What exactly is Tempered Glass?
Tempered glass is a very strong and durable material that is often used as safety glass in many kinds of products. Clarus makes their glassboards out of tempered glass, which can be anywhere from five to ten times the strength of regular glass and even a few times stronger than laminated glass. So what exactly is tempered glass, and how is it made?
Tempered glass is made using both chemical and thermal treatments; these treatments help give the glass a more balanced internal stress capability. The thermal process typically used in tempering glass is one that heats, and then quickly cools the glass to harden it. This thermal process also makes the glass much more heat-resistant, which is why companies use tempered glass for coffee maker carafes and the windows in ovens. This glass can withstand very high temperatures before breaking.
Other places you can find tempered glass are in computer screens, LCDs, door windows, skylights and shower doors. The reason tempered glass is considered to be safety glass is not only its strength, but the way it breaks. Tempered glass doesn’t shatter, like regular glass and mirrors do, creating large, jagged shards of glass. Tempered glass will usually break into very small, oval-shaped, pebble-like pieces, without the sharp edges of regular glass.
The tempering process changes the properties of the glass, allowing it to break more safely. This is why most automobiles use tempered glass on their side and rear windows. Many public structures are also required to use tempered glass windows for safety reasons and many eyeglass manufacturers temper their glass using a chemical process, to prevent eye damage if the glasses break.
You can see tempered glass on a car’s back window on a sunny day if you’re wearing polarized sunglasses. You can tilt your head about 90 degrees and see a symmetrical pattern in the glass, which is created during the tempering process.
So why do we use tempered glass at Clarus? Tempered glass is strong, durable and very hard to break. Not only are our boards strong, but they are bolted into the wall so securely that you can literally do pull ups on the glass marker boards without even remotely hurting the board or the wall! Once you have a glassboard, you won’t be buying replacement boards or worrying about ghosting and streaking markers. Clarus boards are sustainable products and are built to last.
About Clarus Glassboards: Clarus is the leading manufacturer and innovator of glass whiteboards and glass visual display products. For more information about clear dry erase boards and our other glass architectural systems, please call 888-813-7414 or visit www.clarusglassboards.com.
