Dictionary
Flat glass
A type of flat glass developed with a new technique in the 1600s. The molten glass was poured onto an iron surface covered with fine sand to prevent the mass from sticking to the surface. The glass was flattened, and then polished on both sides to make it bright and transparent. The size of the surface fixed the size of the glass, however, max. 1 x 4 m. It is also called plate glass.
Float glass
A type of plane glass invented in 1959. A sheet of glass made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten tin. Heat is applied on both sides. This method gives the sheet a uniform thickness and a very flat surface without any visually disturbing draw lines. It was the first successful commercial application for forming very wide and continuous ribbons of glass.