Glass desk weight limit?

Question

I just got a glass L desk it says it has a 50lb weight limit, is that for the whole desk or each piece of glass? also is that just a recommended weight and what weight would it most likely shatter at, its 1/4 inch tempered glass got it from office max. Right now i have about 45Lb all spread out on it is that o.k?

Thanks

Answer 1

Your arrangement is the best thing. I would suppose that they are defining 50 lbs as being a stack of books or a box placed in the middle of the space between supports, which I would expect 1/4" tempered to hold if the supports are less than 4 feet apart. Tempered glass will (safely) shatter to little bits if it is heavily scratched, so avoid dragging things across the surface.
I found only one reference to glass shelf capacity in a short search and it has much lower limits for a shelf supported on the end
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Bearing_Capacity_of_Glass_Shelves.html

Answer 2

Measure the thickness of the glass and the surface area (length x width). Contact a glass company and ask them.