WRITTEN ON November 1st, 2009 BY AND STORED IN How Glass Bathroom Sinks Are Made

Tags: glass bathroom sinks, glass sinks, glass vessel sink, How Glass Bathroom Sinks Are Made, sinks, vessel sinks

It is pretty obvious that glass sinks are made with glass. But what you may not know is there is more than one kind of glass making. There are many questions commonly asked about how glass sinks are made, how expensive they are, etc. There are three main types of glass making used in the production of glass sinks, and the difference largely has to do with what temperature conditions the glass is crafted under.

“Cold Glass” is the term used when making glass sinks at room temperature. The kinds of glass that fall into this catagory are mosaic glass, stained glass, and glass that is carved or etched.

The term “Warm Glass” is used for glass sinks made with the process od fusing, slumping, or with other kiln fomring techniques at between 1100 and 1700 degrees.

“Hot Glass” is glass sinks made with the process of melting glass at 2200 degrees. The melting glass is gathered on the end of a pipe, and the artist then forms the glass using an oven called a “glory hole”. A glory hole is an oven that maintains 1200 degrees. The resulting sink is then cooled in another overn, called annealing oven.

Keeping those three main techniques in mind, there are also three categories of glass bathroom sinks available. The process of joining pieces of glass together is called fusing. If the right kind of glass is heated and cooled the right way, the resulting fused pieces will be solid glass. While using this technique, the artist can create many patterns and designs in color. The sheet of glass that results from this process is then put through what is called the slumping process. This is where the glass is laid onto a mold and heated to the point it fits the mold. in the case of a sink, the mold would shape the glass that forms the sink. As long as the glass is cooled quickly enough, there will be no movement within and thus, no cracking. The sinks resulting from this technique are quite elaborate and intriquite in design and require hours of labor to create.

Most of us have heard the term “Blown Glass”. During this process, the artisan gathers layers of heated glass on the end of a rod and the glass is then blown and worked into the shape of the vessel sink. Color can be inserted into this process at the beginning, giving the ability to create many different sizes, shapes, and colors of glass bathroom sinks. Due to variations in the process, every glass sink made with this technique will be unique.

Mosaic glass is produced when hand cut pieces of colored glass are adhered to the surface of an annealed glass bowl. Annealing is when glass is bent into shape at high temperature. This process makes the resulting bowl very durable in extreme temperature variations. Obviously that is a positive trait in a sink. the mosaic sink is grouted and sealed and usually finished with a clear coating to create a smooth surface. These sinks can be quite colorful and beautiful.

As you have seen, there is a wide range of techniques used in the production of glass bathroom sinks. The more elaborate and spectacular of the glass sinks will be those that are handmade using the methods discussed earlier. But with the increasing popularity of glass sinks, there has been an influx of production line type options. For sure you can save money on one of these sinks, but if you put a production line sink next to a hand made glass sink, there really is no comparison. If you can afford a glass bathroom sink made by a true artist, you will find you have added a true work of art to your bathroom. The best part is it is a functioning work of art, and your guests will be talking about it long after they leave your home.