Short answers, pulled from the story.
A glass blower gathered molten glass on a long iron pipe and blew air into it to create an expanding cylindrical shape. Workers cut off both ends of the hollow tube and sliced down the side to open it like a book before unrolling it flat under heat.
William Blenko patented a specific method for creating cylinders using molds to ensure consistent sizes across all batches. His company intentionally kept slight imperfections to give the flat glass the appearance of antique materials while maintaining handcrafted quality.
Moving the glass caused scratches and uneven textures on the sheets which required workers to grind these surfaces to remove visible defects. Polishing followed the grinding stage to restore clarity because the unrolling action left the material cloudy or scratched without this treatment.
The year 1839 marked a turning point in glass manufacturing history when Chance Brothers invented patent plate processing to solve persistent quality issues. They placed the glass plate onto a wet piece of leather before polishing to remove all remaining surface damage from earlier steps.
France and Germany had imported these materials into the UK since the 1700s before factory owners began adopting machine manufactured alternatives like float glass. Hand-blown window glass lasted at least until the end of the 19th century when modern factories started dominating the global market for architectural glazing.