How to Measure for a Glass Table Top

A glass table top is one of the few pieces where the safety requirement is not a matter of opinion. Everything else is a design decision.

Toughened is not optional

Anything that can be sat on, leaned against or walked into should be toughened, and a table top is all three. Ordinary annealed glass breaks into large sharp shards. Toughened glass is several times stronger and, if it does break, crumbles into small blunt pieces.

Toughening must be specified when you order. Glass cannot be cut, drilled or edge-worked once it has been toughened, so every dimension and every detail has to be final beforehand.

Two different jobs

A protective cover sits on an existing timber or stone table. Measure the table surface and match it exactly, or come in 2–3mm on each side so the glass does not overhang and catch.

A table top proper sits on a base and is the surface. Here you choose the size, and overhang matters — see below.

Thickness

• 6mm — protective covers over an existing solid surface, where the glass is supported everywhere.
• 10mm — smaller table tops on a solid base, side tables, coffee tables.
• 12mm — dining tables and anything with a span between supports.
• 15mm — large dining tables, wide spans, or where you want the substantial look of a thick edge.

The span between supports matters more than the overall size. A 1600mm top on a solid pedestal is a different problem from the same top on four corner legs. Tell us the base arrangement and we will tell you what we would use.

Overhang

For a top sitting on a base, an overhang of 50–100mm past the base on each side is the usual range. Less looks tight; more starts to lever on the base when someone leans on the edge.

If the base is a pedestal, keep the overhang modest and the glass thick — the whole load runs through one point.

Corners

Square corners on a toughened top are sharp and vulnerable. Chipping a corner on toughened glass usually shatters the whole panel.

Most people choose a radius. A 10–25mm radius is barely noticeable but takes the point off. A larger radius, 50mm or more, is a visible design choice. Tell us the radius you want at the same time as the dimensions.

Edges

A table top edge is handled constantly, so it is always polished. On thicker glass the polished edge becomes a feature in its own right — a 12mm or 15mm polished edge catches light and is part of why thick glass tops look the way they do.

Low iron, if the edge is on show

Standard clear glass carries a green cast that concentrates in the thickness. On a 12mm top, the exposed edge reads distinctly green. If that bothers you, low iron glass is close to colourless and the difference at the edge is obvious side by side.

It costs more, so it is worth reserving for tops where the edge is genuinely visible.

Checklist

• Length and width, or diameter, in millimetres
• Thickness
• Corner radius
• Toughened — yes
• Polished edges
• Base arrangement, so we can sanity check the span

Prices are on the clear glass and low iron pages, or email us at info@affordableglassonline.com.au.