Welcome to
There are two basic techniques in
making a piece of stained glass. The Lead Came and the Copper Foil techniques. I
have worked in both and personally I prefer working with copper foil rather than
lead came. I find it easier to work with, it lends itself to more detailing, and
I find it stronger and requires less maintenance.
DESIGN AND PATTERN:
When working in either technique the first aspect is the design and pattern.
The design is usually done on a small scale until a desired idea is realized.
Exact measurements are taken and a large scale design is then made to these
measurements. At this point a pattern can be made in a heavier more durable
paper or card stock. Each piece of the pattern, on both the design and the card
stock, are given a number so that the pieces can be put back together, like a
puzzle. I usually also put arrows on my pattern pieces so my glass will flow in
the direction of my design. The card stock is then cut out using either copper
foil shears or lead came shears. These shears are specially designed with a gap
to facilitate the thickness of copper foil or lead came between the pieces of
glass. Some artists don't bother with the pattern step - rather placing their
glass directly over the design on a light table and either using a glass marker
to define the shapes or cutting directly onto the glass.
CHOOSING, CUTTING AND GRINDING OF THE GLASS:
Choosing the glass for a project, is what I think, the most important aspect
of the stained glass process - it can "make or break" a piece of
stained glass. When I'm choosing a piece of glass for one of my designs I can
almost feel the glass speaking to me. My minds eye can see the swirl or texture
of a piece of glass and say - yes, this will look great for the sky, or this
will look great for the movement in a flower.
Once the glass is chosen, the pattern pieces are laid out on top, making sure
the arrows on the pattern pieces follow the design flow on the glass. Using a
glass marker the pattern pieces are traced onto the glass and then cut using a
lubricated glass cutter. The individual pieces of glass can now be trimmed for a
more precise fit or to smooth out the edges before foiling, either using a glass
grinder, the edge of the glass pliers or a glass sanding stone.
COPPER FOILING:
Each piece of glass is now incased in a piece of copper foil. The edges are
turned under and then burnished on both sides of the glass and any mismatch of
copper foil is neatly trimmed away. The copper foil comes in varying widths and thickness
depending on the end use or artistic results desired.
SOLDERING:
Once all the glass pieces are copper foiled, they are placed back on the
design. For windows and flat pieces, a frame can be built to make it easier to
ensure the work stays square and to keep the work within the desired dimensions.
A flux is brushed over the copper foiled areas of the glass pieces to allow the solder
to adhere to the copper foil. Using a soldering iron designed for
stained glass use, a smooth bead of solder is run along the copper foil.
Decorative soldering can also be done to enhance the work.
CLEANING AND FINISHING:
It is extremely important to clean the finished project thoroughly removing
any and all flux residue. The soldering lines can then be given a look of
copper, brass or black oxide using various chemicals, or simply remain the
silver color of the solder. If a chemical is used, then the project is
thoroughly cleaned again prior to a wax finish. The wax finish is buffed until
it shines. The project is then signed using an engraving machine and is ready
for display.