Glass top for barrel tuning?

Has anyone ever had a glass window at the top of the  barrel?

 Seems like it would be useful for barrel height "tuning" and seeing what the fire is doing...

 Also could allow direct radiant heating of the bottom of a stainless crab cooker suspended above it as an "open vessel tank for hydronic use, with the added benefit of it's additional thermal mass, and a tank that only loses heat INTO the space you want heated.

 I'm thinking a circle of "neoglass" type ceramic wood stove glass cut to the inside dimension of the barrel rim, then cut away the top of the barrel 1" in from that diameter and the put down a two loop spiral of 1/2" stove gasket on the flange this created, and lay the glass on top...  

 Might be a $100+ piece of ceramic stove glass, but might well be worth it!

Glass-ceramics, on the other hand, are made especially for high heat applications like fireplaces and wood stoves. Its the same type of material that is used on stoves and glass cooktops. It can take the heat (up to 1400F) and will not break if the temperature changes rapidly.

Will it take the heat?
How would you cut a glass cooktop to size?

Roy Hinkley wrote:

Glass-ceramics, on the other hand, are made especially for high heat applications like fireplaces and wood stoves. Its the same type of material that is used on stoves and glass cooktops. It can take the heat (up to 1400F) and will not break if the temperature changes rapidly.

Will it take the heat?
How would you cut a glass cooktop to size?

That is the first thing I thought of as well - will it take the high temps, as well as the sharp temperature changes ?

I know I have had my stove go from 0 up too 900 degrees in about 20 min.  . . .  so I can see a regular piece of glass shattering . . .  on the other hand, it would be REALLY COOL too see the pyrotechnics of a 1,000 degree fire . . .

Oh, great ! Now ya got me wondering  . . . and I have a spare barrel to play with. . .  hmmmm....

This would have to be the special ceramic glass used in wood stoves...  Same type of stuff as a "glass" electric cooktop, but clear, as it's not trying to hide ugly heating elements, sensors, and ceramic wool insulation as is under the glass on the electric range...  But to show the fire and allow radiative heat to exit...

 I'm guessing the price for a round cut of that diameter would likely lie between $100 and $150... Last piece I bought for a Lopi stove was $55, and about half the size needed, as well as being a "standard part" for those stoves, which might make it less than a custom circle cut piece.

I have some scraps from that split glass on the Lopi stove, and another scrap that would allow me to do a smaller window (or two) on my barrel, when I manage to get my other going...  Can cut smaller Windows and make sure I leave that lip at the outer edge with my placement and can replace with larger custom piece for the whole barrel top when I can afford to.

 Got a fair bit more parts and materials to scrounge first...

Sounds really cool, maybe a snug fitting lid kept close by, just in case the glass did break.

I am not thinking anything really fancy (round glass). . .  I was just going to find a piece of glass out of a wood stove, buy a bit of that braided door seal for wood stoves, cut a hole, and bolt the thing on and see what happens . . .

But then I like to "wing" it . . .

we have all that information on our site at http://woodstove-fireplaceglass.com