One of the earliest methods of glass window manufacture was the crown glass method. Hot blown glass was cut open opposite the pipe, then rapidly spun on a table before it could cool. Centrifugal force shaped the hot globe of glass into a round, flat sheet. The sheet would then be broken off the pipe and trimmed to form a rectangular window to fit into a frame.
At the center of a piece of crown glass, a thick remnant of the original blown bottle neck would remain, hence the name "bullseye." Optical distortions produced by the bullseye could be reduced by grinding the glass. The development of diaper latticed windows was in part because three regular diamond-shaped panes could be conveniently cut from a piece of Crown glass, with minimum waste and with minimum distortion.
This method for manufacturing flat glass panels was very expensive and could not be used to make large panes. It was replaced in the 19th century by the cylinder, sheet, and rolled plate processes, but it is still used in traditional construction and restoration.
Read more about this topic: Architectural Glass
Famous quotes containing the words crown and/or glass:
“I’ve been in one Derby, and this is my third Belmont. But I’ve never thought of the fact that I haven’t won a Triple Crown race. I’m not like that. I always look at the sunshine of things.”
—Julie Krone (b. 1963)
“Each day I live in a glass room
Unless I break it with the thrusting
Of my senses and pass through
The splintered walls to the great landscape.”
—Mervyn Peake (1911–1968)