Tempered glass? Please explain...

[Linds]

Maybe someone will be able to answer this...

Ok, I know tempered glass is stronger, and when it breaks, it does so in to small pieces, not long shards or anything. Why is this though? How do they temper the glass and why would it have this effect? I know what it means to temper something, but I am interested in how this is done during the glass making process. The only thing I have experience with is tempering food :p

[KaHane]

I think it's heated at a higher temperature. But that's just what I heard, not too sure really. Oh yeah, thanks for letting us in before you closed to look at the animals today and sorry if we messed up the floors with our wet shoes:)

[Jeff_Favelle]

http://www.alumaxbath.com/tech/tgp.htm

[One More Herper]

They take sheet glass and temper it by heating it almost to melting and then cool it relitivly quickly, the cooling causes micro-fractures in the sheet glass that cant be seen by eye, so when the glass breaks, it shatters along the micro-fractures creating the small glass chunks
-Ben

[Stockwell]

Linds, the above is correct... Its done by heating.
I got some normal glass tempered last year. You can take glass to a place like Flintstone glass, and get it tempered.. Its pretty expensive though.
Also be aware that you can't cut tempered glass.

[Linds]

Kahane,
Hehehe no worries ;)

Ben,
Thanks for the crystal clear answer! :D

Roy,
Yes I was aware that you couldn't cut tempered glass. I was just wondering about the dynamics behind it all :) I don't actually have much use for glass... I prefer to use polycarbonate on my enclosures... not the snakes I'm worried about breaking the glass... it's me! :eek:

[themangler]

cheaper way to have safe glass is to tint it not to dark, but that helps keep the glass from breaking into long shards or anything and looks good

[Lisa]

Originally posted by themangler
cheaper way to have safe glass is to tint it not to dark, but that helps keep the glass from breaking into long shards or anything and looks good

there's actually a coating that's like this except it's perfectly clear, sold as a security feature, it makes the glass harder to break and keeps it in mostly one piece should it get broken.