How Is Glass Made?

In the modern world, glass surrounds us wherever we go in all sorts of building materials. When the sun wakes you in the morning, it’s probably thanks to a window made of glass that lets the light shine through. If you’ve ever wondered how a window company in San Jose gets the glass for their products, it’s time to satisfy your curiosity. Let’s take a look at the process that window companies use to create glass.

Combining the Raw Materials
In a batch house, a combination of sand, soda ash, limestone, dolomite, and other ingredients are used to create the clear material we see every day. The first step of the process requires these raw materials to be combined in the proper amounts. One of the main ingredients in glass is actually sand, and it has a fairly high melting point of around 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melting the Materials
Once the combination is sufficient, it is put into a furnace and melted until it turns into glass. After this, the final product is placed in a bath of liquid tin, where it hardens and becomes easier to mold and stretch. Through the use of stretch machines, the thickness and width of the glass can be manipulated. Now that the glass has been created and molded, it is ready to cool down and take shape.

Creating the Final Product
At 1,100 degrees, the material is finally taken out of the tin bath and put on a conveyor. From here, it goes into a temperature-controlled kiln called a lehr, which ensures the proper rate of cooling to produce the highest quality glass. Once it is cool enough, the glass comes out of the lehr and open air fans are used to cool it to room temperature. Afterward, a special powder is placed on the surface and the glass is cut to required specification for the window company. Who would have thought that your double pane windows had such humble beginnings?