It's Time to Finish Our Lead Came Design & Show It Off!

Our next phase in the lead came design & creation process is to solder this baby. Here are a few simple steps that will allow you to master soldering making your glass piece stay together and look wonderful.

Step 1: Test the temperature of the soldering iron. If it melts a piece of lead came, it’s too hot. Reset if this is the case and wait a few minutes to try again. You want the solder to flow, but not so hot that it melts the came.

Step 2: Apply flux with a brush to the solder joints.

Step 3: Place the solder wire over the fluxed joints and apply the solder iron – be sure to use the flat surface of the iron. Cover to hide the lead came’s intersection, but make sure you don’t use too much. If you do it will form a ridge or ball effect. Keep the joints small and flat around the edges. Turn it over and solder the back side.

That does it! Yes, soldering is a very important step and one you will want to practice to master because it plays a big role in stained glass creation.

For more tips on how to solder, visit our stained glass solder section.

Now, to finalize our lead came design, we need to cement the piece together...

Cementing Our Lead Came Design

Cementing the Lead Came Design – Our Finale!!!

Ok it is time to cement the came design. No chit chat here, you have made it this far and we need to get right to it so you can show off your finished creation!!

1. Clean off your work area by clearing the small particles and dust. Lay some brown paper smoothly over your work space. Important that you wear your dust mask because this process is very messy and requires ventilation.

2. Mix the cement so it turns out smooth like mayonnaise. The ingredients are 4 parts chalk dust, 2 parts plaster, 1.5 parts turpentine, 1 part boiled linseed oil, and 1 part Porland cement. If too thick add some turpentine. If too thin add some chalk dust.

3. Once the cement is a good consistency, pour it on the design.

4. Use a brush in a circular pattern to push under the face of the came. Fill in all the gaps around the glass and the lead came.

5. Wipe off the excess cement with the brush.

6. Powder a light dusting of the chalk over the panel. With a clean brush, circle the dusting over the entire design. This process dries up the extra moisture and helps clean the glass. This also develops a natural patina.

7. Sweep off the excess chalk dust.

8. Repeat #’s six and seven above.

9. Now use the fid to remove the excess cement. Create a clean edge around each piece of the glass edges.

10. Put down a new piece of brown paper, turn the design over, and do the same thing on the back side.

11. Once both sides are cemented, put the design on a dry surface to dry. The best amount of time for this is about 48 hours.

12. With a fresh, damp, soft brush (best if there is no fuzzies) and soap, clean the glass.

Finally, for an added bonus look, take a cotton tips and apply some patina to the solder joints. Be sure to put your patina in a small jar (if you dip directly into the patina jar it will lose its strength). Apply as much as needed. For an extra nice look, polish the patina with some car wax (insider secret).

Well folks, that does it! You have made your very own lead came stained glass piece. I hope it turns out the way you imagined and designed it.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask our experts.

Other Steps in the Lead Came Process

Lead Came Part I

Let's talk tools - which ones we recommend for this method

The detailed process of lead came assembly

Lead Came Design Finishing Steps