float glass

For centuries people have exerted themselves to make window panes that were as even as possible – preferably without labour intensive final processing.

This has only really been achieved with the invention of float glass.

In this process, the molten glass mass is poured onto a bath of molten tin where it floats. This idea occurred to a British engineer already around 1900, but it could only be taken into production in 1959, on account of the technical difficulties of the procedure.