The Mighty Stained Glass Work Bench - Where Magic Happens
One important aspect of your stained glass projects is the stained glass work bench and work station. This is an aspect we receive a lot of questions about and an area that you must be creative especially if you have limited space. For example, if you live in a one-bedroom apartment, creating a work bench will be a major challenge. However, if you have a basement, you can easily create an area that will allow you to spread out and generate your glass art. Below are some specs and pictures of “The Wizard’s” work area for creating stained glass art. He does have an advantage that he has a great area that is perfect for stained glass making, but that doesn't mean you don't or shouldn't find one because this art form is tons of fun! Here are the specs of our workbench. This is a fairly simple design but allows ample space to work, break glass, and work his magic. I like to call him “Edward Scissorhands” for stained glass.
 We like the piece of glass to help clean the slivers of glass. Also it seems to help him cut the stained glass easier. This is an option. The piece of glass he has is 60"long x 36"deep. We placed the glass on the right side of the work bench. Then attached a wood square against the glass on the right side 32"x 36". We also made shelves with standards screwed into the wall and used 12" brackets. He placed pieces of wood 12" deep for the shelf itself. You can add as many shelves as you need or have room for. We built a smaller version of this bench for the stained glass grinder: 29"w x 22"deep x 36"tall. We recommend making different size wood boxes to house the glass for stained glass, to stand upright, rather than lay the glass flat. We also recommend a well-lit area and plenty of electric outlets (at least 8 plug-ins). We built the bench to fit in an area of the basement. You can make your bench whatever size you would like. We have seen benches that you can walk around - 50"long x 48"deep. Again this is one example of a stained glass work bench. Your situation may call for different specs, drastic measures, or something totally different. Don’t hesitate to ask and see how you can incorporate this art form for you situation. Below are some additional pictures of the stained glass work bench. The caption below the picture offers more of a description.
Above shows a great view of our stained glass making work space. This is in the basement where it is typically quite dark. Notice the simplicity of the bench and the use of bright light.
Here is a shot of some of the stained glass tools that are utilized during the glass creation process.
The above pic shows various glass that is used in Randy's pieces and the stained glass patterns that he begins with.
In the above photo, note the use of a small t.v. This is an optional tool for your stained glass work bench, but is great to watch instructional stained glass videos as you're making your glass art. A laptop would work also. The benefit to this is if you don't want to spend hundreds on stained glass classes, this is a perfect substitute.
Download instructions for a simple to make stained glass work bench Show Off Your Best Stained Glass Pieces
This is the best part of the process - standing back and admiring your best stained glass work!
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