BasicSTAINED GLASS MAKINGAll the Skills and Tools You Need to Get StartedAll the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started

Ebeling

Precise, step-by-step instructions teach basic techniques

CRAFTS /Stained Glass Making

• Complete guide to equipment and materials

• Skills and projects fully illustrated with color photos

• Basic repair techniques included

Contributors

Michael Johnston is a stained glass expert who has been perfecting his craft for years in the central Pennsylvania region, where he ownsand operates Rainbow Vision Stained Glass. He is an accomplishedteacher of stained glass techniques and artistry for all skill levels.

Alan Wycheck is an award-winning photographer based inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Precise, step-by-step instructions teach basic techniques

STACKPOLEBOOKS

www.stackpolebooks.com

$16.95 U.S.Higher in CanadaPrinted in China

STA

CK

PO

LE

BO

OK

SB

ASIC

STA

INED

GLA

SS M

AK

ING

Contents

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

1. A Good Work Environment . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. Stained Glass Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3. Equipment and Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

4. Understanding Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

5. Basic Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

6. Foiled Glass Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

7. Lead Came Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

8. Tiffany-Style Lampshade . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

9. Holiday Candle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

10. Three-Dimensional Hanging Star . . . . 107

11. Mirror with Flower Overlay . . . . . . . . . 117

12. Basic Stained Glass Repair . . . . . . . . . . 125

13. Additional Project Patterns . . . . . . . . . 129

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

iii

So far you have practiced scoring glass to achieve different shapes and curves, you have grinded glass

to smooth it, and you have become comfortable apply-ing copper foil to edges of cut pieces of stained glass.It’s now time to put those new skills to use on your firstcomplete project: a foiled glass panel.

In doing this project you will also learn techniquesfor making and cutting out a paper pattern and tem-plate; soldering pieces of glass together with a soldering

iron; adding a lead border; and attaching hardwareneeded to hang the piece when it is finished.

This panel, also called a “window” by hobbyists, isa classic that can be hung in front of a regular windowso sunlight streams through it and produces a lustrousglow. With a bit of practice and care, you can even builda panel to customized dimensions to fit into an existingwindow or door, such as a transom.

6

Foiled Glass PanelTime investment: 6–8 hours total

51

Foiled G

lass Panel

Foi

led

Gla

ss P

anel

52

Item Quantity

❑ Glass cutter (pages 3–4)

❑ Cutting oil (page 4) One bottle

❑ Soldering iron (page 5)

❑ Solder (page 5) One spool

❑ Flux (page 6) One bottle

❑ Flux brush (page 6)

❑ Ruler (page 6)

❑ Pattern shears (page 7)

❑ Grozing/breaking pliers (page 7)

❑ Needle-nose pliers (page 8)

❑ Carborundum stone (page 8)

❑ Copper foil (page 9) One spool

❑ Lead came (page 10) A strip at least 6 feet long

❑ Lead cutters (page 11)

❑ Horseshoe nails (page 11) About a dozen

❑ Safety goggles (page 11)

❑ Lead board (page 12)

❑ Wooden or plastic fid (page 13)

❑ Patina (page 14) One bottle

❑ Rubber gloves (page 14)

❑ Paper towels/cleaning rag (page 15)

❑ Flux remover (page 14)

❑ Finishing compound (page 14) One bottle

❑ Carbon paper (page 16) At least one large sheet

❑ Oak tag (page 16) At least one large sheet

❑ Tracing paper (page 16) At least one large sheet

❑ Plastic basin and sponge (page 15)

❑ Thumbtacks and jig material (page 15) One complete kit

❑ Rubber cement (page 16) One bottle

❑ Colored pencils (page 16)

❑ Dustpan and brush (page 11)

If you have difficulty locating materials or equipment in your local craft store or stained glass shop, you can find them easily on the Inter-net. All of the items needed to make the projects in this book can be found at www.rainbowvisionsg.com, or you can log on to your favoritesearch engine and type “stained glass making” + “supplies” to contact hundreds of other online retailers.

This project requires a total of about 1 square foot of glass for each of the four different colors. Please note that glassestimates factor in some excess material to allow for a few mistakes.

