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The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Glass Manufacturing

This entry will give a short description of both primary (how flat glass is made) and secondary glass manufacturing processes (how flat glass is processed) and a description of what the tin side of float glass is and how it affects certain processes.

Primary glass manufacturing is the mixing and melting of finely ground glass ingredients to make float glass as shown in the picture. It is called float glass because once the glass mix has melted, the molten glass is floated on top of a pool of molten tin (called the float or tin bath). This is done to ensure that the glass is perfectly flat. Molten glass will naturally pool to a thickness of approximately 6mm or ¼” thick. By controlling the speed at which the molten glass travels over the tin, the thickness can be changed. Increase the speed and the glass becomes thin, slow the speed down and the glass becomes thicker. Once the glass is cooled through the annealing process, it is cut into large sheets and sold to secondary glass manufacturers.

Secondary glass manufacturing is the cutting of glass to required sizes, drilling holes, polishing the edges, applying ceramic frit to the glass surface, tempered and/or made into sealed units, whatever is required by the customer.

Knowing which side of float glass was in contact with the tin bath is important when cutting the glass to size. Glass is always scored on the non tin side (air side) because it breaks more cleanly. Ceramic frit will change colour (white will look burnt) if applied to the tin side rather that the air side. Casting or slumping float glass over a mold tin side down, will result in cloudy glass. Lifting glass using suction cups on the tin side can cause ghost like images of the suction cups to appear when water (rain or condensation) is present on the tin surface.

At Garibaldi Glass we are excited about completion of our first “Point Supported Glass Structural Wall”. The project at 1st & Main Street in Portland, Oregon was Garibaldi Glass first venture along with “Nupress Facades” to produce IG Units for a Point Supported Structural Wall. The finished product has been met with a resounding job well done, and the reward of additional projects. At Garibaldi Glass we see the demand from Architects to build more “Point Supported Glass Structural Walls” in the future.

At Garibaldi Glass our partnership with “Nupress Facades” and now certification of our production processes with “Nupress Facades” point supported systems, allows Garibaldi Glass to expand our markets and our core competency in these markets. At Garibaldi Glass we also have the capabilities to “Heat Soak Test” all glass substrates used in “Point Supported Glass Structural Walls” if the customer requires the additional security. All Heat Soak Testing is done to current EU Standards.

General Contractor: Hoffman Construction

Architect: GBD Architects

Glazer: Mountain Glass

Fabricator: Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

About Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc. (est. 1966) is a leading architectural glass fabricator in the Pacific Northwest. GGii’s custom fabrication and high‐performance architectural glass products include quality insulated units, spandrel, tempered glass, laminated glass, Ceramic frit application according to your specific design pattern, colour, and glass type request (Silk‐screen or hand‐applied), structural doors and entrances. The family‐owned glass business is located in Burnaby, B.C., Canada.

November 15, 2017 – Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc. took home the top prize in the Manufacturer & Supplier category at the (VRCA) Vancouver Regional Construction Association’s 29th Annual Awards of Excellence held at the Vancouver Convention Centre on October 25th.

Garibaldi Glass was selected for the award based on providing design-assist services paired with project management for the iconic Nordstrom Redevelopment of the old Sears space at Pacific Centre Mall located in downtown Vancouver. Through Design Assist with James Cheng Architects, Garibaldi Glass, Guardian Industries and Inland Glass & Aluminum, Garibaldi supplied over 134,000 sq. ft. of insulated glass units using Guardian SNR43 and IS20, the latest “soft coat” low E technology.

“On behalf of all of us at Garibaldi, it was definitely a team effort to be honored with this award. With all of the great opportunities in the marketplace, it comes down to our project management team and everybody working together,” said Carey Mobius, President and CEO, Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

Winning this award, emphasizes and confirms Garibaldi’s successful Design Assist and Project Management and streamline manufacturing processes allowed the project to be completed on time and on budget.

ABOUT GARIBALDI GLASS

Garibaldi Glass is a privately owned, architectural glass fabrication facility serving local and international markets. Since 1966, Garibaldi Glass has grown to become the premier source of innovative glass solutions, currently employing over 220 employees working in our 160,000 square foot facility in Burnaby, BC. As we look towards our next 50 years, we are eager to continue our journey to excellence through the continuous improvement of our products and processes to be the leading custom glass fabricator on the West Coast of North America.

From time to time a customer will see the appearance of circular marks on glass under certain climate and/or lighting conditions. Like crop circles, they mysteriously appear and disappear and many people are unsure of where they come from or how they are made.

Under certain lighting conditions (i.e. sun light at a very specific angle) or climatic conditions (rainwater running down the glass or fogged shower glass), one or more circles may become visible. They do not obstruct vision through the glass but simply show a contrast when looking at the reflectance of the glass surface when compared to the rest of the glass or as a resist area where rain water will not run down evenly but around the circular area or as a circular image on fogged shower glass.

These circular marks will usually measure anywhere from 12 “ to 3” in diameter. They can originate during the original manufacturing process or the secondary manufacturing of the finished glass. During all glass manufacturing processes, glass sheets can be moved from one location to another by the use of suction cups.

