When choosing between glass and plastic for an application, many people with cost-conscious applications expect plastics to be the cost-effective choice. But you just may have more options than you think.
In the long term, plastic can actually accrue higher costs in maintenance, replacements, and repair work. Both materials offer specialized benefits in a wide range of applications, but the perks of glass offer long-term benefits and unexpected savings.
Low Maintenance, High Performance
Glass promises superior overall performance when compared to plastic: better transmittance, improved insulation, and high scratch resistance are just the beginning. Customers choose glass for its high-end aesthetics, weather and chemical resistance, and low expansion and contraction in extreme temperatures.
But it’s more than just a higher level of performance — glass offers durability, meaning lower costs for maintenance. Less frequent repairs and replacements also mean less cost in the long-term, not to mention less stress.
Versatility Without Compromise
The resilience of glass, as well as its wide variety of treatments and formulations, allows it to outperform plastic in countless cost-effective applications across industries, including:
The Swift Glass team stands ready to help every customer find the best glass material fit — and still save money. We focus on procuring the ideal material investment for a project, and we’re proud to maintain a vast inventory of glass variations to suit any project, performance challenge, or price point.
Learn more about what affects the price of your glass parts with our new eBook, or contact us today!
A waterjet’s small stream size and controlled pressure makes it the ideal choice for cutting many materials. From shaped mirrors to cell phone panels to very thick materials, waterjet cutting is the go-to method for a variety of industry applications.
Here are three reasons why manufacturers choose waterjet cutting for their projects
Smoother Cutting
A water jet cutter’s highly pressurized stream of water — sometimes cut with garnet or aluminum oxide as the abrasive — provides an exceptionally smooth and controllable tool. Controlling the speed of cutting allows thin or thick glass or ceramic to be smoothly cut very economically.
Etched, taped, and coated surfaces are safe for waterjet cutting, too.
Superior Precision
Regardless of the shape, size or specific glass material, our omni-directional jet stream can cut almost all shapes down to 0.1mm in thickness. The high pressure generated from the machine’s water pump creates pinpoint accuracy to smoothly cut holes, notches and details without distortion.
This kind of precision makes waterjet cutting optimal for applications in all types of industries — automotive, lighting, architecture, energy, marine, medical, aviation, and more.
High Performance for Thick Materials
A wide variety of glass products benefit from water jet cutting, from ultra-thin smartphone panels to thick multi-layered bullet-proof vehicle and building panels to delicate stained glass windows. As the thickness of glass increases, waterjet cutting offers superior speed and accuracy, even for materials like explosion-proof glass.
The Swift Glass Team offers precision cutting for glass and ceramic up to several inches thick. Some other applications for waterjet-cut glass, both thick and thin, include:
Ornamental Components
Solar Panels
Gauges
Wafers
Wood burning stoves
With more than twenty years of experience in water jet cutting, the Swift Glass team can confidently recommend its versatility and precision for your next project. We work with the latest cutting technology to accommodate even the most complicated projects.
Find more information and specifications on water jet glass cutting and other services at Swift including our capabilities at swiftglass.com, or contact The Team with questions about your project today.
Eighty years of business adds up to a lot of projects, and that means a lot of questions. Our team is experienced, available, and happy to help — but do you know what to ask them?
Over time, we’ve paid attention to the most common questions that come up in glass manufacturing, and thought we’d give you a head start on your next project. We’ve found that these are the most important points to consider in order to ensure every client selects exactly what is needed.
What temperature and pressure ranges can your materials handle?
It’s important to consider every facet of your design’s projected performance and exposure before selecting a material. Manufacturers like Swift Glass keep an immense inventory, with both raw materials and ready-made products available. This wide range of choices means that it’s more likely we’ll have the perfect glass in stock to meet your desired temperature and pressure ranges.
Having these materials at the ready means a product’s turnaround time is far more efficient. However, this isn’t a place to rush! Carefully evaluate the qualities you need, including:
Thickness
Normal Service Temperatures
Extreme Service Temperatures
Maximum Temperature, Thermal Shock
Maximum Temperature, Thermal Gradient
In/In/ oF Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
We carry Float, Pyrex®, Borofloat®, Quartz and Vycor®, covering nearly any high temperature or pressure application. Once you’ve determined your project’s range, check out our website, eBook resources, or call the team for material-specific details and reference charts.
What is the difference between tempered and non-tempered glass?
