Glass for windshield

[Bill Perkins]

I'm thinking of useing glass on my windshield instead of Lexan ,so I have the option of installing a power wiper .Auto glass seems like overkill .Is tempered glass such as used in doors adequate ? The opening is 17 in. by 37 in. Can I use 1/8th in. tempered glass ?

[Mhija]

I'm no expert, so take this for what it's worth. If I remember correctly tempered glass breaks into a lot of small and relatively
less sharp pieces under pressure. Auto glass, being a laminate of
two pieces of tempered glass with a clear adhesive layer holding them together, has the nice property of not disintegrating when it's
hit. Getting a million seperate small pieces of glass out of the boat after a breakage could get really ugly.... Another option might be
abrasion resistant acrylic, it's a bit pricey and not as impact resistant as the polycarbonate Lexan though.

[Gary E]

Originally posted by Bill Perkins:
I'm thinking of useing glass on my windshield instead of Lexan ,so I have the option of installing a power wiper .Auto glass seems like overkill .Is tempered glass such as used in doors adequate ? The opening is 17 in. by 37 in. Can I use 1/8th in. tempered glass ?Tempered is just so so.. and I would NEVER use it. and NEVER use 1/8..

Are you or is anyone EVER on the deck where you could fall aginst this glass? or even stick your hand out to keeep your balance? If you are or even if your not the risk of glass shards is not an acceptable risk.

Use LAMINATED SAFETY PLATE, or stay with plastic.

[Ken Hutchins]

Laminated safety glass as stated is the best. However there are 2 qualities, so if you want optically clear no distortion as required in Auto windshields ask for SAFETY PLATE, Now the less expensive but still good enough for a boat IMO is SAFETY SHEET, which is a lot cheaper but just as safe. There might be some slight distortion with it.

[Tom Lathrop]

I did not really consider tempered glass for the windshield on my powerboat since I did not think it adequate. I have seen tempered glass desintigrate from a relatively small shock. I used safety laminated glass now used in trucks since all autos have curved windshields. Heavier but I don't worry about anyone getting hurt with it.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Safety plate. Altho all the old mahogany boats had plate windshields. My boat is all plate, no biggy on your boat Bill...