The development of float glass

                                 The development of float glass

When a piece of floating glass is placed on top of a piece of molten metal, the final product is called

 float glass. This process creates a uniform piece of glass that is entirely solid. Most contemporary

residential and industrial buildings are made from float glass, though this wasnt always the case.

Before the dawn of the 17th century, almost all glass panels were cut from crown glass. In order to

manufacture crown glass, glass manufacturers had to create large cylinder shapes that were then cut

in half and flattened to form one window pane. In 1848, an English engineer by the name of

Henry Bessemer attempted to form a glass manufacturing process that was less tedious than the

original crown glass process. Bessemers manufacturing system included one large ribbon of flat

glass that was rolled between two rollers.