How Glass Is Made

Glass is one of those everyday materials that we use everywhere and it is taken for granted a lot of the time. We use it in our cars, buildings, light bulbs and wine glasses, but few people know exactly how glass transforms from raw materials into the functional molded end products. Lets take a look at the required procedures for making glass.

1.) The raw materials of glass are sand and some additional elements. The most common form of sand used is called Silica, and this is combined with specific amounts of soda ash and limestone. The quantities of the ingredients effects the qualities of the glass, and other materials can be added to change the colour of the glass or alter its strength etc. For example, a glass blower might add a small amount of red dye to the mix to make pink champagne glasses.

2.) The mixture is heated to a temperature of around 1700oC. When it reaches this temperature it forms a fluid liquid and all the added elements blend into one. This heat is very difficult to achieve and requires powerful specialized furnaces. Electric powered furnaces are on the increase, although traditional glass blowers still prefer to use classic coal fires. When the glass mix is in a molten state, it can easily be manipulated and sculpted or blown in to specific shapes. The skills involved in manual glass making takes years to learn and are often passed on through generations.

3.) After the glassblower has shaped the piece, it is then allowed to cool down. This cooling period directly effects how the hardened glass will end up in terms of how strong it is, how it reacts when broken, and how refractive it is. For example, whisky glasses are often cooled slowly as this makes them less susceptible to scratches, although the refractive index is slightly lower than other types of glass