Five Different Types of Glass

There are many sorts of glass, apart from window glass and safety glass, which can be used in the home, although some of them are designed more for industrial or commercial uses.

Patterned glass is produced by passing molten glass over a textured roller which imparts its pattern to one side of the glass; the other side is usually smooth. There is a wide range of patterns available, including a number which are available in tinted versions blue, green and amber, for example. Patterned glass serves two main purposes: to provide a degree of privacy and to provide decoration. The degree of privacy depends on the amount that the light passing through the glass is diffused, which varies with the pattern. The common sizes of patterned glass are 4mm and 6mm, and prices for ordinary white patterned glass are only a little more than similar sizes of flat glass; tinted glass is roughly twice as expensive. It is possible to get patterned glass toughened for use as room dividers, kitchen screens, shower screens or in all-glass doors.

Diffuse reflection glass

Glass reflects about 10 per cent of the light falling on it. Sometimes, this reflection can be a nuisance the reflection of a window or table lamp in the glass of a picture frame, for example. Diffuse reflection glass has a slightly textured surface and can be used to overcome this problem. It's readily available in 2mm thicknesses and costs about the same as 4mm float glass.

Solar control glass

A room that faces south can get very hot when the sun is shining into it, and furniture can be damaged by direct sunlight. Solar control glasses cut down the amount of solar heat radiation passing through the glass without reducing too much the amount of light passing through though they do cut down glare. These glasses are often tinted and some have a surface coating. Most are available in toughened or laminated versions and for use in both single and double glazing units. A common solar control glass is 'Antisun' float glass which is body tinted grey or bronze and comes in a range of thicknesses; 6mm 'Antisun' costs twice as much as ordinary 6mm float. As well as being used in windows and doors, this can be used effectively for glass shelves, table tops or for silvering as a tinted mirror. Another solar control glass you may find is 'Spectrafloat' which has a metallic layer just below the surface. The 6mm size is a little cheaper than 6mm 'Antisun'. Another way of cutting down solar radiation is to apply a self-adhesive plastic film to an existing window pane. As well as cutting down solar radiation (and reducing heal loss) this film has a safety advantage in that the film will hold the pane together if it breaks.

Mirrors

At its simplest, a mirror is a piece of 6mm glass with silvering on the back. The silvering is usually covered with layers of copper and backing paint to protect it. It is possible to get any piece of glass silvered, but it is probably simplest to buy a mirror ready-made. The choice includes plain, tinted and bronzed mirrors for fixing with special clips, framed mirrors, drilled mirrors (fixed with mirror screws), mirror tiles (usually fixed with self-adhesive pads) and mirror mosaics fixed with adhesive. Mirrored doors are also available for fitted wardrobes.

Decorative glass

Glass can be stained, engraved or treated in other ways to provide unusual decorative effects. It is worth investigating glass merchants to see what they offer. You can even have glass with your own coat of arms. One effect, often used in pseudo-Georgian windows, is bullion glass which comes in a range of sizes to fit different size windows and costs about five times as much as ordinary 4mm glass. Bullions - or 'bull's-eyes' - may have bubbles or streaks in the glass.

Now, you know about different types of glass. You can use glass in a variety of ways. For this, you should know how to install a sliding glass door on a tub or shower and how to install tub and shower glass doors.

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What Are The Different Types And Qualities Of Stained Glass?

Many times we meet people who are interested in stained glass, but they haven't learned enough about it to really be able to tell whether a piece of glass is a true work of art or just a good piece. I once overheard a woman gushing over a piece of glass that had been painted with fake glass paints, the kind that craft stores sell. "Oh, Look at that, I love stained glass, that is just exquisite!" Her comments were nice since she had an appreciation for art glass, but they were also ridiculous because painted fake glass just isn't in the same class as other techniques and certainly should never be described as "exquisite".

So that incident prompted me to write this brief description of what the different types and qualities of stained glass are. After reading the following paragraphs, you will be more qualified and more able to distinguish between good glass and great glass than the majority of people you meet. You will be well on your way towards becoming a "Stained Glass Expert."

