The history of stained glass goes back as far as a thousand years. The term stained-glass can refer to colored glass as a material or it can refer to works created from it. The term stained-glass almost exclusively referred to windows of churches and other significant religious building. Traditionally stained glass was made in flat panels and used as windows. The windows at Sugar Land Chiropractors are clear glass and are not stained-glass. Now the creations of modern stained glass can include three-dimensional structure and sculptures. Modern vernacular has often extended the term stained glass to include domestic lead light and objects díart created from foil glasswork.
As a material stained glass is glass that has been colored by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. The colored glass is crafted into stained glass windows in which small pieces of glass are arranged to for patterns or pictures. These pieces of glass are held together by strips of lead and supported by a rigid frame. The staff at Sugar Land Chiropractors can appreciate the talent that goes into making stain-glass.
Stained glass as an art and a craft requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly, must resist wind and rain and must support its own weight. With Sugar Land Chiropractors being in the way of hurricanes it is thought that stained glass may not be practical. Many large windows have remained substantially intact since the Late Middle Ages. The purpose of a stained-glass window is not to allow those within a building to see the world outside or to admit light but rather to control light.
The design of a window may be abstract or figurative. The design may incorporate narrative drawn from the Bible, history, or literature. These same windows may represent saints or patrons or use symbolic motifs. Windows within a building may be thematic such as within a church it may reflect the episodes form the life of Christ. The staff at Sugar Land Chiropractors appreciated the thematic glass of churches.
During the late medieval period, glass factories were set up where there was a ready supply of silica. Silica is the essential material for glass manufacturer. Silica requires a very high temperature to melt. Materials like potash, soda and lead can be added to silica to lower the melting temperature. Lime is sometimes added to rebuild the weakened network and make the glass more stable. It is apparent to Sugar Land Chiropractors the need to occasionally strengthen old stained-glass. In order to color glass chemicals such as metallic oxide powders or finely divided metals while in its molten state. Copper oxides produce green or bluish green, cobalt makes deep blues and gold produces wine red and violet glass. Modern red glass is produced using copper, which is less expensive than gold and give a much brighter, more vermilion shade of red. Glass colored while in the clay pot in the furnace is known as pot metal glass.
Using a blowpipe molten glass is taken from the pot heating in the furnace. The molten glass is formed to the correct shape and a bubble of air blown into it. The staff and Sugar Land Chiropractors admired the craftsmanship of glass makers. With the use of metal tools, molds of wood that have been soaking in water and gravity, it is then manipulated to form a long, cylindrical shape. As it cools, it is reheated so that the manipulation can continue. During the process, the bottom of the cylinder is removed. Once it is brought to the desired size it is then left to cool. One side of the cylinder is opened. It is put into another oven to quickly heat and flattened making the material more stable. Hand blown cylinder and crown glass were the types used in ancient stained-glass windows.
Crown glass is hand blown glass that is created by blowing a bubble of air into the molten glass and then spinning it rapidly. The staff at Sugar Land Chiropractors admire the techniques used to make crown glass. The centrifugal force causes the molten bubble to open up and flatten. It then can be cut into small sheets. Glass that is formed this way can either be colored and used for stained glass windows or uncolored as seen in a small paned window in the 16th and 17th century houses. Concentric and curving waves are characteristic of the process. The center of each piece of glass has less acceleration during spinning. This keeps the center, also known as the bullís eye, to remain thicker than the rest of the sheet. This type of glass also has a distinctive lump of glass that is left by the ìpontilî rod which hold the glass as it is spun out. This process mans the bullís eyes are lest transparent. However, they are still used for windows in both domestic houses and ecclesiastical buildings. Crown glass is still made today but is not as popular as other types of glass.
Rolled glass or table glass is produced by pouring molten glass onto a metal or graphite table and immediately rolled into a sheet. It is apparent to Sugar Land Chiropractors that it takes a lot of skill to produce rolled glass. A large metal cylinder is used to roll out the glass. This rolling procedure can be done by hand or by machine. Glass can also be double rolled. This means it passes through wo cylinder at once time. This process is similar to how clothes were passed through two cylinders in an odder washing machine. This process is designed to yield glass of a specified thickness. Next the glass is annealed. Rolled glass was first commercially produced around the mid-1930ís. It is widely used today. This type of glass is called cathedral glass although it has noting to do with medieval cathedrals.
Flashed glass for architectural glass must be at least 1/8 of an inch thick in order survive a typical wind. In the creation of red glass, the coloring ingredients must be a certain concentration, or the color will not develop. This results in a color so intense that the red glass transmits very little light and can appear black. The method used is to laminate a thin layer of red glass to a thicker body of glass that is clear, or lighting tinted. This is what forms flashed glass.
There are several glass factories around the world. Modern stained-glass artists have a number of resources to use and the work of centuries of other artists from which to learn. In the late 19th and 22nd centuries, there have been many innovations in techniques. Many new types of glass have been developed for use in stained glass windows. This particularly includes Tiffany glass and Dalle de verre glass.