This is doable and far more attractive then any other option.

[James Stokes]

I have cut plate grooves a couple ways. 1: Sandblast them. 2: I have a small hand held wet saw. With that I just clamped a straight edge to the glass, set the blade to 1/8 and cut. It is not that difficult. You can not do it on tempered though.

[Craig D Peltier]

I ended up using some clear rubber strips that adhere with doublesided tape.They were ordered from a magazine by the glass people.He said its used in shower doors. I tested a plate while at glass place it worked good.
I priced out grooved glass. One place was $51 for a 23x13 and the other was $71. I needed eight, that wasnt in budget. Thye were both sending the glass to oregon or california. Two places didint know where to have that done.
I was going to do the silicone bead but I was worried about making a nice straight clean shoulder.