Once glass is machined to final size, it may stay as annealed or it can be tempered in a heat treatment process. This process heats the glass above the strain point; then rapidly cools the glass- putting the surfaces in compression. Doing this operation increases the resistance to thermal shock as well as making the glass able to withstand up to 4 times the amount of pressure compared to un-tempered glass.
Find more details about tempered glass with our full response in the new eBook, 5 Important Questions to Ask Your Glass Manufacturer. You’ll find detailed answers to the questions highlighted here, as well as three more common questions:
How quickly can my project be completed?
How can we reduce our project’s costs?
What is the vendor’s production volume?
These are our most common questions, and they’re a great place to start! Find the whole eBook here on our website, or contact the team with your own questions today.
With so many advances in modern technology over the years, Swift Glass is proud to announce our own revolutionary development: a newly redesigned website.
We have taken extreme care in providing an updated interface, with streamlined information about our products and the industries that we serve.
Whether you are an engineer, designer, or procurement manager, you will be excited to learn that we have increased our site’s user-friendliness to better improve your overall experience, and offer solutions that cater to your projects and applications.
What’s New?
With nearly 100 years of expertise in custom glass fabrication, Swift Glass is no stranger to transformation. We’ve evolved with the times and understand that today’s fast paced, digital business climate requires the ability to access information and resources anytime and anywhere.
Whether you are using our website on your computer, tablet, or mobile phone, Swift Glass’s newly redesigned platform allows you easier access to products, resources and industry information, such as:
Product specification data;
Information on the materials we use, as well as their benefits and applications;
Insight into our manufacturing capabilities and inspection process, and;
Free, downloadable reference guides and videos available in our resource library.
Swift Glass Makes Your Fabrication Project Easy
We are here to do the hard work so that you don’t have to. Our goal is to help you find what you need at the click of a button. If you are having trouble determining the perfect glass solution for your project, fear not. Our site now includes in-depth profiles for materials such as: Borosilicate; Patterned Glass; Gauge Glass; Optical Display Glass; Sight Glass; and; Quartz/Fused Silica.
In addition, we offer a new portfolio feature that visually showcases our state-of-the-art work. We believe that jumpstarting a new fabrication task should be simple and comprehensive. Our updated website is an investment in our commitment to providing the best solutions for our customers.
Visit our site today and start learning what Swift Glass can do for you.
Borofloat® glass is one of the world’s most influential specialty glass materials, able to meet a huge range of the most technologically challenging applications.
Borofloat’s® unique characteristics make it ideal for:
Jobs that require extreme temperature and fluctuation in that operating temperature. Because of its low coefficientof thermal expansion, Borofloat® is the best choice for such applications. Our glass can even operate in conditions where temperature is very different from the center of the glass to the outside edges.
Photonics, optics and opto-electronics. Borofloat® glass also has extremely high transparency in the near-infrared and ultraviolet ranges. In addition, our glass does not distort light as it passes through the lens.
Equipment in the biomedical and analytical industries. High resistance to acids and alkalis, not to mention organic substances is another great feature of Borofloat® glass. Without resistance to these substances, damage to a lens could result in faulty readings from the equipment.
Inspection panels for high pressure or heavy load applications. A lens made of Borofloat® glass is resistant to scratches and abrasions. When an application requires heavy loads, or high pressure, this becomes critical. In addition, the strength of Borofloat® means that you don’t have to worry about damage to a critical component. This strength allows it to be used as an inspection panel without concerns of breakage during use.
Applications for Borofloat®
All of the properties that make Borofloat® glass special allow it to be used in a wide range of applications and markets, including:
High- Performance Lamps –Borofloat® has been used in cinema projectors and theater lights, not to mention other powerful types of lighting equipment.
Oven Windows – Capable of handling temperatures up to 450 degrees Celsius, Borofloat® can be used in ovens without fear that the glass will be damaged by the high heat.
Laser Optics – Borofloat® lenses are ideal for applications such as lasers, allowing as much of the light spectrum to pass through it as possible.
Whatever heavy-duty applications you need glass to work with, Swift Glass can provide you with exactly what you need. To learn more about Borofloat®, watch the video below.
Glass promises superior overall performance when compared to plastic: better transmittance, improved insulation, and high scratch resistance are just the beginning. Customers choose glass for its high-end aesthetics, weather and chemical resistance, and low expansion and contraction in extreme temperatures.
The Swift Glass team stands ready to help every customer find the best glass material fit — and still save money. We focus on procuring the ideal material investment for a project, and we’re proud to maintain a vast inventory of glass variations to suit any project, performance challenge, or price point.
