Turning a regular glass hinge lid into a sliding lid - need help!

[nerdyaquarist]

Some of you may have seen one of the many DIY youtube videos and tutorials that are out there that show how to make a sliding glass lid. Here's one of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whwqdsF4GiI

 

To bypass the steps of buying and cutting my own glass, I just bought a new hinge lid to have all the materials minus the molding. For those who have attempted this, what molding have you used?

The one that everyone recommends is way too thin for the glass that I have. Because the glass is thicker than the opening (so it can't go all the way in), I can't fit the lid on the tank. I don't want to go through the hassle of finding someone to cut my glass, and I want the glass to fit securely in the molding. I can't seem to find moldings of different sizes unfortunately, but I believe there's gotta be a bigger one. Here's a link of the one I bought: https://www.homedepot.com/p/205347157?cm_mmc=ecc-_-THD_THANKYOU-_-V1_M1_CA-_-Product_URL&ecc_ord=WP51009973&em_id=68b19b0ac2035306175e5879de977a577ac254d626174e8966a3bfee150b4813

Anyone know where else I can find something like this? I have seen some hobbyists mentioned a Lowe's one but it may have been discontinued since it's no longer on the website.

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/9/2022 at 12:54 AM, nerdyaquarist said:

To bypass the steps of buying and cutting my own glass, I just bought a new hinge lid to have all the materials minus the molding. For those who have attempted this, what molding have you used?

I used the one from the hardware store that you commonly see.  There is a few variables here you need to consider and you can easily verify beforehand. 

A.  Thickness of the glass to match the channel
B.   If you want to paint the channel black (I think that was a simply betta video)
C.  If you're "fine" with the channel or if you want the glass to overlap.

If you go to lowes, they should cut the glass for you and you can use sandpaper to fine tune the shape if you have any major fitment issues.  That covers the majority of the concern with cutting the glass.  That being said, I would encourage you to just cut your own glass and do it yourself.

You will break a sliding lid eventually, and you just need to be able to fix it when that happens.  Unfortunately it's part of the deal with those things, you set them aside for WCs and something always happens.... eventually.