GLASS NUGGETS...?

We have some very special windows in the nursery they will go in some screens that are being made by SIS-Solutions. They have coloured glass, mirrors and some multi-coloured glass nuggets in them and they are being made by those very helpful folks at Central Glass in Sheffield (Hooray we found them as other companies couldn't/wouldn't do the exciting things we wanted!). We went to see the glass nuggets being put inside the double glazed units (a sandwich of two sheets of glass with a gap in between).

First the glass has to be cut to the right size by Andy with a special glass cutting tool that has a little wheel that won't cut you but does cut the glass. The cut glass is VERY sharp and Andy wears special protectors on his wrists.

If you cut 'laminated glass (special strong glass with a plastic layer in the middle), you have to cut both sides of the glass with the glass cutter and then cut the plastic with a sharp blade. Watch the video below to see...

Then the glass goes through a special washing machine.

In the pictures below you can see the nuggets being put into the double glazed unit by Sean and Tim while Brix watches. The special making table has lights underneath and you can see the colours of the nuggets really well. Mick from SIS-Solutions http://www.sis-interiors.co.uk/ chose the colours (off the internet and from the Hobbycentre-Meadowhall Retail Park) , we think they are FAB and go really well with the other things in the nursery.

When all the nuggets had been put inside the two sheets of glass the frame that keeps them apart has to be stuck together. There is another special table with little castors on the top to makes it easy to move the heavy glass units around. They are then clamped tight and some really hot (183°C) black stuff (Brix thinks it was Butyl rubber) was squeezed around the edges by Richard. He is good at it now but says when he was learning he would get burnt if he wasn't careful.

When the unit is finished it has to have a mark put on it to say what type of glass it is made from and this is done by James making a mark with some acid paste pushed through a printing screen. The screen has a mesh pattern of the picture and the acid goes through the gaps and then it etches the glass. When it is wiped off the glass is permanently marked. Can you see the circular mark it has made?

We thought it was really interesting seeing all the work that goes on doing the glass for windows, doors and other things. Thank you very much all those folks who showed us what they did and thanks again to CENTRAL GLASS, 42 Copper St, Sheffield, S3 7AG 0114-279 8773