British Manufacturing Industries: Pottery, Glass and Silicates, Furniture and Woodwork.Arnoux, Léon
History
British Manufacturing Industries: Pottery, Glass and Silicates, Furniture and Woodwork.
Arnoux, Léon
Manufacturing industries -- Great Britain
The modern shape is round; though formerly certain glass-pots, called
_cuvettes_, used in the purifying of plate glass, were square. Pots
used in the manufacture of common crown and sheet window glass,
generally speaking, are larger at the top than at the bottom; but
whatever may be the shape of the pot, the method of its building is
the same. The sides are carefully made of fire-clay, each piece being
laid on by itself and kneaded like the bottom of the pot, so that it
is slowly built up until it reaches the desired height. It is then
dried very gradually, and the process is finished in artificially
warmed chambers. Before putting it in its place in the glass-furnace,
it is allowed to remain for some time in what is called a pot-arch,
that is, an archway built of fire-clay bricks, along the side of which
is a fireplace, by means of which the arch is brought up to a red
heat; and after it has been heated sufficiently, is removed while
red-hot and put into the furnace. Glass-pots are never allowed to
cool, and with care they may last for several months. From this
description of their manufacture, it will be clear that it is attended
with considerable cost, varying from 5_l._ to 10_l._
There are three different kinds of ordinary pots for crown, plate, and
flint glass; and of these the last is decidedly the most expensive, as
its top is covered over, and presents the appearance of a dome with an
opening in front, through which the materials can be introduced when
the pot is charged, and from which, when made, the glass may be drawn,
in order to be blown into shape by the workman. In glass-furnaces the
pots are sometimes arranged in a circle, with their mouths opening
into the glass-house; but now a different construction is sometimes
employed, since other methods of heating the furnaces have been
introduced. It is hardly within the scope of this article to enter
into a description of glass-furnaces; suffice it to state, that they
should be of such a construction as to yield the greatest amount of
well-regulated heat for the smallest consumption of fuel, and this
object seems to be best effected by the adoption of Mr. Siemens'
excellent principle of heating furnaces. For some years his process
has been in use at the Thames Plate Glass Company's Works, where the
saving of fuel has been very considerable, and the glass greatly
improved, owing to the fact that impurities from the fuel employed
cannot possibly find such easy entrance into the glass-pot. In any
case, the construction of the furnace is such, as to be best adapted
to the convenience of the workmen, according to the kinds of glass
which they have to make. Differently arranged furnaces are used for
bottles from those employed for crown and sheet glass.
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