In an attempt to make the strongest, most reinforced product, glass tempering can help you reach the next level. But for people who don’t know much about the process, “tempering” isn’t much more than a buzzword. With this in mind, what is a glass tempering oven?
A glass tempering oven is a machine that rapidly heats the glass. The glass is then cooled again, which adds a natural layer of breakage resistance.
Below, we will go through details behind the tempering process and how it helps your glass remain sturdy.
How Does a Tempered Glass Oven Make Tough Glass?
Tempered glass is incredibly tough based on a high heat and quick cooling process. You’d be hard-pressed to find modern homes and businesses that don’t use tempered glass.
When glass is tempered, they break into smaller, fractured pieces. These pieces allow the glass to be broken into smaller fragments, making them safer overall. The outer surface is also almost instantly cooled, creating a great deal of surface tension.
This glass is sturdier because the smaller fragments bind together with the sudden cooling. It is much easier to break off large chunks of glass as opposed to smaller pieces. With tempered glass, there are no larger chunks.
How Do Glass Tempering Ovens Work?
There is a standard step-by-step process for ensuring your glass tempering is effective. Here’s what you should do:
Step One: Pre-Cut the Glass
Because of the nature of tempered glass, it’s difficult to cut. As a result, you want to be sure to get your preferred shape before cutting it.
Technicians can cut with any standard glass cutting machine (CNC machines, automatic machines, manual cutters, etc.). Just be sure your shape is ready before moving on.
Step Two: Inspect The Glass for Cracks or Bubbles and Wash It
The second step in glass tempering is a full inspection. This inspection determines that there are no errors in the glass creation or cutting process.
Your job is to look for any imperfections. These include cracks, bubbles, or any flaws that might result in later breakage. If the glass breaks later down the road, you want it to be someone else’s fault, not poor construction.
Once you finish with the inspection, this is when your glass washing machine comes to it. Glass washing machines work to remove other kinds of imperfections. Any dust or foreign material that gets tempered in the process may cause flaws in your glass.
Step Three: Heat and Quench the Glass
Step three is where the glass tempering oven starts being useful. You’ll want to insert your glass into the tempering oven through the factory-suggested means.
This process typically means putting it on a heat-resistant rack. With uniquely curved glass, specific tempering machines can help ensure that the glass maintains its shape.
Heat will break your glass, which is part of the process. Without a firm base for the glass for your glass to sit on, it will warp and stop being useful.
All good glass tempering ovens account for this weakness, so try not to worry too much about this. Just be sure your experienced technicians know the process.
Once the glass is heated, a tempering furnace will rapidly cool the glass with bursts of cool air. The cool blasts are sent at high pressure, allowing the outer surface of the glass to cool rapidly.
The inner layer and outer layer work against each other, forming a good deal of surface tension. This tension sticks with the glass, causing a firm construction.
Wrap Up
Tempered glass is part of all forms of modern windows. Almost all commercial and residential buildings use this form of glass in some capacity. Larger, more complex projects need specific types of tempering ovens.
If you want to look for the best glass tempering oven for your process, keep an eye on Glass Machinery Direct for the best-used glass equipment on the market.
