Plexi doors

[james.w]

I am building an enclosure for my yellow monitor and am trying to figure out how to build the door. The opening for the door will be 35" high x 49" wide. I was thinking plexi-glass doors that swing outward. The problem is, I don't know if the plexi will be strong enough to not flex if he pushes on it and is able to squeeze his way out. I don't really want to build a frame for the door, is glass drillable? I could get two pieces of glass and drill for hinges, handle, and locks if it is drillable.

 

[Toby_H]

I would not suggest using plexiglas as not only is it bery flexable allowing the potential for the lizard to bend and escape, it also scratches very easily and would likely need to be replaced often.

Just to mention, the price of Plexiglas and the price of tempered glass is about the same. Untempered glass is a bit cheaper.

Standard glass is drillable, provided you use aa diamond tip drill bit and a very steady hand (or drill press). But I would not advise using it without a frame of sorts. Glass has very little resistence to uneven pressures and by nature a door is frequently subjected to such pressures. The frame allows the glass to shift inside of it slightly allowing the pressure to be dispursed over the whole pane. But drilling/bolting hinges to it will concentrate the pressure at the hinge allowing it to crack.

I used tempered glass for my doors (approx 36" x 30") but made a wooden frame for the glass to ride in. Tempered glass is far more resistent to breaking, although it cannot be drilled. It is possible to drill standard glass then temper it, though it is not as easy as it sounds.

 

[james.w]

The problem I have is I don't have a router. Is there a way to make a glass door with a frame without a router?

 

[chelvis]

you could buy a metal or wooden fram for the glass. they make all sorts of sizes for shower doors no a days. they eveb sell frameless glass doors but the are expensive.

 

[montana]

You could use a table saw ..

Your best bet is to buy an aluminum Track Kit for a nick-nac cabinet ...

They are easily found at lumberyards ...

 

[Toby_H]

My door frame:
I used nice hardwood (to reduce bending, flexing, warping, etc) 1"x3"s and measured & cut (on a tablesaw) them to specifications. I remeasured after cutting lengths & angles to determine the needed depth of the groove for the glass to fit in. Next I set the height of the tablesaw blade to the desired depth of the glass's groove. Next I stood the 1x3 on it's short face and ran the blad right down the center (on each board).

Lastly I fitted the pieces on the glass, glued, clamped and stapled the frame together.

The work on it was actually much easier than I expected and I did it all with a tablesaw (even though I had many other tools available, including a router ). Although I did spend many hours planning, measuring, replanning and remeasuring buefore I put blade to wood. Getting the angles & lengths perfect took a lot of thinking.

The only part I wasn't happy with was where the wooden frame met up at the corners. It was only a tiny bit off but that still made a small step that drove me crazy. But it was simple enough to sand it down to a nice smooth finish. Getting the right hinges perfectly placed was a lot harder than actually making the doors.

 

[james.w]

Well the only tools I have are a drill and jigsaw. Plus simple hand tools, so my options are limited. I decided to go with sliding glass doors on this cage. Found everything I needed at lowes and ordered my glass from the same place I got the glass for my tegus cage.

 

[Toby_H]

Most people find sliding glass doors very very convenient and in most applications I would suggest them on Tegu enclosures. There were several rare or odd factors that made me decide to go with swinging doors.

The other options you would have had for framed doors would be to create the same frame pieces out of three individual boards. For example use two 1x3s and one 1x2. sandwhich them together with the smaller board int he middle. Line up one edge on all three boards. Of course the gap will be much much thicker than what is needed for the glas. But you get the idea and can seelct different wood thicknesses to suit your needs.

...or go with sliding doors......

 

[herpocrite27]

I like Lexan. unlike plexiglass that tends to crack when drilled, Lexan drills and cuts easy with no cracking. The 1/4" lexan shouldnt flex much at all. It just depends on how big your doors are. the longer they are, the more flex they have. You can buy lexan at glass stores and even at Home Depot.