Glass Reloading Bench

[joghotrod]

Have you ever seen a glass reloadig bench? My wife hates this glass desk that we bought 30 years ago and wanted to get rid of it. I told her I would use it for reloading. So here is a picture. Will I break the glass? I had to use some wood to clamp my press and powder dispenser so it wouldn't break the glass.

Jimmy

[WrzWaldo]

Sweet. Nice to see unusual setups! I am working on a new top for my "dry bench", it will include a large slab of granite.

[acloco]

Cool idea..but (always another side of the coin...so to speak).

Glass attracts and promotes static electricity.

Glass is also an excellent conductor of all flavors of electricity (low, medium, & high voltage).

Glass also does not like to be stressed, over and over, at the same point - believe the fractures cannot be seen and then.....whammo...you have an eruption/break/etc.

[jo191145]

acloco

Very interesting. OK I'm smart enough to know glass breaks but I never would have considered the conductivity side of the equation.
Would it be possible for joghotrod to ground that top. Perhaps to a plumbing pipe that shares the houses electrical ground.
Might not want to store powder on it during an electrical storm tho

[skipper]

Look, I don't want to offend anyone here but, I have been working with electricity for 30 years now. Glass is one of the materials we use for our insulators. It is an excellent insulator. Look at light bulbs. They are made of glass and insulate you from the voltage and current inside them. I can admit that under the right conditions glass may build up a static charge but that is usually coated glass like a mirror or your TV picture tube. Clean, clear glass is an excellent insulator. It certainly doesn't need to be grounded.

I would be worried about breaking that glass though. If you drop a die or something like that on that table, it's going to break. Do yourself a favor, get an old door or some other suitable material. Anything but glass.

[Rick in Oregon]

I've got to agree with Skipper. Glass is about the very last alternative I'd ever consider for the top of my reloading bench. Eventually, you WILL drop a die on the surface....it may not be pretty with a glass bench top. Just another .02.....

[WHISTLEPIG]

That piece of glass looks to about ½ inch. If it is, you would need a major mess up to break it. The one thing it should have going for it is that it is probably very level. Be careful, watch the edge, don’t wrench things to hard down on it, and I bet you will be good to go.

[jo191145]

Oh boy, Thanks Skipper for jogging the old brain cells And to think I once collected those glass insulators from the old power lines that used to run through New England. Me thinks your right, no ground required

While I never would consider glass for a reloading bench it is thick. A chip on the edge can cause it to shatter with no warning though. Were household glass tables made of safety glass thirty years ago. Not sure myself but I think not. I think they're required to be now but not then.

If that glass gave way while your sitting under it you could be in a world of hurt. Something to think about.

[acloco]

It is not necessarily the material the glass is made out of, but the surface.


http://science.howstuffworks.com/vdg1.htm

[skipper]

I'm not disagreeing that glass can be given a static charge. The glass rod rubbed with a silk cloth is one of the experiments we do in associate training to demonstrate electrostatic charges. We also do the experiment with a plastic comb run through clean dry hair and then pick up clippings out of the paper shreader. That is a much different subject from that same glass rod or plastic comb being able to conduct an electrical current. Neither will. Try it yourself. Get a set of battery cables and hook them up to your car battery. Clip one end on each side of a comb. There will be no spark because the comb won't conduct electricity. Now try it with one end touched to one side of your headlight and the other to the other side of the same headlight. No spark, because glass will not conduct electricity.

Matters ability to conduct electricity is the result of the number of electrons in the valence shell of its atomic structure. Normally, conductors have three or less valence electrons. Insulators have five or more valence electrons and semiconductors usually have four valence electrons.

I'm not intending to flame anyone here. I just have to state the facts though. Glass is not a conductor.

[Hidalgo]

I wouldn't be as worried about dropping a die or something else as I would be afraid of the press breaking the glass. There is a BUNCH of pressure on the surface when you are using the press. The wood won't stop that from happening. That would be my main concern.

I have to agree with your concept. It looks great and is non-porous. But I'd be very afraid to use it for that application.

[joghotrod]

Thanks for all the concern guys. I will be very careful and probably only use the press on the desk to seat bullets. It is a very stable platform to weigh powder. That piece of glass must weigh about 100 lbs. In the past I would set my loading stuff on the kitchen counter but rather than throw this desk away or sell it, I figured I could use it and leave my stuff set up all the time. When I resize I will use my shop table which has a 5/8 steel plate top that weights 300 lbs.

Jimmy

[Glen]

Here's another thought Jimmy. Take the glass off & get a sheet of 3/4 birch plywood. Trace the glass top on the plywood & cut it out. Do this twice. Get some carpenters glue & smear a thin coat over one side of the plywood & make a samich with the other section on top weighted down by bricks. Let it set for 24-36hrs & remove the bricks & sand the edges smooth. Screw the top to the existing frame & your off to the races with about $45 invested in the plywood.

[joghotrod]

Here's another thought Jimmy. Take the glass off & get a sheet of 3/4 birch plywood. Trace the glass top on the plywood & cut it out. Do this twice. Get some carpenters glue & smear a thin coat over one side of the plywood & make a samich with the other section on top weighted down by bricks. Let it set for 24-36hrs & remove the bricks & sand the edges smooth. Screw the top to the existing frame & your off to the races with about $45 invested in the plywood.

Thanks I will do that when and if this thing breaks. The way I am using this desk it will probably never break.

Jimmy