Glass is one of the most versatile – and most misunderstood – materials used in the world. Glass can be used for everything from eyeglasses to bottles, windows to the ‘glassphalt’ you find on the road. Many products called “glass” are actually ceramics and have entirely different manufacturing process than the glass we discuss in this article. Glass that is put into buildings or automobiles, in windows or table tops is usually called flat-, float-, window or plate glass. So exactly what is glass?

What Is The History of Glass?

The ancient Romans made flat glass by rolling out hot glass on a smooth surface. The resulting glass was neither clear nor even, but it was good enough to use in windows of the day. In fact, glass was quite a luxury at the time and only the nobility could afford it. By 1668, the French company Saint-Gobain had perfected a “broad glass” method of manufacture that involved blowing long glass cylinders, slitting them and unrolling them to form an almost-flat rectangle. This plate glass was then ground and polished on both sides.

How Glass Was Made in the 1800s

By the late 1800s, glass was being made by blowing a very large cylinder and allowing it to cool before it was cut with a diamond. After being reheated in a special oven, it was flattened and affixed to piece of polished glass which preserved its surface. In 1871, a gentleman named William Pilkington invented a machine that allowed larger sheets of glass to be made. It was the first of a number of marvelous glass-related inventions to come from the Pilkington family.

It may seem like a simple question with it a simple answer, but it’s not. Glass is one of the most versatile—and misunderstood—materials in the world. Glass can be used for everything from windows to “glassphalt”, from eyeglasses to bottles.

In fact, lots of materials called glass are actually ceramics and have an entirely different manufacturing process. Here, we discuss glass that is put into buildings and vehicles, which is glass made by the float process. That is why it is generally called float glass. Float glass sometimes is also known as flat glass (though it isn’t always flat), or plate glass.

Glass In Ancient Rome

The ancient Romans made glass by blowing air through a very large cylinder and allowing it to cool, then cutting it with a diamond. The resulting glass was neither clear nor even, but it was good enough to be used in windows of the day.

Glass Production in the 1600s-1800s

In 1668, the French company Saint Gobain perfected a “broad glass” method of manufacture that involved blowing long glass cylinders slitting and unrolling them to form a nearly flat rectangle. This glass was then ground and polished on both sides.

By the late 1800s, new additives were mixed in. and glass was now re-heated after manufacture in a special oven, then flattened and affixed to a piece of polished glass which preserved its surface.

In 1871, William Pilkington invented a machine that allowed larger sheets of glass to be made. It was the first of many ingenious glass-related inventions to come from the Pilkington family.

Glass in the 1900s

By the early 1900s most glass was manufactured using the sheet glass method—through which a ribbon of glass was drawn from a tank furnace between cooled rollers. It produced a less expensive, albeit imperfect window.

Innovations In The Glass Industry: The Float Glass Process

Manufacturing processes did not change much until 1959 when another Pilkington by the name of Sir Alistar invented the float glass process. It changed glass manufacturing forever. In the float glass process, a continuous strip of molten glass at approximately 1000 degrees centigrade is poured continuously from the furnace onto a large shallow bath of molten metal, usually tin.

The glass floats and cools on the tin and spreads out to form a flat surface. The speed at which the controlling glass ribbon is drawn determines the thickness of the glass. Glass is much less expensive to produce via the flat process than any other type of process. Today more than 90 percent of the world’s flat glass is made via the float process.

Float glass is very versatile as well. Add silver backing to it and you have created a mirror, heat and then cool the glass very quickly in a special oven and you have made tempered glass. Your windshield is really a “glass sandwich” called laminate glass, made of two pieces of float glass with a plastic interlayer between them. And if you seal two pieces of glass with an airspace between them, you have created insulating glass.

Learn more about the Float Glass Process today.

Glass.com: The Glass Experts

Glass.com is a full-service web and information portal that provides glass information and services nationwide. Whether it be auto glass replacement or custom glass furniture, Glass.com is here to connect you to the experts you need to get your job done today!

Glass.com attempts to provide accurate information but cannot be held liable for any information provided or omitted.  You should always work with a licensed, insured and reputable glass shop that can assess your specific needs and local building codes and offer professional services. Never attempt to cut, install, or otherwise work with glass yourself. All content is provided on an informational basis only.

© 2020 Glass.com Inc. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction without expressed written permission. Questions? Contact info@glass.com.

By Lyle Hill

Lyle Hill has been in the glass and metal industry for more than 40 years. In this time he has managed glass retail, contract glazing, mirror, architectural window, window film, and automotive glass businesses throughout America. He obtained an MBA from IIT with a focus on Technology and Engineering Management.

Hill is also a columnist for glass industry trade magazines and often called the “face” of the glass industry. He has also authored books including “The Broken Tomato and Other Business Parables,” which is available through Amazon.