Source for Affordable Custom Glass Panels

That's a great idea. I did that a few years ago when I needed a little body work on my car. The students in the auto body class banged out all the dents, smoothed out the minor ones and prepped the panels for painting. Then the paint class primered it and put the finish coats on. Looked great to me and it only cost me $75 for the paint and putty. They usually had a waiting list for work. Try it. Might work out for you. If not, nothing lost but a little of your time.

Jim   

Max, I haven't tried this myself but it's just a thought:  A couple of years ago, I picked up some classes at my local tech college; welding was one of them.  Whenever we had projects assigned, each student had to think of an idea, design it, then create it.  If a student couldn't really think of what to do, they were given some welding projects that had been requested by local businesses and establishments.  For example, one of them was to weld up some decorative gateways to the nearby botanical gardens.

My point is this:  I was thinking that if you have a tech school or community college nearby, or even a local high school for that matter, perhaps you could go to the instructors and see if they and their students can build something for you.  If they charge you anything, they might just charge you for the material and nothing else.  That was my experience in my welding class anyway.

Best wishes,

Eric

Thanks for the tips, all. I will see if I can find a local glass guy.

I could go the plexiglass route, but even that’s pricey!

The cheap shelves are tempered, so that means no cutting...

I have one of Ikea's display cabinets with 4 glass shelves.  Not sure of the name, one that has a glass door and the other three sides are solid.

I wanted to double up on the shelves as well.  After calling some frame and glass shops for quotes, it was cheaper to buy another of the same cabinet from Ikea for just the glass. 

Since I did not have room for a second cabinet I just left it unassembled in my attic.  Take one of your glass shelves to Ikea and check sizes with their other offerings.  You may find some other glass shelves that will fit your cabinet for cheap or you may find its cheaper to just buy a second of the same cabinet for the glass shelves.

Also you can buy cheap large picture frames at Ikea and just cut the glass down to size.  As long as your models are not heavy, the frame glass will work or double up on the glass for added strength.

When we moved out here last November, I asked some of the locals if there were any glass shops around. Two of them told me about a guy that worked out of his garage and replaced a few windows for them. He doesn't advertise, only word of mouth. Took a while but I finally found his small garage and he made my new shelves for $15 each. He even made them from thicker glass than I asked for. Got more room in the curio cabinet now.

Ask around and you might get lucky.

Jim  

Tojo72

I dont know what you have around you,but I looked in the yellow pages and found a local hardware/glass guy,one who replaces panes and door glass.(yea I know they are a dying breed),but I gave them my specs,they cut the glass and smoothed the edges,and I had extra shelves.

 

BINGO!! I did the same for my display case that I got from a shop going OOB. I made several phone calls and found a local guy that has a small (garage size) shop and he cut everyting I needed including left over mirrors we removed from one of the bathrooms for the bottom shelf. His price was over 50% less than what the other 3 places I called were charging.

Hello, 

Just an idea but if you can find a local company that deals in windows or anything glass for that matter they have cutting tables and there is always waste (I know because I work for a window manufacturer) but I've seen people walk in ask and leave with what they need for almost nothing. 

RadMax8

 

I found some shelves online for about $3 a piece, but they are 12” by 16” and absolutely will not work. 

 

Just a thought...contact the local glass shop and ask what they'd charge to cut those 12x16 pieces down.

Another option would be to just use wood shelves...maybe alternate between the wood and glass.

I dont know what you have around you,but I looked in the yellow pages and found a local hardware/glass guy,one who replaces panes and door glass.(yea I know they are a dying breed),but I gave them my specs,they cut the glass and smoothed the edges,and I had extra shelves.

Try your local Lowes or Home Depot hardware store. Why not go the plexiglass route instead of glass?

IKEA is tough because their furniture is truly "box scale". A big part of their affordability comes from extremely precise engineering of shipping box sizes to be able to be combined and loaded in large quantities.

If you can live with the sharp edges, i.e. the shelves are inside a case or above the reach of kids, it's easy to make your own sizes. You can buy sheets of glass for about $ 10 a square foot, and scribe and snap it to fit.