Although the suction cups are made of a very soft rubber like material, they can abrade the glass surface on a microscopic level. This can be further exaggerated if the glass is being lifted by its “tin” side (see “How Glass is Made – The Difference Between Primary and Secondary Glass Manufacturing”), an imperceptible amount of the tin residue is removed. The result is that under the circumstances described earlier, the “ghost” of one or more of the suction cups may become visible.

If the end user finds the appearance disturbing, applying a very mild abrasive such as cerium oxide onto a wet, clean rag and rubbing the effected area vigorously, will possibly remove the appearance. It is very important to carefully clean the glass area affected before applying the abrasive.

In conclusion, this is an industry wide phenomenon. It is not considered a defect since it is not constant in appearance and does not impact the performance of the glass and is not recognized by any industry standards. It is important to note that it is almost impossible duplicate this phenomenon in the industrial manufacturing environment on a cost effect basis.

Wikipedia states: “Innovation is the development of new customers’ value through solutions that meet new needs, inarticulate needs, or old customer and market needs in new ways. This is accomplished through different or more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas…”

At Garibaldi Glass, innovation is one of our core values and with good reason. Whether undertaking the challenges of developing and manufacturing the special phosphoresent vent covers for the Shangri-La Hotel in Vancouver, or the fritted shadow box sealed units for the Surrey Memorial Hospital project in Surrey, British Columbia, innovation has allowed us to help our customers realize satisfactory, cost effect solutions to complex challenges. A willingness to listen carefully to a customer’s desires and using the cumulative knowledge of our staff, there are few challenges we can’t find solutions to. The only challenges we have not been able to solve, normally involve changing the laws of physics and when has the budget not been blown before the glass requirements have been finalized? Not only can we usually find a solution, we endeavor to do them in the most cost effective ways possible.

Holland Jachtbouw are delighted to announce the launch of a 42‐metre, semi‐displacement motoryacht for repeat yacht owners. Designed and built to Lloyds and MCA, this project reaffirms the ability for Holland Jachtbouw to create bespoke powerboats of the highest calibre.

The 42m Holland Jachtbouw yacht project Calliope which was just recently launched is the second semi‐displacement luxury yacht which has been commissioned by the same yacht owners at Holland Jachtbouw, this all‐aluminum ‘gentlemen’s yacht’ has a cruising speed of 15.5 knots.

The exterior luxury yacht design and naval architecture is by Langan Design Associates, with an elegant modern‐classic interior from the boards of Rhoades Young.

Both of the owner’s yachts have been named after Greek goddesses; motoryacht Calliope being the muse of music and poetry.

This is Garibaldi Glass first endeavor with Holland Jachtbouw on the international stage, and from all accounts the quality of the glass and Garibaldi Glass ability to supply the glass in a timely manner was well received. Already, Garibaldi Glass involvement in this project is leading to other potential project abroad.

Designer: Langan Design Associates and Rhoades Young

Glazer: Simmons Glass

Glass Fabricator: Garibaldi Glass Industries

About Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc. (est. 1966) is a leading architectural glass fabricator in the Pacific Northwest. GGii’s custom fabrication and high‐performance architectural glass products include quality insulated units, spandrel, tempered glass, laminated glass, Ceramic frit application according to your specific design pattern, colour, and glass type request (Silk‐screen or hand‐applied), structural doors and entrances. The family‐owned glass business is located in Burnaby, B.C., Canada.

Ferrari Maserati of Vancouver has a new location and a beautiful new building, in downtown Vancouver at 1860 Burrard Street.

Ferrari Maserati of Vancouver is the only factory authorized dealership in British Columbia, and the third such dealership in Canada.

Garibaldi Glass proved again to be the right choice of fabricators for this project and prestige’s automotive dealership.

The use of Guardian’s “SuperNeutral Series” SN68 allows for more natural light and less heat gain. But most of all the beauty of the Ferrari automobile is still visible to the casual onlooker or discriminate buyer.

General Contractor: Deramore Construction

Architect: James K. Cheng

Glazier: Glasstech

Fabricator: Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

Glass Type: Guardian SN68/Clear

About Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc. (est. 1966) is a leading architectural glass fabricator in the Pacific Northwest. GGii’s custom fabrication and high‐performance architectural glass products include quality insulated units, spandrel, tempered glass, laminated glass, Ceramic frit application according to your specific design pattern, colour, and glass type request (Silk‐screen or hand‐applied), structural doors and entrances. The family‐owned glass business is located in Burnaby, B.C., Canada.

The Edmonton North building portion of the new Edmonton Clinic is reaching completion and as the Edmonton Clinic’s website states this project will mean a lot to the Edmonton Area.

“The Edmonton Clinic project is a partnership between Alberta Health Services and the University of Alberta to deliver a vision of establishing an innovative, patient‐centred health delivery system that integrates ambulatory care with a new interdisciplinary approach to health sciences education and research. The result: a transformed experience for patients, families and learners.”

The Edmonton Clinic will be a regional, national and potentially an international catalyst in helping to transform and re‐engineer the way patients are diagnosed and treated, how health sciences students are educated and trained and how research is conducted. The Edmonton Clinic will provide coordinated diagnostic and specialist services for patients and families in an integrated setting while providing unprecedented educational and research opportunities for health science students, researchers and professionals to learn and practice in interdisciplinary teams.

