History of Glass making

The glass has been a part of human for centuries; it was used for various purposes by us. The glass is has been manufactured by various method since then. The following are the various method of how the glass has been manufactured from earliest to today.

Disc Process
During 100 – 600 AD this process was used to produce glass. The molten glass was poured on to a circular shaped disc which is fitted will a long rod which allowed spinning the disc with molten glass. The Spinning process was continued until the glass was cooled naturally. Then the glass is taken out of the disc, then marked and cut for the required size and shape as shown in the picture.

Blowing Method
Later during in 1300 AD, the blowing method of glass making came into existence, this method has two variations – one direct free blowing and other one mold blowing.

Free Blowing
This method uses a long pipe usually made from clay, the glass is collected at one end and from other end it air is blow by a person.

Mold Blowing
This method was a enhanced version of the above as it produces various shapes required. The molten glass is blown into the wooden or steel mold with a required shape and size.

Fourcault Process
In the early 1902, a Belgian engineer named Emile Fourcault came up new idea for manufacturing the flat glass. This process involved drawing the glass directly from the tank upwards. The thickness of the glass was depended of speed of glass being pulled between the rollers. Once the glass is pulled over the roller was cut at regular size. Later it was further enhanced by stretching the glass vertically. This process was further enhanced by Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company that used rapid cooling system

Float Glass Method
This method was originally invented by Sir Alastair Pilkington, who lived in Britain. This named after him as Pilkington Process and most of the flat glass producers use this method. This process involves pouring of molten glass into a molten tin bath and it is allowed to flow freely, the gravity does the rest of the job making the surface flat due to surface tension. Then the glass is annealed by cooling.