Glass door for the view

[exceloven]

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

[karl]

Re: Glass door for the view

Here is where it gets a bit pricey; the glass is 3/16? Neoceram rated for continuous use of up to 1470F? that was $115! (with shipping). So, all accounted for $149 and change.

The door looks great. I wonder if I can use the glass in the old kitchen stove (electric) for this application? The stove can be heated to 250 C, which is a bit low compared to my WFO. And it is not possible to see any rating of the glass in the old user manual/specification.
Maybe someone out there happens to know the type of glass, and rating, such stoves normally are specified for?

Karl

[toyota08]

Re: Glass door for the view

Thanks Jim it do's look a bit harley like i thought the handles wont get as hot out to the side .Thanks Jim for the great idea to start with mate.
Cheers Peter

[jcg31]

Re: Glass door for the view

Peter,

Looks great, I love the unobstructed view - - seems to be a bit of a biker influence in the design.

Jim

[toyota08]

Re: Glass door for the view

Hi guys i copied the door to suit my oven see my last post at aussie mobile base oven

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/8/aussie-mobile-base-oven-4743-4.html

cheers Peter

[exceloven]

Re: Glass door for the view

Thanks for the great instuctions. Now I just have to try and make mine look as great as yours.

Mark

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Glass door for the view

Thanks Jim, Your glass door manufacturing method seems workable.
I'm going to keep on the lookout for a pre-made channel of some sort and what do you think about high temp rope seal and/or waterglass shoved in the channel to hold the glass in place?
Thanks again for making something so useful and sharing.
-Dino

[jcg31]

Re: Glass door for the view

Dino, Mark,
To make the door you will need access to a welder, I have a cheap $135 arc welder and the aptitude to match, my welding work is passable because what I lack in welding skills I make up for with mad grinding skills to smooth out those malformed joints. Point is, you don’t need welding skills to pull this off. Also, there are many on the site that know welding far better than I so hopefully where I go astray others will jump in and correct or suggest a better approach.

To begin with you will want to create a template that reflects the arch space to use as a guide for the bend. I bent the tube for the top arch shape with a pipe bender moving the pipe about one inch per bend and with each bend barely bending the pipe, moving the full distance of the arch and then repeating the process multiple times to gradually move the tube into shape. The pipe needs to be bent prior to creating the channel for the window otherwise the channel will distort with the bend. If you lack a pipe bender a vertical cinder block will serve admirably positioning the tube between the inside bottom and middle support and pulling up (using the same slow process described above) to make the bend. After the arch is bent, all the pieces for arch bottom and sides were cut in rough length and placed on the template for position, the corner miters marked in pencil and cut with the grinder with a metal cutting wheel installed.

The channels on the tubing were cut using two cuts lengthwise to create a space to hold the glass. The width of the channel was about 1/32 larger than the thickness of the glass, the channel is the only thing holding the glass in place. On the three straight pieces (bottom and two sides) I placed a ?” piece of scrap plywood next to the ?” square tube (both plywood and tube were on top of non-skid rubber) and used a corked-backed metal ruler as a straight edge to guide the cut. The plywood was used so I had a wider surface to rest the ruler upon. Using a cutting wheel on the grinder, I made several light scoring passes against the straight edge until I had formed a trough deep enough for the cut to follow and then a few more passes with a heavier touch to complete the cut. I then spun the tube and repeated the process to cut the other side of the channel. The long bottom piece for the door was cut end to end. The two side pieces were cut from the top end to 1” from the bottom end (inside of the miter) . The incomplete cut was necessary so that the channel did not extend into the sides of the draft space.

The arch is a bit trickier. First, clean the inside with fine sandpaper and steel wool, then mark with pencil the placement of the channel. Take four lengths of gorilla tape (better than duct tape for this purpose) each sufficient in length to line the inside of the arch. Stack each piece on top of the other on a flat surface that will be kind to the tape when you pull it off (I used some metal flashing I had on hand}. Once you have the four layers of tape in place use a straight edge to cut the tape down the middle lengthwise, using a utility knife with a new blade. Peel up the tape and place the newly created edge carefully along the penciled outline of the channel on the arch. Use the tape as your straight edge for the light scoring with the grinders cutting blade and once you have the trough clearly made, go to town.

The bottom channel tube for the glass and the bottom tube to the entire door were welded in place and cleaned up without the glass installed. The welding of handles to feet, feet to bottom tube and top and bottom slide guides were also in place and cleaned up prior to the glass being added.

For the arch corner welds the glass was slid in place before welding. I had the entire door, front and back, wrapped with a number of saturated towels (cold water). Only the ?” square space being welded was exposed and dry. I hit the corners with multiple two-second welds which were immediately cooled with a wet cloth. I have no idea if this was the proper approach, but I seem to have strong welds and no cracks in the glass. If I had it to do over again, I would ask for the folks at One Day Glass to throw in a piece of scrap that I could experiment with.

The feet to the oven are cut into the bottom tube (to be flush with the bottom of the tube) using the cutting blade on the grinder so that there isn’t a 1/8” gap along the bottom of the door between and outside the feet.

The upper and lower guides to the draft doors are simply “L” shaped pieces cut lengthwise from the square tubes (using an approach identical to cutting the channels) the bottom of the “L” is 1/8” and the front facing side is ?”.

Good luck, holler if you run into problems.

Jim

[jcg31]

Re: Glass door for the view

Brifro,
They are handles cut from welder brushes, i picked them up cheap from HarborFreight Tools. If you don't have an HFT close they can be had online or just about anywhere you can buy a welder.

Mark,Dino, I am on the road. I will post some photos and steps when I get home this evening.

Jim

[BRIFRO]

Re: Glass door for the view

Nice door!

Where did you get the handles?

[exceloven]

Re: Glass door for the view

Jim,
That door is amazing, I hope you don't mind my copying it. I have a few questions on the construction of it. I imagine that the groove for the glass is not exact, so how did you keep the glass tight? Did you put the glass in and then weld the arch to the sides? Can you try to explain the tubing cut in quarters, how is it put together? Do the draft doors bypass.The top of the door is obvious but I'm having a hard time figuring out the bottom with the slides?
Thanks, Mark

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Glass door for the view

One more question Jim on construction of the glass door. I want to figure out if its over-my-head/out-of-my-league tool-wise. You say you used a grinder (I can do that) but the channel and tube, did you just cut and bend it or is there welding involved? I may have to buy one of those small electric welders and start practicing. Just curious.
Thanks, Dino

[70chevelle]

Re: Glass door for the view

Thanks all, to 70chevelle's question,
the glass comes with a slight tint (yellow) to begin with and then gets soot on it during use which wipes clean with a dry paper towel. Whether it will discolor over time and resist cleaning I am too new at this to know. In terms of the arch, the cost is in the glass not the cut. the folks I ordered from don't care if it is square, arched or shaped in the silhoette of your favorite pet. The waterjet allows them to cut it in any shape your require economically and accurately. They will even cut holes in it if you would like.

Jim

Very good! I guess it'll be an arch then!

[Mojoe]

Re: Glass door for the view

Awesome door, congrats!

[asudavew]

Re: Glass door for the view

Prettiest door I have soon.

Excellent design and workmanship.