Stained Glass Tips from Another Stained Glass Making Expert

A new friend of ours offered up some great stained glass tips. She is another true stained glass expert and loved the site.

We are super excited to share this article with you. Parts of this glass making article you've heard from us, but it's always good to reiterate various points.

Plus, you can learn new stained glass tips that perhaps we haven't mentioned.

Note: All pictures here are hers and we are proud to present them to you to view!

Background on each image:

The "Phoenix" image: The color part is drawn using oil pastel. The shadows / "ashes" part is a piece of clear glass that was painted and fired. Finally, we added another clear piece of glass onto the back creating a "sandwich" of the drawing, and leaded the edges to create a frame.

The "Dewalt" image: This piece was one of four that was commissioned as a transom ( a window that goes above a doorway). The glass is regular clear, with red jewels. The joining technique is traditional lead came.

The "Katrina" image: This piece piece was made for a Yankees fan. The name is painted, and fired in a kiln using a glass painting technique called Grisaille . The joining technique is copper foil, with a black patina finish.

Enjoy...

My advice and biggest of the stained glass tips to all of the beginning stained glass artists out there is: start with the basics.

Glass is cut using a stained glass cutter tool, which consists of a tiny wheel, usually made of carbide, with a small well of oil for lubrication.

The glass cutter is rolled along the glass surface, creating a score. The glass then breaks along this score line when pressure is applied to either side. There are several types of cutters, and I recommend trying a few to find the most comfortable one for you.

These pliers come to a slight point on the top, so that equal pressure is applied and centered over the score line, creating a clean break.

Another type of pliers known as grozing pliers work by "nipping" the edges of the glass to create the shape necessary for the design.

One of the most useful stained glass tools I have is a glass grinder. Stained glass grinders are simply a plastic box filled with water with has a grid top, and a carbide grinding wheel.

The wheel is very similar to that of a rotary dremel tool. This tool allows you to "sand" off any unwanted parts of your piece in a smooth and safe manner.

Once you've got all of the pieces, it is then time to join them together. There are two traditional techniques used to join pieces of glass together: copper foil & lead came. Usually, beginners start out learning the copper foil method first.

The foil itself is similar to tape: copper on one side, adhesive on the other. Apply the foil along all edges of the glass that will later be joined (all "Tiffany" style lamps are made this way).

The use of lead came is a little bit different. Generally speaking, all church windows and other large projects are built with lead came because of its strength and durability.

Came usually comes in lengths of 6 feet, and has a profile that is in the shape of the capital letter "I" or a sideways capital letter "H".

This shape allows the glass to slide into either side, while having a center that allows strength, and stops the pieces from hitting each other.

Lead came is flexible, will form around almost any shape, and is cut with a lead knife that is similar to a sharpened putty knife.

Once all of the pieces are foiled, or leaded, and arranged where they need to be, brush on a chemical called flux (for foil flux all of the exposed copper, for lead flux only the joints).

Flux creates a chemical reaction between the copper and the solder, allowing the solder to bond with the copper. After applying flux, the pieces are ready to be soldered together.

The types of stained glass solder I recommend are 60/40 (60% tin, 40% lead) or, if you would rather, lead free (keep in mind that lead free solder will not work with lead came, only copper foil).

There are many types of soldering irons available. Big stained glass tips: I recommend the Inland or Weller brand soldering gun with a trigger. This allows the user to turn the heat of the gun on and off with the use of the trigger, unlike traditional irons that continue to heat up as long as they are plugged in.

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Once you have made your choice of solder and iron, start soldering! The trick is, for foil, try and create a uniform "pool" of solder. The end result will be a "hump", or the shape of an upside-down "U".

Huge stained glass tips: For lead, neatness counts. When soldering lead joints, try to make the points equal- creating a sort of addition sign. Be careful of burning through the lead.

This happens when the soldering iron gets too hot, so be sure to unplug it every once in a while (Tip: For maxium soldering, your soldering tip should be cleaned frequently. This can be done by using a wire brush, and also by dipping the tip in the flux). When the piece is structurally complete, be sure to clean the flux off with Windex.

In the case of lead, the next step is to "cement" the pieces. This is a process of waterproofing, and strengthening the individual pieces of glass.

For this, take glazing putty and push it under the edges of the lead, and then remove the excess (Tip: Mix the putty with black cement dye to create a gray putty that blends in better with the color of the lead. Also, sharpened chopsticks make a great tool when removing the excess putty).

For special effects, change the color of the solder or lead by using a product called patina. This will change the color to either black (the most common) or copper. Patina is a liquid that must be applied evenly over all lead and soldered areas. Q-tips are a good application tool.

For the final cleanup, there are many different techniques that I have found effective. In my experience, the best cleaner is whiting, which is a powder- like substance that is made up of calcium carbonate.

It is easiest to sprinkle the whiting all over the piece, and use a soft bristled scrub brush to scrub away the grease. An older, but still effective technique uses sawdust and burlap. If those don't appeal to you, there is always my old standby, Windex. Glass shows everything, so be prepared to clean it a few times!

The past few paragraphs provide stained glass tips and a crash course in the extreme basics of stained glass art. There are, of course, countless things to learn and discuss in regards to stained glass.

For now, remember: get the proper stained glass supplies - always wear safety glasses, no open-toed shoes (ouch!), work in a well ventilated, well-lit area, and most of all, HAVE FUN!!

We hope you got something out of these stained glass tips. I know we did as we can learn from each other. Feel free to share your stained glass tips anytime!

Sarah is the owner of Element Custom Glass, a small company that specializes in creating pieces that are both beautiful and unique. I would love to share any stained glass tips that you may be interested in. Please feel free to check out our website at Element Custom Glass or you can contact me directly by phone at (718) 938-7676.