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Things You'll Need
Instructions
How to Build the Glass Case
Begin by smoothing off the rough edges of your glass (or plexiglass, if you prefer). The glass shop will make the rough cuts when you order the glass, but it will leave the edges rough and possibly even sharp. You can use the emery cloth or a silicon based sandpaper to smooth the edges down so that the glass is safe to work with and fits together well.
Take your duct tape and begin to make several strips of tape so that they will be ready when you need them. Each strip should be about half as wide as the roll of tape, and should be about 6 inches long. You should make 15-20 of these strips initially, and can make more as you go if they are required.
Take one of the long pieces of glass, and lay it on the work area in front of you with the inside edge facing up. Then, put 8 tape strips under the edge of the glass. There should be 4 tape strips spaced evenly down each of the long sides. Each strip should be placed sticky side up, with half of the strip being under the glass, and half laying flat, unused.
Run a line of silicon sealant down on of the long sides of the glass pane, as a connection point for the next piece of glass. Take another long piece of glass, and place the edge of the glass into the sealant. The two glasses should now be positioned so that they are joined together and form a 90 degree angle. Hold the glass in place with one hand, and use your free hand to stick the unused half of the tape strips onto the new piece of glass. This will help hold the glass in place while you move on to the next piece.
Repeat Step 4, only on the opposite side of the glass pane. When finished, you should have one piece of glass laying flat, with two other long pieces of glass sealed onto it, one down each of it’s long sides.
Run a line of silicon sealant down the exposed edges of the 2nd and 3rd glass pane. Then take the final long piece of glass and place it on top of these. Wrap eight more tape strips across the corners so that it is all held in place as the sealant dries. Take care to have all of the edges lined up flush with each other, because you will not be able to move them once the sealant has hardened.
Take the 6.75” x 6.75 inch of glass. Note that if you are working with glass more than .25” thick, you will need to adjust the size of this piece. Apply silicon sealant to one side of this piece of glass, and then stick it to the center of the 7” x 7” glass. Note that it must be perfectly centered. Use a tape measure to make sure that there is 0.25” space all the way around the 7” x 7” piece, after the smaller one has been applied.
Leave the glass for at least 24 hours to give the sealant ample time to dry. While you wait, move on to the next section, “Build the Display Case Base”.
Build the Display Case Base
Take your 8” x 8” piece of wood. It does not need to be any particular thickness. Use your sandpaper to give an initial sanding of the wood, particularly around the outside edges where there may be rough areas from saw blade cuts. If you have an electric sander available, feel free to use it for this step.
With the wood sanded smooth, grab your tape measure and begin to plot a line that runs 1 inch in from the outside edge of the wood. When you are finished, you will basically have a 7” square drawn inside the wood.
Using your router, trace over the path you have just drawn, to cut a groove into the wood. The groove will make a 7” x 7” square within the 8” x 8” piece of wood. It is important to have the bit used in the router a size that corresponds to the thickness of the glass you used in the first section.
Give the wood a second sanding, focusing mostly on the top side, where you just used the router. There may be splinters or loose wood, so you just want to sand these down so that everything is smooth and looks good.
Use your paint brush to apply a layer of wood stain to the wood. Do this in a well-ventilated area, following the manufacturers instructions that are printed on the can of wood stain.
Allow the wood stain to dry, then proceed to the next section, “Assemble the Display Case”.
Assemble the Display Case
Place the wood base in the area where you would like to display your wood baseball bat. The wood should be placed so that the side with the grooves is facing up.
Take the glass case that you constructed out of the 4 long pieces of glass, and stand the case so that one end fits directly into the grooves on the wood base.
Slide your wood baseball bat into the display case from the top. Place the heavy end first, so that it will be at the bottom of the display case, with the handle leaned against one of internal walls.
Cap off the top of the display case with the 7” x 7” glass that had the smaller piece sealed to it. Place is so that the smaller piece fits inside the case, sort of like a stopper, leaving the outside top of the case to simply be smooth glass.
Remove the duct tape and use any common glass cleaner to clean up the glass. You display case is now complete.