1. Brass And Glass - made of Brass pre-shaped metal (or brass encased lead), called "came". The stained glass is encased in the pre-formed metal and the joints where the metal meets are then soldered. After the panel is completed and soldered, the joints are colored with a brass colored paint so that they look brass.

Advantages: Brass windows match the brass plated hardware on many homes. Brass windows are almost always mass produced, so cost is usually lower than other styles of stained glass.

Disadvantages: Brass windows usually don't get the glass and metal cemented to each other, so they are not as strong and have a tendency to rattle more often than any other stained glass window. If the panel is sandwiched between tempered glass sheets, the lack of strength is not a big deal.

Quality: This is the lowest quality of stained glass available and is usually found in cheap furniture and mass produced door frames. It hasn't been around for a long time and is often associated with the cheap waterbeds of the 1960's.

2. Leaded Glass - refers to both beveled glass and colored glass surrounded by pre-shaped lead, called "came". The stained glass is encased in lead and the joints where the metal meets are then soldered. The solder and the lead look very similar, so no special treatments are needed in the joints as with brass came. After the panel is completed and soldered, the windows are cemented by forcing cement in under the metal and the glass. Then the exposed glass is cleaned thoroughly.

Advantages: Lead construction is the most common type of stained glass to be found. If cemented well the window is fairly strong. The leaded method is fast to construct, so is quite popular in commercial installations.

Disadvantages: If the window isn't cemented, the lead will easily stretch over time and the glass shapes will deform quite easily. Windows that are placed in insulated units can't be cemented because the cement reacts with the desiccant in the foam tape used to create insulated units.

Quality: This is the mid-range of stained glass quality. It's not bad, just not the best. There is pretty good detail available in this type of panel and it is quite good for many styles of glass design. If it wasn't fairly good it wouldn't be found in so many highly respected installations.

3. Copper Foiled or "Tiffany Style" Glass - refers to stained glass construction where each piece of glass is individually wrapped in a copper foil tape and the gaps between the glass are soldered with lead and tin based solder, usually 50/50 mix or 60/40 mix. After the panel is completed it is very strong and pretty often water tight. Chemicals are then added to color the lead lines, either copper, bronze or black. The lines can also be left pewter-like gray or they can be polished to bright shiny silver. It's often called "Tiffany Style" because the studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany are credited with coming up with the method in the late 1800's.

Advantages: Copper foiled windows are very strong and allow the artist the most detail of any of the construction methods. It also allows for the most ranges of patinas of the methods discussed. The copper foil method allows an artist to follow contours and so lamp shades and other 3d construction is almost always built using this method.

Disadvantages: It takes a lot of work and is more labor intensive to hand solder each and every solder line in a stained glass window, so these panels usually cost more than the leaded type. Also, because the resulting windows are so very strong, they can develop very slight hairline cracks as the glass expands and contracts in the heat of the day and the cool of the night. These cracks usually develop in the first year after a panel is installed and are minor.

Quality: This is the highest quality of stained glass, but there are different ranges of quality in this style. Imports will often have very thin lead lines not as a design element, but as a way to save money on the amount of lead used to construct the panel. The highest quality of copper foil constructed lamps will feature a built up lead line which will often stand up the same height as an extruded lead line. Best quality soldering will feature very consistent lead lines and few if any areas where the lead has shrunk after cooling.

4. Epoxy Glued Faceted Glass - refers to a technique where thick slabs of glass are broken in rough pieces and glued together using epoxy glue to form the joint between the various pieces of glass. It's very uncommon and not available in any but the most unusual commercial construction.

David Gomm started building stained glass windows professionally back in 1983 and has become an expert at many aspects of stained glass building, design and repair. He writes a monthly newsletter at http://www.betterstainedglass.com

He also has a website with many other articles at http://www.gommstudios.com

These articles may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as the entire article, copyright notice, links and this resource box are unchanged, or if using a portion of the article, it points back to one of our pages where the entire article resides. Copyright c David Gomm All Rights Reserved.

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