Garibaldi Glass Industries involvement in this project was to supply the 6mm clear, monolithic custom opaci lites that created this cool look the architect wanted which was of a representation of a “Genome”. A “Genome” as describe in Wikipedia is the following:

“In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism’s hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA.

The genome includes both the genes and the non‐coding sequences of the DNA. The term was adapted in 1920 by Hans Winkler, Professor of Botany at the University of Hamburg, Germany. In Greek, the word genome (γίνομαι) means I become, I am born, to come into being. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests the name to be a portmanteau of the words gene and chromosome. A few related ‐ome words already existed, such as biome and rhizome, forming a vocabulary into which genome fits systematically.”

A Project like the Edmonton North Clinic is just another example of Garibaldi Glass creative fabrication capabilities when innovative solutions are required,” says Paul Tendeck, Sales Manager at Garibaldi Glass.

General Contractor: PCL

Architect: HOK Canada Inc.

Glazier: Inland Glass

Fabricator: Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

About Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc. (est. 1966) is a leading architectural glass fabricator in the Pacific Northwest. GGii’s custom fabrication and high‐performance architectural glass products include quality insulated units, spandrel, tempered glass, laminated glass, Ceramic frit application according to your specific design pattern, colour, and glass type request (Silk‐screen or hand‐applied), structural doors and entrances. The family‐owned glass business is located in Burnaby, B.C., Canada.

Scratching and the Apparent “Softness” of Tempered Glass.

Glass manufacturers all abide to stringent manufacturing processes and quality requirements.

Architectural flat glass, whether tempered or annealed has the same relative “hardness”. It has been scientifically proven that here is no difference in hardness between the two.

Glass is scratched by abrading the surface. Grit, dirt, metal filings, etc. can all contribute to scratching glass surfaces. Anytime something contacts the surface of glass in a wiping motion that has even the slightest amount of dirt or debris on it, such as gloved hands, wiping cloths, clothing, squeegees, foam etc., there is the opportunity for the glass to be scratched. Imagine what would happen to your car if you cleaned it with a sponge without a lot of water. The dirt between your sponge and the car would drag across the car surface leaving scratches. If there isn’t enough “cushion” (i.e. water), between the glass and what is touching it, scratching will almost always occur.

Scratching of flat glass within the secondary manufacturing processes (cutting, edging, tempering, etc.) happens but has specific telltale appearances. Common scratching in this environment are straight line scratches caused by particles trapped inside glass processing equipment and abrading the glass parallel with the direction of travel through particular machinery, leaving straight line scratches. These will usually not cover the majority of the glass surface.

Other common scratches occurring within the manufacturing process will be random, curved and localized to one area of the glass, often due to the physical handling of glass by manufacturing staff. It is extremely rare in a manufacturing environment to find random scratching covering large areas of a piece of glass, since there are no manufacturing processes that contact the glass in that manner.

Common scratches observed at job sites, particularly once the glass is installed, usually come from two sources: firstly; people rubbing clothing, equipment and materials against the surface of the unprotected glass and secondly from glass cleaning.

Extensive random, arced scratching is occasionally observed during final inspections, when there was no evidence of the scratching when the glass arrived at the jobsite. This type of scratching will most probably have occurred when someone has attempted to clean the glass. The Glass Association of North America has a comprehensive guideline for cleaning architectural glass which should be followed to ensure the glass is not being scratched during the cleaning process. These guidelines should be followed whenever cleaning flat architectural glass.

Garibaldi Glass again participates in the changing Vancouver, B.C. skyline, with the completion of one of the newest Hotels in the Fairmount family. The Fairmount Pacific Rim Hotel is located in the heart of Vancouver’s historic port and financial district, and fronts one of Vancouver’s most celebrated streetscapes with unobstructed views of the North Shore Mountains, Stanley Park and Coal Harbour. The hotel combines the best of Asia and the West Coast in its plan, décor, and culinary offerings. The 377‐room luxury hotel features lavish appointments, naturally inspired materials, comfortable furnishings and state‐of‐the‐art technology.

At Garibaldi Glass the Fairmount Pacific Rim Hotel was just another example of our ability by our project group to manage large scale projects, and with the compressed time to complete this project prior to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, our people came through with a gold medal effort.

General Contractor: Ledcor

Architect: James K. Cheng

Glazer: AGS (exterior)

ENG 2 Ventures Ltd (Hotel Interiors)

D H Glass Solutions Inc (Residence Interiors)

Fabricator: Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

Glass Type: Guardian Neutral 61/clear, LE40

About Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc.

Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc. (est. 1966) is a leading architectural glass fabricator in the Pacific Northwest. GGii’s custom fabrication and high‐performance architectural glass products include quality insulated units, spandrel, tempered glass, laminated glass, Ceramic frit application according to your specific design pattern, colour, and glass type request (Silk‐screen or hand‐applied), structural doors and entrances. The family‐owned glass business is located in Burnaby, B.C., Canada.