The resulting 'sandwich' of HPL-chipboard-HPL, is then lipped in matching HPL or another suitable edging material such as PVC / Acrylic or hardwood.

The glass is then placed onto a roller table, taking it through a furnace which heats it to above its annealing point of 600 °C. It is then rapidly cooled with forced draughts of air below its annealing point. This causes the outer portion to harden and contract, while the inner portion remains free to flow for a short time. The final contraction of the inner layer induces compressive stresses in the surface of the glass balanced by tensile stresses in the body of the glass.

Toughened glass is typically assumed to be six times the strength of float glass. This is because any surface flaws tend to be pressed closed by the retained compressive forces, while the core layer remains relatively free of the defects which could cause a crack to begin.

Toughened glass is considered a safety glass due to its increased strength and its tendency to shatter in small, rounded pieces which are less likely to cause injury.

The paint is effectively placed on the glass by first forming a screen made up of a very tight mesh with either the holes open or blocked. The paint is then forced through these holes onto the glass in a controlled manner.

The resulting colours/ patterns are fired into the glass during the toughening process which makes for an extremely durable hardwearing product which is maintained over the life of the glass.

Silk screen printing can be offered in degrees of opacity to closely match an acid etch effect, with the advantage that unlike actual acid etching, screen printing does not show greasy marks such as finger prints and is more easily cleaned.

After sandblasting it is normal to coat with a protective layer of Ritec Clearshield of similar polymer coating, to protect the surface and to apply a durable and easy clean layer over the textured surface that results from sandblasting.

In this process, glass panels are placed inside a chamber and subjected to an oven temperature of 290ºC which causes any nickel sulphide to expand. If the glasses contain any nickel sulphide inclusions, this expansion results in the glasses breaking whilst in the heat soak chamber, thus reducing the risk of potential field breakages.

The cut veneers are then bonded to a suitable substrate such as moisture resistant chipboard, which can be edged in either the same veneer of matching hardwood.

To complete the finished product the veneered boards are factory finished in a 2 part AC lacquer to form a protective hard polish.

The chromium in the steel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form a thin, invisible layer of chrome-containing oxide, called the passive film. The sizes of chromium atoms and their oxides are similar, so they pack neatly together on the surface of the metal, forming a stable layer only a few atoms thick. It is this film that protects the steel from staining & rusting.

If the metal is cut or scratched and the passive film is disrupted, more oxide will quickly form on the exposed surface, protecting it from oxidative corrosion. (Iron, on the other hand, rusts quickly because atomic iron is much smaller than its oxide, so the oxide forms a loose rather than tightly-packed layer and flakes away.)

There are three main types of stainless steels - austenitic, ferritic, and martensitic. The most commonly used in internal architectural metalwork being Austentitic Type 304, frequently referred to as T304, or just 304.

What differentiates Optisheen is that it is a true polished finish. Most other 'polished' finishes are actually a ground finish produced by grinding the dry surface of the sheet with an abrasive belt.

Optisheen uses a 'wet cut' process with specially formulated polishing compounds. There is no direct contact between metal and polishing belt and as a result Optisheen has long, shallow, non directional graining with a lower grain aspect ratio.

Polyester powder coating uses very fine dry particles of resin with the pigment color of your choice. The resin powder is applied with a spray gun similar in concept to applying solvent based paint. The difference is this spray gun and it's resin contents are electrostatically charged. When the resin powder is sprayed onto a part it sticks to the metal because it's grounded, attracting charged resin powder like a magnet.

The charged powder adheres to the metal then melted by baking at 400F degrees in special industrial sized ovens. The melted resin fuses to the metal, providing a uniform, thick and durable finish. The result is a beautiful glossy finish that is very resistant to chemicals, wear and chipping, 3 times stronger than solvent based paints. Powder coating simply provides a quality finish that can be seen and felt for years

A coated components life span is determined significantly by the method used to prepare it prior to coating. It is therefore imperative that in order to produce a lasting coating that the chosen substrate is pre-treated correctly. Short cuts in pre-treatment will drastically effect the longevity of the final coating finish.

Cast acrylic sheet can be used as an alternative to glass in areas where the appearance of glass is desired but not practical to the environment. It has a very high molecular weight making it strong, resilient, easy to handle and fabricate.

Available in a large range of colours, cast acrylic is made between sheets of high quality glass. These glass 'formers' maybe shot blasted of otherwise textured which then replicates itself on to the surface of the acrylic during the casting process creating effects such as frosting and dimpling.

Cast acrylic is extremely durable and very hard to break, although the surface may be more prone to scratching than toughened glass which has a higher hardness value.

Unlike toughened glass which cannot be worked on / altered after the toughening process, there are no such restrictions with Cast Acrylic . This can be an advantage on tighter programmers where final site dimensions are not available in time to facilitate the manufacture of glass panels.