Glass Display Case

Dave Richards

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I've got a client who wants a display case with glass on three sides. She gave me a hand drawn sketch showing round corners in the frames which I added here. The case is 16 in. wide and 12 in. deep--not including the moldings. The box is 40 in. tall. How wide do you suppose the stiles ought to be on the door frame? I don't want to have to make them wider than absolutely needed of you won't be able to see into the case but I don't want the door to flex so much the glass breaks every time the door is opened.
 
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Thanks. I was planning on some sort of flat shelf pins. The client didn't say anything about making them adjustable but I thought I'd put in 3 or 5 sets of holes for each shelf.
 
I agree with Dan on the sizes of the R&S's. What you have is two frame and panel (glass) ends, a top and bottom, and a back. A back let into a rabbet will square the case, and minimize most of the side racking at the rear. But, the rest of the case is subject to twisting forces. One way of minimizing that is to make the front verticals an "L". More help would be from using glass of substantial thickness in the panels. It may sound like overkill, but I use only ¼" for panels and doors. My machining is set up for ¼" dadoes and rabbets so, it's an easy set up.

For adjustable shelves, I would drill one set of holes for the placement of the shelves at the desired spacing, and then drill an adjustment hole above and below. The more holes that are drilled wil affect the integrity of the wood. Another possibility for hinging the door instead of using butt (leaf) hinges would be to use pivot hinges...like these. Butt hinges puts the opening/closing forces on the door stile exerting quite a bit of strain. Using a pivot hinge eliminates having to mortise for the hinges, provides for no hinges showing, and pivots the door on its weight instead of on the door stile.


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Thanks for that stuff Mike. Lots to consider. I had drawn the front of the case sides as an L to gain some stiffness already. So that's one thing in my favor. I like the idea of the pivot hinges and had considered them also. I'll give that as an option. I've also done an option in which the door overlays the sides. We'll see which way it goes.
 
Dave I really like the way you have shown a person to illustrate scale. What this raises with me is the question of what goes into these cases and how its seen.
When i think back to nick knack cases i have seen in the family all of them had legs so the display part was more from waist up or slightly below.
Are these intended to be floor mounted?

Mike its so good to have you and the other pros here. It helps guys like me beyond what you can imagine. Thanks for your contributions I appreciate them very much.

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