Ok, so. Going by what I have read so far I am going to enclose both fresnels and the LCD in glass. I am planning on using glass that is available at my local Lowes. It is 2.5 mm. Does this sound about right?

Also I was thinking of using tempered glass to enclose the rear fresnel. This would be in addition to the required piece of tempered glass. Anyone have opinions about this?

My monitor is a sony SDM-M51. I did not find it in a search here so when I strip it I will be sure to get pictures in case anyone is interested. Thanks.

And one more question. Has anyone had any success cutting tempered glass?

Thanks.

David.

Short answer, no. That's why you have it made to order -- they cut the glass before they temper it.

More info:

http://www.glassonweb.com/glassmanual/topi...ex/tempered.htm

~DM~

Ok, great. Thanks for the answer and the link.

David.

[And one more question. Has anyone had any success cutting tempered glass?
]
You CANNOT cut a tampered glass becuase it's gone through high heat treatment, if you try to cut it even using the best glass cutter available, it will break into smaller pieces - kind of like what you see if you ever witnessed an car accident where the window glass shatter into small pieces. Your best bet - order a tampered glass and make sure it's the correct size you need and that it's not marked.
Hope this helps.

great, now im confused about the glass i picked up for myself... i went to a place called Lowe's, they do hardware/home improvement type business. anyway, i asked the gentleman there for a peice of tempered glass, he quickly replied, "sure, what size", so i gave him the dimensions i needed. after reading the above stating that you cannot cut tempered glass, im doubting what i got was tempered afterall, because i watched him cut it to the size i needed using this wall mounted cutting device. so does this now mean that i infact do not have a tempered piece on my hands? i wanted to be sure the first time, so i deliberately asked him if it was tempered or not, and he reassured me it was. do i need to go back and inform this guy he doesnt know what hes talkin about??

Going back to your original question, yes it is very possible to have too much glass. Each piece cuts down on the lumens that make it through your projector. Somewhere someone had some numbers on it, but it was around 4-10% per piece of glass. Something like that. You want to have as few pieces as possible.

I would say go with a piece of tempered glass or lexan for the heat shield and then maybe encase the fresnels. I have my rear fresnel encased and that is more glass in the projector than I really want. You definitely do not want to encase the lcd. The reason to encase the fresnels is to keep the dust off of them and to prevent them from bowing. I think it is probably worth doing to the rear fresnel, but I am not going to do it to the front.

I don't believe you have tempered glass. Tempered glass will shatter when cut. More than likely it's just plain. I'd take it back or stop in and talk to someone other than the original person you talked to.

Use as little glass as possible. Personally, I use a single sheet of Lexan as a heat sheild and have my rear fresnel mounted in a sturdy frame to minimize warping and my cooling is very good.

I would recommend NOT putting glass on the front fresnel - it's not necessary. It doesn't get nearly hot enough to warp the front fresnel. Then for the lamp section use either 1) a good heat shield and a single piece in front of the fresnel or 2) no heat sheild and the fresnel mounted between 2 tempered sheets.

Yup head to your local auto glass/general glass store and order it, it will take a few days to more likely 7-10. Make sure you request it NOT be stamped, imperative otherwise you'll have a nice little tempered note and probably the company logo projected on your screen.