Float glass is a very specific type of glass that is formed
through a process which involves floating the molten or semi-
molten glass material on a bed of molten metal (usually tin) to
help ensure a highly refined, finished glass with high optical
quality, without the extra steps of polishing and finishing. We
have touched on the process of floating glass in previous
installments, but as you are probably thoroughly aware, a good
recap now and again never hurts. Float glass was a major
advancement in glassmaking technology when it was first
introduced into the window-manufacturing world many many years
ago. It offered a practical and affordable solution to the
problem of uneven glass. For years, glass had been subject to
much more crude forms of manufacturing. The result of these
antiquated production techniques was far more inconsistency and
a much lower quality in terms of clarity and evenness. By
“floating” a glass pane over molten metal, the glass is formed
to the ultra smooth layer of metal that it floats