Glass Innovation:

flat shattered | cold-bent glass | single glaze laminated glass | shaped shattered glass
ice Glass | 3 D painted glass | BENEFITS | resume

“Silastial® Glass” is the name Rick Silas has given to his patented process which allows him to manipulate tempered plate glass in ways never done before. His process has many advantages over other shattered glass material currently on the market. It is lighter, stronger, and maintains structural integrity much better. It can be laminated to varied thicknesses of lites (sheets of glass). One or more of the lites can be shattered; or all the lites in a lamination can be shattered.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of Silas’ process is that it can be utilized to reclaim discarded tempered plate glass. Tempered plate glass cannot be cut once fired, so all errors in processing result in tons of refuse from glass factories every week. Glass factories will need to have a viable solution to their waste problems in order to comply with the Kyoto Accord or other environment protection measures in the future. Virtually every bit of the waste glass currently land-filled can be turned into one of five types of valuable product, without the cost- prohibitive re-processing methods that have been used in the past.

BENEFITS of SILASTIAL® ART GLASS

Moldable:
Multiple sheets of tempered plate glass is taken and molded into any shape imaginable without heat. Using a mold allows for mass production of shaped glass at a much lower cost than hot glass processes, with the added benefit of no size restrictions.

Cut-able:
Silastial bent and flat glass products can be cut with conventional power saws.

No Internal Stress:
By shattering the glass when adhesives are wet, and by using a temporary membrane, the glass does not contain any inherent stress from expansion of the shatter.

Bevelled Edges:
When laminating two lite pieces of glass, there is no stress involved, so convenional bevelling techniques can be applied to edge Silastial Art Glass products. Tests are still underway on triple laminations.

Flatness:
Silastial Art Glass is perfectly flat, thus allowing very tight engineering on joinery.

Color and Diffusion:
Color or other visual effects can be added to the materials (between glass sheets), eliminating scratching and fading. This also allows for complete control over diffusion.

Versatile Impact Point:
The impact point can be done anywhere on the "lite" allowing greater versatility of the final designs.

Reclaimation and recycling:
Since the Silastial Art Glass process enables changing the shape of tempered plate glass at room temperature, most of our products are made from conventional factory mistakes that would normally go to land fill.

Surface Coverage:
Silastial Art Glass can be laminated to any substrate such as wood, ceramic, steel, and concrete, offering maintenance free, durable surfaces.

Tough:
When Silastial Art Glass is laminated to other substrates, a tough, hard surface is created that resists great impact.