Prices for glass?

[erik winkler]

I just ordered some 20 pieces of glass.
Asked for pure white (not the glass that has a green accent).
Size: 20x20cm (7,87 inch x 7,87 inch).
Thickness: 6mm (0.2364 inch).
Asked to have the sides bevel polished, so that the pieces are somewhat more handeable...

Just picked them up and the price I had to pay (including vat) 300 euro's!!!!
That is about 384,27 US dollars!

I feel like i have been stolen, ofcourse the beveled edge must cost something, but 19,21 US dollars for a little piece of glass must be to much.
What do you guys pay for pieces of glass?

[Danny Baronian]

Erick, the first thing you should have done was ask for a quote.

I haven't purchased lately, but the last glass plaques I ordered was clear, 1/4" plate glass - not starfire (optically clear) - 3/8" thick, 10 x 10" w/ flat polished edges. In quantities of 50 I was paying 4.00 each. If I was to get 1-5 it would probably be in the area of $7-10 US.

Depending on who the supplier was, it's possible the bevels had to be done by hand, as many automatic machines have minimum size limitations as to what can be run through the machine.

For glass that small, unless you have a specific need for the bevel, ask for the glass cut to size with seamed edges, which can be supplied in your local glass shop. Seamed edges means they sand the edges, eliminating sharp edges. You can do the same with a hand held seamer, or sand paper.

Danny

[Larry White]

Hey Eric...sounds like robbery...

Over this way, the edges of the glass can be dressed in a variety of ways. The cheapest is to ask for seamed edges. The sharp clean cut edges are knocked down via sanding. Typically this would be done for ease of handing and where the edges will be hidden in a frame. Next, if the edges will show, it can be ordered with a machine ground edge, or a polished edge. Polished edges come in a variety of styles, some are more expensive than others.

When you refered to the glass as "beveled"I know that term as adding an additional angled, flat surface on the sides of the face of the glass.

Price wise, the type of edge work you order will effect the cost of the glass, and like Danny said, sometimes small pieces require the work to be done by hand, greatly accelerating the price.

For reference, I just ordered two pieces of tempered 1/4" extra-clear (Starphire) glass 18" x 30" with a pencil polished edge, the total was $85.40 USD. They would have been a bit less if they weren't tempered.

In another order, I ordered two pieces of 1/2" extra-clear glass (not tempered) 4" x 8" with 3 edges having a flat polish and one short having a pencil polish. The total for the two was $90 USD. ....ouch

Shoulda gotta quote When I called the supplier, they said it would've been $60 on standard (green) glass, or $41.28 if I had ordered all the edges with a pencil polish.

Hope that helps...

[erik winkler]

Feeling angry and stupid....


But the anxiety to start making some demo's was too much now that I have almost all my ingrediënts that I forgot to get a quote/invoice.
But on the other hand the price Larry paid was about the same for the same kind of work am I correct?
Can you please explain what "the edges with a pencil polish" is?

Here is the beveled edge they made (top one) and the machine they use...

[Larry White]

Here's a few of the more common ones...

[erik winkler]

But did I pay way too much for my glass?
Was the polished edge too much for my need? It seems to be somewhat the same as the mentioned 'common' edges shown by Larry...

They will be my demo's to show to potential customers.
I will slide them in a wooden suitcase I am going to make for them so I can travel with them...
So on one end I wanted the nicest glas pieces, but on the other hand I want to know if I should continue doing business with this company?
I really have (untill the prices mentioned above) no idea of pricing glass.

[vance galliher]

eric,
are you saying you just paid $19,ooo for less than a square foot of beveled glass......or is it just late and I should go to bed ? Did you mean a period for the comma ? just curious...........

[vance galliher]

..............after rereading the post I see it was $19.21 per piece...I should probably get ready for bed soon.......hahaaaa. For 3/8" starphire seamed edge I normally pay around $21 per sq ft..so we're paying about the same Larry

[erik winkler]

Yes I paid 19 dollars for just 1/4 inch of flat polished starphire glass.

Do you guys allways use the more expensive starphire glass or is 1/4 of an inch so thin that you won't see the green tone when silvering/gilding etc?

[Larry White]

So Eric, I got a quote for the exact thing you ordered from my supplier. Their price is $17.94 each, so I don't think you over paid too much. Perhaps your supplier has higher energy costs, rent, likes sushi, or all of the above. It never hurts to shop around and even share the prices between suppliers...if business is slow, sometimes they'll drop the price to get the order.

I think you ordered the right thing for the job. Your samples will look quite nice on those pieces with polished edges. It will also convey to your client that you do the highest end work, and that's what you're after.

Yes, if you want things to look the best, do them on an extra-clear glass. The green tint of standard glass will effect your treatments, even with 1/4" glass. Have a piece of standard 1/4" (green) glass in your sample box to show a client why you use extra-clear glass. I typically do most of my work on extra-clear glass.

So quit worrying about paying too much for the glass...and, make those samples YOU!

Oh, and post some pictures of them when they're done!

-Aho!

[vance galliher]

Eric, so far I've been using starphire only for deep carved, LED work...........it really makes a difference when edge lit

[Roderick Treece]

Eric,
I am going to send you photos of my sample box.I never learned how to post photos so if you want to post them please do.

One big thing to keep in mind when making a sample case is weight.Mine has 19 samples that are 8" x 10 " with wooden frames .It weighes 42 LBS.!! If I had to do it all over again it would be smaller and use as much 1/8" glass as possible.The other thing about having a really cool sample case is most of the non letterhead people you show it to will just glaze over and really not get how cool it is.I only show mine off when I really know the client is interested.

Take a look at the George Brooks portfolio and you and see how beautiful they can be and still be small.I'm not sure but I remember holding in my lap and maybe it was 5' x 7" with 13 glass pages.


Roderick

[erik winkler]

Guys I want to thank you for your input.

Larry very considered and cool of you to ask for an exact quote. I appreciate it!
I will go on to work at it this weekend boss. It is just so incredibly bussy at the firm!
Again I can not put enough emphasis on the importance of a clean cut website.

Roderick my dear old fellow, I can't wait to see the photo's your heave duty sample box.
And where can I find this "George Brooks portfolio"?

Almost a year has gone by since I got hooked on the works done here.
Slept aprox. 2 hours a day less (seriously) this year, but still I am very happy with it.

[erik winkler]

[Jerry Berg]

THATS what I need. Thanks for the box pictures..... Ideas.

[Aaron Taylor]

Great box Roderick! I'm with you erinkwinkler on the sleep thing I'm very addicted. I have been reading til my eyes bleed. You guys here do great work and are very inspiring! Time to go make a sample box.