Prototyping with Ultra-Thin Glass

Ultra-thin glass comprises glass below 1-2mm in thickness. As such, it is very flexible. For example, ultra-thin glass of 0.1mm thickness will bend similarly to a regular sheet of paper

Glass manufacturers using ultra-thin glass for consumer electronics or interior wall panel applications use either scribing or laser cutting technologies. Scribing consists of scoring the surface of the glass with

The use of a waterjet to cut glass is quite common when glass is in the range of 2-20mm. The team tested cutting ultra-thin glass with a 5-axis CNC waterjet

With the goal of developing a widely available cutting methodology, our team explored the use of tabletop laser cutters generally available in multiple architects or designers’ offices. These laser cutters

Scribing consist of scoring glass with a diamond wheel in order to create a vent, before the glass is manually broken along the vent. This technique has been mastered by

Glass strength is a function of the distributions of material flaws and their propensity to grow and is primarily affected by the edge roughness. While being innovative (and quite open-minded)

Safety glass is comprised of tempered and/or laminated glass. As previously documented [3], Willow Glass behaves like an annealed product which breaks into large shards and requires lamination. Lamination enables

The ultra-thin glass panels of the 2017 sculpture project were interconnected by means of free-form sweeping V profiles, following helicoidal curves. At that scale, the V profiles could not have

While team Enclos performed research on cutting and laminating ultra-thin glass through the residency at the Boston Build Space and capitalizing on internal knowledge and external suppliers, Josephine Stoddard wrote

The present research was approached on two aspects: manufacturing and design, as these are inextricable.

This article demonstrates that low cost tools, accessible to a large pool of students and design