How to lift glass panel?
- Thread starter AR1
- Start date
Buy or borrow suction cups for glass handling. Use styrofoam to soften wherever you need to put the glass down.
Thanks for the response,
Milingu
. Should I lift the glass from both sides, or would lifting it from the middle work? I read on a website that lifting glass from the middle without supporting the edges can cause it to shatter. Also, I’ll have to carry the glass up to the second floor using stairs—do you think that would be feasible?
The suction cups can help a lot, but are themselves a danger if not used properly. Make sure the glass is clean and dry and the surfaces of the suction cups are also clean and dry.
I dont know your capabilities but doesnt really matter---handling glass is dangerous every time all the time. Use grippy gloves, move all obstacles out of the way, lock up pesky dogs and cats that might run under foot. For a big piece going up the stairs try and find yourself a helper to control the other end of it.
To do this alone i would personally stand it up longways, grip it by both sides and move it up the stairs one or two steps at a time, placing a towel or cardboard under each step in succession as you go along. The idea is to do this slowly and carefully, not swinging the pane around corners or holding it sideways over your feet or other body parts.
Tempered is safer to move than large sheets of annealed. Plenty of horror stories out there of people being cut in half from sheets of broken glass.
I dont know your capabilities but doesnt really matter---handling glass is dangerous every time all the time. Use grippy gloves, move all obstacles out of the way, lock up pesky dogs and cats that might run under foot. For a big piece going up the stairs try and find yourself a helper to control the other end of it.
To do this alone i would personally stand it up longways, grip it by both sides and move it up the stairs one or two steps at a time, placing a towel or cardboard under each step in succession as you go along. The idea is to do this slowly and carefully, not swinging the pane around corners or holding it sideways over your feet or other body parts.
Tempered is safer to move than large sheets of annealed. Plenty of horror stories out there of people being cut in half from sheets of broken glass.
Is this that glass you were scrounging for free? I think you said that it was 3/4-inch or something like that? That's a heavy and potentially dangerous thing to schlep around by yourself. Dropping it, falling while carrying it or smashing and breaking it in any other way...can result in far worse problems than merely breaking the glass. You're gonna get hurt.
Suction cups are great for final positioning of the glass when you are laying it onto the silicone, but I'll be honest, I don't even use them for that. You are talking about a heavy piece of fragile glass which is very dangerous to handle carelessly. I personally make sure I wear heavy work gloves and carry the sheet vertically under one arm with the offside hand adding extra support and balance. Gotta move slowly and carefully to avoid banging the ends against corners, doors, etc. Depending upon your height, you must be careful not to slam the bottom rear corner against the stairs behind you as you descend, or the front corner against the stairs in front if you are going upwards. Picking the thing up is tricky; setting it down is even trickier.
Half-inch glass weighs about 6.5 pounds per square foot; 3/4-inch is almost ten. I've carried a crapload of glass down the narrow, steep stairs into my subterranean lair, including a couple of 90x22-inch sheets of half-inch. You will be...or you'd better be...aware that you are doing something potentially dangerous. When you are halfway up the stairs, that is a really bad time to decide that you can't go further for some reason.
TLDR: get some assistance.
Edited to add: Ah, crap, I should have known that somebody would type faster than me. Listen to
Backfromthedead
. Excellent point about the tempered glass; I'll never use it because I want to be able to drill it, but I think you said you weren't going to do that...no real need with a plywood tank...and the scrap you have salvaged is likely tempered, so that's a good thing.
Suction cups are great for final positioning of the glass when you are laying it onto the silicone, but I'll be honest, I don't even use them for that. You are talking about a heavy piece of fragile glass which is very dangerous to handle carelessly. I personally make sure I wear heavy work gloves and carry the sheet vertically under one arm with the offside hand adding extra support and balance. Gotta move slowly and carefully to avoid banging the ends against corners, doors, etc. Depending upon your height, you must be careful not to slam the bottom rear corner against the stairs behind you as you descend, or the front corner against the stairs in front if you are going upwards. Picking the thing up is tricky; setting it down is even trickier.
Half-inch glass weighs about 6.5 pounds per square foot; 3/4-inch is almost ten. I've carried a crapload of glass down the narrow, steep stairs into my subterranean lair, including a couple of 90x22-inch sheets of half-inch. You will be...or you'd better be...aware that you are doing something potentially dangerous. When you are halfway up the stairs, that is a really bad time to decide that you can't go further for some reason.
TLDR: get some assistance.
Edited to add: Ah, crap, I should have known that somebody would type faster than me. Listen to
Backfromthedead
. Excellent point about the tempered glass; I'll never use it because I want to be able to drill it, but I think you said you weren't going to do that...no real need with a plywood tank...and the scrap you have salvaged is likely tempered, so that's a good thing.
I don't think it will shatter. We transported some larger panels of tempered glas last year and just slapped some straps around them and lifted them with a crane. Just avoid contact with anything hard or pointy.
Otherwise what Backfromthefead and jjohnwm said.
Otherwise what Backfromthefead and jjohnwm said.
Is this that glass you were scrounging for free? I think you said that it was 3/4-inch or something like that? That's a heavy and potentially dangerous thing to schlep around by yourself. Dropping it, falling while carrying it or smashing and breaking it in any other way...can result in far worse problems than merely breaking the glass. You're gonna get hurt.
Suction cups are great for final positioning of the glass when you are laying it onto the silicone, but I'll be honest, I don't even use them for that. You are talking about a heavy piece of fragile glass which is very dangerous to handle carelessly. I personally make sure I wear heavy work gloves and carry the sheet vertically under one arm with the offside hand adding extra support and balance. Gotta move slowly and carefully to avoid banging the ends against corners, doors, etc. Depending upon your height, you must be careful not to slam the bottom rear corner against the stairs behind you as you descend, or the front corner against the stairs in front if you are going upwards. Picking the thing up is tricky; setting it down is even trickier.
Half-inch glass weighs about 6.5 pounds per square foot; 3/4-inch is almost ten. I've carried a crapload of glass down the narrow, steep stairs into my subterranean lair, including a couple of 90x22-inch sheets of half-inch. You will be...or you'd better be...aware that you are doing something potentially dangerous. When you are halfway up the stairs, that is a really bad time to decide that you can't go further for some reason.
TLDR: get some assistance.
Edited to add: Ah, crap, I should have known that somebody would type faster than me. Listen to
*Yes, it is indeed one of the glass panels I scavenged, and it's about 3/4 inch thick. I'll be attaching four pieces of thermocol to each side of the glass to help prevent it from breaking, even if it bumps into something hard.
Thank you,
Milingu
,
jjohnwm
, and
Backfromthedead
, for your help, responses, and concern for my safety.
