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 Wire
Glass
Wire glass, as the name suggests, is simply two pieces of glass with a wire mesh
in between. The two pieces, or lites, of glass are fused together during the
manufacturing process to create a single, monolithic glass with properties
useful where fire safety requirements apply.
How It's Made
 | During the manufacturing process, a steel wire mesh is sandwiched between
two separate ribbons of glass. After the glass - wire - glass sandwich is
created, grinding and polishing take place.
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| Grinding and polishing is necessary because wire glass does not come off a
float line. Since the glass does not spread out and float on a bath of molten
tin, it does not get the clear appearance of float glass.
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| Half a millimeter of glass is removed during one pass down the grinding
section.
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| The glass is then polished by rotating polyurethane pads, to give a
uniform polish. Rouge is used as the polishing agent, and is fed onto the
glass as it approaches the pads.
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| After polishing, the glass is examined and returned to the start of the
line to process the other side.
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| Once the cycle is completed, the glass is washed, dried and packaged.
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Where Wire Glass Is Required
Per the Uniform Building Code, wire glass may be used in any fire rated
assemblies (doors, windows). Milgard Tempering polished wire glass is a UL
approved fire rated product.
The Consumer Product Safety Council (CPSC) does not approve of wire glass as a
safety glass.
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