Tempered glass or plate glass

TonyH

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I have a couple pin's that the glass is scratched in a few areas. I was going to replace them with tempered but the glass shop said plate glass was half the cost has anyone ever done this. What do you guys think.
 
I've had glass made and I went with tempered. Safer that way..but I suppose plate glass wouldn't be terrible, at least you wouldn't have a HUGE mess if it broke..maybe just a sliced finger haha
 
That's the thing I want to save money but don't want mine or somebody else kid to get cut or hurt.
 
If you care about safety AT ALL, get tempered. You can get pinball tempered glass for a good price if you buy at the right place or right time. Usually $40-50 from a shop, but only $20 at pinball shows or group orders!

Wade
 
maybe just a sliced finger haha

...or maybe a sliced artery. Even if you don't die it's going to make a hell of a mess.

A piece of plate glass that size in that application should strike fear in your heart. I know it does for me. Go with tempered or live with the scratches.
 
Always tempered for this application, no exceptions. For two big reasons.

First is that tempered is a LOT safer. When plate glass breaks, it breaks into big sharp pieces that you can easily hurt yourself on very badly. Tempered breaks into thousands of tiny little squares. There's a reason why all new production house windows, business windows, car windows, etc, are tempered glass. Same with every commercially available pinball playfield glass.

Second is strength. Tempered is significantly stronger, and less prone to break in the first place.

Of course, you could also take your current glass down to a glass shop and see if they can re-polish it for you. There's a lot of products out there for polishing car windshields, and they are all applicable for pinball as well.

-Hans
 
I'll also add, if anyone's ever had plate glass on a pinball break (I have) you'll know what I'm talking about....besides the giant shardes of glass, you'll have 100's of tiny slivers of glass everywhere...like splinters, but glass. No fun to clean up. I always get my replacement glass tempered.

Edward
 
+ (however many above) Tempered

Last one I bought locally was like $40.
Might need to ask specifically NOT to put the little screened glass information on it saying it's tempered and all that. (kinda like the lettering you see on car safety glass windows)
 
ALWAYS tempered. There's a reason why EVERY pin has tempered glass. (As noted above.) If the glass shop guy recommended plate glass specifically for a pin, please tell him I said he's an idiot.
 
when you order tempered glass be sure to tell them "no bug" thats the litte stamp in the corner of the glass that says its tempered. Some times you have to have it to prove its tempered when you are using it in public places.
 
ALWAYS tempered. There's a reason why EVERY pin has tempered glass. (As noted above.) If the glass shop guy recommended plate glass specifically for a pin, please tell him I said he's an idiot.
This has been debated here before. My question to all that say the would never use plate glass is : are you going to throw out every mirror, drinking glass, china cabinet,picture frame or window in your house. I'm not saying you shouldn't use tempered glass in your pinball machine. I just think calling somebody an idot for using plate glass is a little harsh considering you probably have all the items mentioned in your home. I've seen kids bang on curio/ china cabinets and windows and bang drinking glasses on a table alot more than i've ever seen them bang on a pinball machine. I'm sure some will respond with some bull about a pinball flying around a hundred miles an hour hitting the glass, but I've never seen a pinball glass break from that. By the way are pinball backglasses tempered? What about monitor bezels on Arcade games is everyone of them tempered?

Glennon
 
This has been debated here before. My question to all that say the would never use plate glass is : are you going to throw out every mirror, drinking glass, china cabinet,picture frame or window in your house. I'm not saying you shouldn't use tempered glass in your pinball machine. I just think calling somebody an idot for using plate glass is a little harsh considering you probably have all the items mentioned in your home. I've seen kids bang on curio/ china cabinets and windows and bang drinking glasses on a table alot more than i've ever seen them bang on a pinball machine. I'm sure some will respond with some bull about a pinball flying around a hundred miles an hour hitting the glass, but I've never seen a pinball glass break from that. By the way are pinball backglasses tempered? What about monitor bezels on Arcade games is everyone of them tempered?

Glennon

Here's another question for you then. How many of those other forms of glass do you have the opportunity to apply huge amounts of leverage to, and handle without any kind of frame, the same was as you do when removing a playfield glass from a pinball machine?
I'm not worried about a pinball hitting it or kid banging something into it, as much as I am somebody dropping it or tripping when it's 2/3 of the way slid out of a machine.

-Hans
 
This has been debated here before. My question to all that say the would never use plate glass is : are you going to throw out every mirror, drinking glass, china cabinet,picture frame or window in your house. I'm not saying you shouldn't use tempered glass in your pinball machine. I just think calling somebody an idot for using plate glass is a little harsh considering you probably have all the items mentioned in your home. I've seen kids bang on curio/ china cabinets and windows and bang drinking glasses on a table alot more than i've ever seen them bang on a pinball machine. I'm sure some will respond with some bull about a pinball flying around a hundred miles an hour hitting the glass, but I've never seen a pinball glass break from that. By the way are pinball backglasses tempered? What about monitor bezels on Arcade games is everyone of them tempered?

Glennon


+1

I will always use tempered, but one thing I have never liked about tempered is the fact that it breaks into a thousand small pieces, higher probability of getting a piece in your eye if conditions are just right., would rather have a sliced open finger or hand Vs. having a piece of tempered rolling around under my eyelid, a cut will heal your eye site will not.
 
+1

I will always use tempered, but one thing I have never liked about tempered is the fact that it breaks into a thousand small pieces, higher probability of getting a piece in your eye if conditions are just right., would rather have a sliced open finger or hand Vs. having a piece of tempered rolling around under my eyelid, a cut will heal your eye site will not.

Total BS, you are far more likely to be seriously injured with plate glass than tempered glass. You're really no more likely to get something in your eye with tempered. Even if you got something in your eye, you won't bleed to death.

Wade
 
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I'm sure some will respond with some bull about a pinball flying around a hundred miles an hour hitting the glass, but I've never seen a pinball glass break from that.

Perhaps that's because the glass was tempered?

I'm still shocked every now and then at just how hard the ball can slam against the glass. I can't help but think that if it was hitting plate instead of tempered, there would have been at least some cracks in the glass, if not some downright shattering.
 
Ok, this will be my last post on the topic, because I really do not feel like answering a lot of questions about yesterday as I'm still really freaked out. But I spent a good part of last night in the emergency room after my daughter fell into a plate glass window. (It's a 100 year old house, we rent, and the landlord has opted not to replace the windows.) She'll be fine, we got lucky that it wasn't a lot worse.

So, please, use tempered.

Oh, and you'd be surprised how many tiny little flaky pieces there are with broken plate glass as well.
 
Ok, this will be my last post on the topic, because I really do not feel like answering a lot of questions about yesterday as I'm still really freaked out. But I spent a good part of last night in the emergency room after my daughter fell into a plate glass window. (It's a 100 year old house, we rent, and the landlord has opted not to replace the windows.) She'll be fine, we got lucky that it wasn't a lot worse.

So, please, use tempered.

Oh, and you'd be surprised how many tiny little flaky pieces there are with broken plate glass as well.
Sorry to hear about your daughter. This is my exact point. Why the OP called somebody an idiot for recomending plate glass for a pinball machine when they probably have 100 other items in their house made of plate glass or standard glass. If this is really about safety then why not throw out all standard glass items in the house or convert them to tempered glass?

Glennon
 
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