What does kiln-carved mean on a glass bar top?

Kiln-carving is a process in which glass is fired in a kiln over a textured bed — in this case, a hand-worked sand surface — so the heat softens the glass and allows it to take on the precise contours of the texture beneath it. The result is a surface that is permanently part of the glass, not applied to it. The texture lives on the underside, meaning the top surface stays smooth and cleanable while the visual depth lives below, amplified by the LED light source behind it.

How is a glass bar top supported without drilling through the glass?

Three cantilevered steel brackets, anchored into the bar structure below, carry the full load of the glass surface. The glass rests on the bracket faces and is bonded with ultra-clear silicone — no hardware passes through the glass at any point. This eliminates stress concentration points, aesthetic intrusion, and future maintenance issues caused by through-drilling.

How does the LED lighting system work inside a kiln-carved glass bar top?

The Ambiance Machine™ RGB LED system mounts along the interior edge of the bar structure and fires light upward through the glass. The carved texture catches and scatters that light, creating a surface that appears to glow from within. The system operates across 8 million color combinations at 0–100% intensity, with programmable scenes and optional photocell trigger that activates the bar automatically at dusk.

What are the maintenance requirements for a kiln-carved glass bar top?

The surface requires no special treatment. The top surface is smooth polished glass — cleaning is the same as any glass surface, a damp cloth or standard glass cleaner. No sealing, no waxing, no periodic treatment required. Low-iron glass is non-porous, does not stain, and does not react with alcohol, citrus, or cleaning products.

How was the wave texture pattern developed for the Mantoloking glass bar top?

The texture was designed interactively — client and craftsman working from the bar's geometry and the room's flow to arrive at a pattern that felt native to the space. Once the bar base drawings were confirmed, multiple textural iterations were developed. The client selected the wave pattern, which was then scaled and anchor-pointed so the hand-worked sand bed in the kiln matched it as faithfully as the process allows.

Outdoor Countertop Choices: Which is Coolest?

Last updated on January 4th, 2021 at 09:24 am

Downing Designs offers many outdoor countertop choices. In fact, we are the ONLY countertop manufacturer that can supply our own custom Textured Glass along with White Glass, Countertops, Concrete Countertops, and every Quartz, Granite, Solid Surface, etc.

The point is: We are agnostic when it comes to materials for your project. We do not care to push you in one direction or another, and as such, are a trusted adviser to many architect and design-build firms who seek our vast experience in the selection of materials.

Many times we are are asked to fabricate outdoor countertops, and the plans call for dark colored material (which makes us wince), or, worse yet, Quartz countertops (which cannot be used outdoors because it will yellow). We like to enjoy the great outdoors as much as anyone, BUT, in the Florida summer heat, most materials will be very uncomfortable in direct sunlight (not to mention making my beer/wine warm). For our clients, the definition of luxury outdoor countertops is “Un-Fussy“. ..i.e. no sealing, no maintenance, non-staining…essentially wipe/hose it off and its ready to go. There are few materials that fit this definition, that stay cool outdoors. To understand which ones were in fact cool in direct sunlight, I purchased a digital laser thermometer to find out just how uncomfortable some of these countertop options are in summer sunlight. We have a huge warehouse in Tampa, and store many of our materials outdoors. For this test, the facts were: September 19, 2017 1:30pm, Temperature 93 degrees, Zero Clouds. All materials were outdoors since early morning, placed flat and level on a table.

As you can see, there are clearly bad choices to be made when selecting your outdoor countertop material. There was one very clear winner, and not surprisingly it is the White Glass.

This material was developed by Russian space agencies to repel heat on their re-entry rockets. Clearly it succeeds in that regard. It is also the “un-fussiest” of materials we offer. See our YouTube video showing it does not burn because of cigarettes. Never stains. No sealing ever. It is a 100% inorganic material that will never yellow. It is the toughest material we know of…very hard to chip or break. Perfect in many respects.

Conclusion can be drawn any way, but we continue to become more and more impressed with our White Glass material, as seen in the above evidence. When selecting your materials for your outdoor kitchen countertops, please keep in mind these results, as they may just make the difference between a countertop that is highly used vs one that gets used only during the cooler months.

Come on by our shop someday and bring your own materials to compare with ours. Our digital thermometer is ready…

Jeff Downing (813) 784 5211

Jeff Downing

Founder, Lead Designer & Custom Glass Countertop Expert
Jeff Downing of Downing Designs, is a Tampa Florida–based design studio specializing in custom Glass Countertops, Glass Bar Tops, Glass Vanity tops and Glass Stair Treads. With decades of hands-on experience, Jeff is widely recognized for delivering textured glass surfaces integrated with LED lighting to create dazzling abstract statement pieces.

"Glass. Lights. Ambiance".

September 22, 2017

Outdoor Countertop Choices: Which is Coolest?

Jeff Downing

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