Im not sure how many people remember my work in progress tank I was planning way back when but it is still that a work in progress because I have yet to figure out how I am going to do the track.

So let me explain what I am wanting to do.
I want to put two sliding glass panels so that way one can slide in front of the other and the other can slide behind the first that way I have access to either half that is needed. I have been all over ACE, Lowes and Home Depot and cannot find an appropriate track for the glass to slide in. The closest thing I have found is aluminum U- channel that is 1/4 inch inner measurement... the glass is approximately and 1/8 inch thick I believe is what I measured. 1/4 inch is too wide for one piece of glass so it will have a lot of play and two pieces will rub and be to tight... the next size up is 1/2 inch and I dont want them hitting one another with what play that there will be.

I was originally looking for some W-channel not even sure if they make it but I thought that would be ideal but I have yet to find any.

I was just curious what some of you have done or ideas you may have so that I can follow through with mine.

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Randy

I plan to live forever... And so far its working

0.2.0 Ball Python (Jaxxie and Kyree)
1.0.0 Savanah Monitor (Sullivan)

i have no ideas. my doors swing out.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

The simplest thing that I can think of is to take a strip of something and glue it to the top and bottom of the glass in order to "shim" the area of the glass that is in the track thereby making the edges the width of the track while still using the thickness of the glass that you have.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

do you have pictures of the front, where the doors are to be? that would help me out. i'm setting mine to slide up on the canopy on my tank...

You'll have to excuse me. I forget what you're putting in the new enclosure. I would upgrade the glass to 1/4". The thinner 1/8" glass I would only use for small geckos and such. If not Merlins idea is the simplest. Or cut some track yourself out of a 3/4" by 3/4" pc of solid wood. Easily done on a tablesaw.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

I was also gonna suggest cutting groves in a piece of wood to make your own track.

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Here are some sites that have some track like the ones I am planning on ordering
Details for 4 Foot Plastic Sliding Door Track - Rockler Woodworking Tools
Patwin - Sliding Door Track and U-Channel
Outwater Plastics 2006 Master Catalog - page 70

any pics of your cage right now?

why not buy two tracks and lay them one right behind the other, then put appropriately sized glass in them. that would be like a homemade "w" track wouldn't it? not sure if it would work, just tossing that out there

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I'm full of useless facts to know and say!

~Chelsea~

To see a world in a grain of sand
And Heaven in a wildflower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour...

The Europeans use sliding door tracks. They are plastic and come in white, brown or black and 1m, 1.5m or 2m lengths. (It's plastic, so it can be cut to any length or lined up to make a longer track if needed.)The top track is deeper than the bottom track so you can angle the glass pieces in and take them out again for cleaning. I've never found them in the USA
The two U tracks together leave too much space between the pieces of glass: a lot of animals (and heat/humidity can escape through there.) Also you can't get the glass in and out again.
Randy, the place I ordered mine from ship to the USAand Canada: M&S Reptilien
You just have to know how thick your glass pieces are in millimeters. They have 6mm wide and 4mm wide tracks. PS -- The English translation is not brilliant: they say "up" and "down" when they mean "top" and bottom": You need to order a top track and a bottom track or the glass will not fit into place. Also the glass has to be cut to the precise size. It's a bit of calculating, but it's totally worth it to go with the sliding glass option.
Let me know if you need more information on how it all works.

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Andrea

I agree with this solution, Its the first thing I thought about.
And if the width would buther you You could always remove one of the sides so it would be an L shape against the U something like this LU

Well good luck with your "work in progress"

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If you want it badly enough and you are willing to work at it anything is possible, "I want it all"