(Almost) Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Glass But Were Afraid to Ask

[OllieNZ]

Yes, you're right again. I didn't mention that, but I also found that shattered tempered glass to be a lot sharper than I was expecting.

I think the problem is that it's typically referred to as "safety glass" which iirc comes from it's initial use in the automotive industry. When it is being compared to annealed glass in an automotive application it certainly is much safer in an accident due to the fact it shatters into small bits rather than big jagged pieces. Unfortunately this leads people to assume that it's true to label and safe in all senses of the word.

 

[Greg Gdowski]

Cynthia, another nicely done article! It was nice to see the Corning Museum of Glass in your references. The museum in Corning (located only 90mi south of Rochester) is really a remarkable place. I have also had the opportunity to tour Corning's Sullivan Research Park a few times (a former student works there) and it is equally spectacular. Home of gorilla glass, on almost every phone in the world.

I had this crazy idea once, maybe your husband could provide some feedback? I worked on a project with some colleagues at Queens University (Northern Ireland) using photodynamic antimicrobial polymers for infection control. Here is a link to the article. Here is the question... I was interested in coating the inside of aquarium glass with the photodynamic antimicrobial polymer to reduce or eliminate growth of biofilms and algae (ie. no more scraping!) When I was working with the group, I put some of the plastics we had in my first reef tank. Algae never grew on it. It was very cool. (I wish I kept pictures.)

If your out there reading this and think that is a cool idea -- I could use the likes

 

[Seawitch]

Cynthia, another nicely done article! It was nice to see the Corning Museum of Glass in your references. The museum in Corning (located only 90mi south of Rochester) is really a remarkable place. I have also had the opportunity to tour Corning's Sullivan Research Park a few times (a former student works there) and it is equally spectacular. Home of gorilla glass, on almost every phone in the world.

I had this crazy idea once, maybe your husband could provide some feedback? I worked on a project with some colleagues at Queens University (Northern Ireland) using photodynamic antimicrobial polymers for infection control. Here is a link to the article. Here is the question... I was interested in coating the inside of aquarium glass with the photodynamic antimicrobial polymer to reduce or eliminate growth of biofilms and algae (ie. no more scraping!) When I was working with the group, I put some of the plastics we had in my first reef tank. Algae never grew on it. It was very cool. (I wish I kept pictures.)

If your out there reading this and think that is a cool idea -- I could use the likes

I think that's a great idea, and I'll look at the article. I'd probably want to run some simple tests first with a piece of it in an aquarium and test to see if there's anything changing in the water column, but it sounds like a great idea. I'll ask Brian.

 

[Greg Gdowski]

That will give me a reason to reach out to Colin at Queens

 

[Seawitch]

That will give me a reason to reach out to Colin at Queens

Are you folks coating the glass yourselves, or ordering/buying it that way?

 

[Matt Carden]

Thank you for all you've been doing for R2R and the hobby in general!

 

[Seawitch]

Thank you for all you've been doing for R2R and the hobby in general!

Thank you so much. That means more to me than I can express adequately.

 

[bsn_rn_cen]

I wotked for ppg right out of high school. I unloaded rail cars of soda ash and limestone. I moved up to work in the tank department and worked on the tin bath. It was a super interesting job. We had one line that made automotive glass. The second was architectural. We had a coater in the tin bath that we would apply all kinds of chemicals to the glass and give it unique effects. Ever wonder why freezer doors at the store dont fog up. Yup its coated. Had one coating for the glass on skyscrapers that would self clean when it rained. It was a good experience but the swing shift was killer. Once the tank fired up it would run non stop for 10-15 years. We worked 7 days on 1st one day off 7 days on 2nd 2 days off 7 days on 3rd 4 days off and start over. Hard on the body...

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I wotked for ppg right out of high school. I unloaded rail cars of soda ash and limestone. I moved up to work in the tank department and worked on the tin bath. It was a super interesting job. We had one line that made automotive glass. The second was architectural. We had a coater in the tin bath that we would apply all kinds of chemicals to the glass and give it unique effects. Ever wonder why freezer doors at the store dont fog up. Yup its coated. Had one coating for the glass on skyscrapers that would self clean when it rained. It was a good experience but the swing shift was killer. Once the tank fired up it would run non stop for 10-15 years. We worked 7 days on 1st one day off 7 days on 2nd 2 days off 7 days on 3rd 4 days off and start over. Hard on the body...

This is what make me question the loss rates in various tanks in early stages of the tank. Could it be we are killing fish due to toxins caused by the manufacturing process? Those losses decline after the tank seasons for lack of a better description.

 

[bsn_rn_cen]

Where i worked as the glass exited the tin bath both sides were sprayed with sulfur dioxide. When the glass was a little cooler a powder is applied i have no idea what the powder was but both were to prevent scratching. Dont know if those could contribute but possible i suppose.