Glass door for the view

[geisen]

Re: Glass door for the view

Wow. the perfect door and the perfect brick laying tool. Engineer by trade? If not, you missed your calling.

[Xabia Jim]

Re: Glass door for the view

Nice door Jim.

From the looks of the fire shot you are getting plenty of fresh air draft in for the fire. Is that true?

I've been watching Ebay for used woodstove glass doors with an eye to modify the fit but what you did was excellent!

XJ

[Wiley]

Re: Glass door for the view

XJ in your quest for glass doors be aware that often tempered glass is used. I have a set salvaged from a glass front for a fireplace and they are tempered. Meaning: save for cutting with a water jet and sand (specialized equipment and no guarantee) they are the size they will be. Any attempt to cut by conventional means will result in their being reduced to small glass granules/shards. Easy enough to tell when you have them in your hands but it would be unfortunate to find out after your purchase.
Wiley

[jcg31]

Re: Glass door for the view

Jim,
I am still lusting after a door like yours. How has it been for holding the heat. As I get closer to finishing I am planning my door.

Mark

The door has actually performed beyond my expectations, particularly during the winter here in Wisconsin. It is so easy to move in and out, I was using it while baking pizza to keep an eye on the bake and the oven up to temps. And I never get tired of the blast furnace effect on startup. Also great when smoking items, you can easily adjust the the air flow to take a blazing fire down to and maintain just a wisp of flame amidst the choking smoke. Although when used for smoking the soot coats the glass a bit like tar. Laying it horizontal and spraying with glass cleaner (special fireplace glass cleaner) and allowing to soak for about 5 minutes, then the soot wipes easily clean.

I generally don't use the glass door to close off the opening for an extended period of time. For that I have an insulated door with an oak front. It loses between 1% to .4% of the current temp per hour (1% on the highest heat ranges reducing gradually to .4% on the lower temps) a phenominum that still puzzles me, perhaps some of the thermal engineers out there could help with that one.

I also found a better way for cutting the channel for the frame. It turns out that the cheap Harbor Freight Tools grinder will dismantle so that the arbor that holds the grinder discs can be removed and used as a 3/4" arbor in anything that will hold it. I tried it with a high speed drill press and then locked the disk at the appropriate level to cut one side of the channel and then flipped to cut the other side with a number of light passes. Made for a perfectly centered channel. Works great, particularly on the curved arch cut. And it is easy to reassemble in case you want the grinder back.
Jim

[Xabia Jim]

Re: Glass door for the view

XJ in your quest for glass doors be aware that often tempered glass is used. I have a set salvaged from a glass front for a fireplace and they are tempered. Meaning: save for cutting with a water jet and sand (specialized equipment and no guarantee) they are the size they will be. Any attempt to cut by conventional means will result in their being reduced to small glass granules/shards. Easy enough to tell when you have them in your hands but it would be unfortunate to find out after your purchase.
Wiley

Thanks Wiley, I know about tempered...I meant modify the opening to fit the door! I've seen a couple that would have been interestng. One was a double door set that would have just about fit my opening.

Jim's door looks so good that maybe I can get him to make me one!

[jcg31]

Re: Glass door for the view

XJim,
Happy to do it. But I would need a absolute precise drawing of the opening. I took a great amount of time cutting cardboard cutouts to get the right fit, which was in my case a 1/8" inch gap to the top and sides and the ability to press flush against the 1" lip to the internal opening.

The glass, packing (to protect same) and shipping may be killer.

Jim

[exceloven]

Re: Glass door for the view

Jim,
I copied your door and have used it for an extended time. My problem is that it gets a build up of goo (can't think of any better description) that I haven't been able to get off. Its such a cool door (thanks to your design and instructions) when its clean. Have you had this problem? Any suggestions?

Mark

[jcg31]

Re: Glass door for the view

Yeah it can be a problem. Usually, I clean the glass after each bake, but a couple things I have learned to keep the soot off.

Keep the glass pulled back a couple inches from the opening (and away from the smoke) until the glass gets a chance to warm up. To do otherwise causes the soot to bind to the condensation on the glass that occurs from the quick change in temp and creates the tar-like coating you mention. If you wait until the glass is hot and dry and then move it into position to use as a draft door it then only takes an occasional wipe of the glass with a paper towel if it gets a bit cloudy during the bake (wearing gloves).

The only time my door gets really coated with tough soot is when I am smoking something (usually chicken wings). For the clean up after the bake, I created a crude stand by cutting some two inch pvc pipe (see "A" below), two shorter pieces to place the door's feet into and two longer for the top corners of the door. The pieces were cut so that when in place the surface of the door is perfectly level (see "B" below). As such I can spray on a bunch of fireplace glass cleaner ("C") and let it soak for about 15 minutes, then all easily wipes clean (I use a flat razor to get into the corners).



Jim

[mikesuttie]

Re: Glass door for the view

This is amazing!!! Absolutely beautiful.

[rlodad]

Re: Glass door for the view

Agree on all the kind comments. Solid design, good construction, excellent performance. A+

[woodfried]

Re: Glass door for the view

excellent!

[Amac]

Re: Glass door for the view

I knew I'd seen someone had a cool glass door - of course it had to be jcg31 designer of the perfect IT. This thread deserves refreshing to get to the front page so..
I was asking about this glass today from a local glaziers. They mentioned stove glass - which is I guess pretty good for heat but I wonder how fragile is this glass and what kind of expansion could you expect?
What I had been contemplating was the type of glass they use on elctric cooker hobs, or oven doors. Is this glass similar to any of these?
Aidan

[RandyJ]

Re: Glass door for the view

Wow I love the glass door. That was a great idea to keep the heat in and still be able to see the fire and food. Excellent job.

Randy

[jcg31]

Re: Glass door for the view

Aiden,

Not sure, but if you call the folk at one day glass (see link at top of post) they were very willing to answer questions even on alternatives to their offerings. While pricey, it seems to last forever under rediculous conditions. I routinely will have this up against 900+ degrees when bringing the oven up to temp and because this is the time when the glass is most likely to get a film of soot, grab a handfull of snow or use a spray bottle during warmer weather and wipe down the glass to remove the soot with no impact on the glass.

This remains my favorite and useful project for the oven, but getting the glass right is essential. The other advantage of one day is they will cut the glass in any shape you would like, and the turnaround was as promised.

Thanks for the kind words.
Jim

I knew I'd seen someone had a cool glass door - of course it had to be jcg31 designer of the perfect IT. This thread deserves refreshing to get to the front page so..
I was asking about this glass today from a local glaziers. They mentioned stove glass - which is I guess pretty good for heat but I wonder how fragile is this glass and what kind of expansion could you expect?
What I had been contemplating was the type of glass they use on elctric cooker hobs, or oven doors. Is this glass similar to any of these?
Aidan

[Amac]

Re: Glass door for the view

thanks Jim
I did follow up and even got a quote from onedayglass ($108 without shipping costs).
It is available in the Uk and what appears to be a very similar product to neoceram called Robax I can get from local glaziers:

Thanks to its extremely low thermal expansion, neither high temperatures (up to 760?C) nor considerable temperature changes can do harm to SCHOTT ROBAX? glass ceramic panels.

It seems very similar as I say but I got a quote of 120Eur ($158) to cut my semicircle.
Not sure I have the engineering skill to make that door anyway so I will leave it till later and meanwhile I will maybe try to copy your wooden door ( I found on some other thread) instead. I am looking for that glass fibre tape. One or other of these should do the trick I guess
High Temperature Tape: Heat & Flame Resistant & Thermal Insulation Tape for Wire Cable Hose Protection