Architectural glass percent of the world's flat glass is produced by the float glass process invented in the 1950s by Sir Alastair Pilkington of Pilkington Glass, in which molten glass is poured onto one end of a molten tin bath. The glass floats on the tin, and levels out as it spreads along the bath, giving a smooth face to both sides. The glass cools and slowly solidifies as it travels over the molten tin and leaves the tin bath in a continuous ribbon. The glass is then annealed by cooling in an oven called a lehr. The finished product has near-perfect
Cylinder blown sheet glass Cylinder blown sheet glass Cylinder blown sheet is a type of hand-blown window glass. It is created with a similar process to broad sheet, but larger cylinders are produced by swinging the cylinder in a trench. The glass is then allowed to cool before the cylinder is cut. The glass is then re-heated and flattened. The result is much larger panes and improved surface quality over broad sheet. In this manufacturing process glass is blown into a cylindrical iron mould. The ends are cut off and a cut is made down the side of the cylinder. The cut cylinder is