MATERIALS: GLASS

INIFD CORPORATE

ACADEMICS SUPPORT
 Content
 Material : Glass

 Movement in timbers
 Types of glass:
 Cutting and shaping
 Joining glass

 GLASS
‘Clear float’ glass is free of distortion and excessive
reflection and has replaced ‘plate’ and ‘sheet’
glass, although the former term is still used to
describe high quality glass and the latter to
describe thin sheets. In manufacture, molten glass,
of which the main ingredient is quartz sand, or
‘silica’, is poured over a bed of tin and then
hardened (or annealed) by controlled cooling.
Thicknesses range from 2 to 25mm/1/16 to 1in,
with sheet sizes of up to 3180 x 4600mm/125¼ x
181in. It is unlikely that very large sheets will be
used in furniture but it is always worth checking
that those specified can be manoeuvred through
openings and around corners on site. It is possible,
but difficult, to curve glass by heating a flat sheet
over a metal mould or ‘refractory’

Different qualities of glass are produced using a

range of techniques that determine strength and
appearance. They can have varying degrees of
transparency and translucency. They can be coloured and textured. When used in furniture,
they can be set within a timber or metal frame, but toughened or laminated glass is
sufficiently strong and rigid to act as a table or counter surface without framing. When used
without framing, glass edges should be ground smooth for safety.

Grey, green and bronze colours can be created by variations in the proportion of
ingredients, which results in selective absorption of parts of the light spectrum. However,
since changing the proportions of a mix is a lengthy operation.
Types of glass

Toughened glass

Toughened glass is made by heating and

rapid cooling the basic material produced
in the primary manufacturing process. It is
four times stronger and better able to deal
with impact, loading or impact stresses.
When broken, it disintegrates into small,
smooth-edged fragments, which makes it
safer. It cannot be cut or worked after
manufacture; modifications will cause it to
fracture. Edges must be ground smooth
before the toughening process. Holes for
fixings may be drilled but their size and position are limited. A variety of types of glass,
including tinted, patterned and reflective, can be toughened.

Laminated glass

Laminated glass consists of sheets

bonded to a clear plastic core, to
which the glass adheres when broken,
which provides a safety factor.
Varying thicknesses of the plastic
layer can provide protection against
hammers, bullets and bombs. Sheet
sizes can be up to 5000 x
2500mm/196¾ x 98½in. Patterns can
be printed onto the inner faces of the
glass, which protects them from
abrasion.
Sandblasted glass

Sandblasted glass is made by pitting the surface with sand propelled under high pressure.
Areas can be masked off to create varying degrees of pitting for tonal patterns or to leave
transparent areas. The process is difficult to control and fine detail should be avoided.
Staining of the blasted sections, particularly by the natural oils on hands, can be a problem.
Protective coatings have been developed but consideration of where the glass will be used
is important.

Acid-etching allows greater control than sandblasting and is better suited to making fine
detail. Controlled erosion of the surface with hydrofluoric acid will produce varying degrees
of translucency. ‘Brilliant’ cutting, when patterns are incised into the thickness of the glass
and edges are smoothed and polished, catches and exploits light. Opal glass is available in
various colours and forms, ranging from a translucent white, or ‘flashed opal’, to opaque, or
‘pot opal’.
Glass has considerable strength in both compression and
tension and may be used to stiffen the frameworks that
support it. It may be drilled to receive screws and bolt
fixings. Specialist adhesives now make the butt-jointing of
sheets feasible and reliable and three dimensional grid
constructions can be designed to be self-supporting. Such
constructions can offer complete transparency, with
minimal distortion. Where a greater degree of visual
separation is required in a divider, translucent or opaque
glasses may be used and there are interesting possibilities
offered by a combination of two, with clear as a possible third component.
Cutting and Shaping
Simple, straight lines may be cut by traditional scoring and snapping techniques. Curves and
irregular shapes will require a template to guide the cutting tool. Acute internal corners are
points of weakness; if used, the corner should be rounded to eliminate the concentration of
stress that will occur at the junction of the two straight lines. The centre of drilled holes
should be located a minimum of four times the thickness of the glass from its edge. New
techniques, using laser and high-pressure water jets, have opened up options for curves
and angles.
Joining Glass
In traditional furniture making glass was used in small pieces, because of the fragility that
then characterized it, and it was almost invariably held in wooden frames, like small
windows. It was certainly never used as a load-bearing component or in vulnerable
locations. Significant technical advances in the recent past, made both to the inherent
strength of the material and the techniques for working it, have significantly added to the
range of its potential applications.

Even in its traditional forms thick glass has very considerable strength and may be used for
decorative furniture pieces. Mechanical connections may be made with bolts passed
through pre-drilled holes in components. It is good practice to place a rubber or neoprene
washer between nuts and glass to prevent cracking, either due to excessive tightening or
the flexing of components during use. There have been significant technical advances made
in the recent past to both the performance of glass and the techniques for working it. Most
of the spectacular innovation in glass production has related to its environmental
performance as a collector and conserver of solar energy, and is unlikely to be relevant to
furniture design; the potential for cutting more complex shapes than with traditional
techniques, however, offers interesting possibilities. Specialist glues have made butt-
jointing possible without any mechanical connections; such joints are ‘invisible’ and
extremely strong.