SHOPPING LIST: Foiled Glass Panel

12

34

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

En

larg

e 16

5%

54

Foiled Glass Panel

1. Place the pattern from this bookon a copier and enlarge by the rec-ommended percentage.

2. Next, you will need three addi-tional sheets of paper, each measur-ing roughly 24 by 18 inches: 1) asheet of heavy-stock paper, muchlike the oak tag paper used in busi-ness folders, which will be used asthe pattern upon which the project isbuilt; 2) a piece of carbon paper,which will transfer the photocopiedpattern when you trace on it; and 3)a piece of tracing paper, which willbe used for the templates that areglued to the glass before cutting.

3. You need to arrange the differentkinds of paper in the proper order tomake a good copy. Make sure theheavy-stock paper is on the bottomof the stack with the carbon paperon top of it, followed by the photo-copied pattern and the tracing paperon the very top.

4. Place a Homasote board or pre-ferred surface on your work area.Arrange the papers so they are even,with the pattern directly in the cen-ter. Use tacks to hold down the cor-ners of the papers.

5. Begin tracing the pattern. Be-cause this particular pattern usesstraight lines to form a rectanglealong the outside edges, use a rulerfor accuracy. Use a ballpoint pen orother writing instrument with ahard tip for tracing; keep in mindthat you must press down firmly onthe top layer of tracing paper, leav-ing enough of an impression totransfer the pattern’s image throughthe carbon paper and onto the heavypaper on the bottom. Felt-tippedmarkers are not recommended be-cause they typically are too soft toleave the needed impression.

6. Continue carefully tracing thelines. Very slight alterations from theoriginal pattern will not affect theproject, but you should retrace thepattern if lines appear to be off bymore than a 1/4 inch or so.

7. When you finish tracing, numbereach separate piece of the project.This will help to avoid confusionlater on with pieces of similarshapes. Use a numbering systemthat you find logical and easy to un-derstand, such as a clockwise one.

8. Use a pair of regular householdscissors to trim excess paper fromthe edges of the pattern.

9. Switch to a pair of pattern shearsdesigned for foiled glass proj ects tocut out all of the other pieces.

Foi

led

Gla

ss P

anel

10. Pattern shears for foil projectsremove a strip of paper 1/32 inchwide, a space allowance that will accommodate the foil used to holdpieces of stained glass together. Finish cutting out the shapes fromthe pattern.

11. It is a good idea to reassemblethe pieces of the pattern to makesure they were cut out accuratelywith no wide gaps between pieces.

12. Use colored pencils to mark anarrow on each piece to indicate thedirection you want the pattern ortexture in the stained glass to run onthe project.

13. Use rubber cement to glueeach paper shape onto the stainedglass sheets you have chosen.

14. Make sure you follow the ar-rows regarding the direction of thepattern or texture in the stainedglass.

15. Arrange pieces on the stainedglass to reduce unnecessary waste.

16. With the four bigger cornerpieces, use a full sheet of stainedglass and take advantage of theright-angle corners already present.

This will save you a lot of meticu-lous cutting!

17. Begin cutting out the pieceswith your glass cutter. Score the bigsheet of glass down the middle andseparate it into two pieces.

55

Foiled G

lass Panel

8

Tiffany-Style LampshadeTime investment: About 6–8 hours total

This gorgeous lampshade willserve as the focal point of any

room in the house, illuminated as itis by an incandescent bulb thatmakes the stained glass glisten—giving it a timeless quality that tran-scends eras.

Patterned after the famed Tif fanystyle, this project appears at first tobe more complex than it actually is.Rest assured that the basics you havelearned in this book so far have pre-pared you to successfully craft thislampshade. The real key to the proj-ect is consistency: you must build sixidentical stained glass panels, andthen fasten them together to form alampshade with pleasing balanceand symmetry. Take your time andtreat each panel as a separate project,focusing on uniformity in glass cut-ting, grinding, and soldering.

You will learn a few new tech-niques in this project as well, such asreinforcing joints with stout wireand adding a lamp base and cap tohold the shade in place properly.Keep in mind that do-it-yourselfelectrical wiring of any kind is be-yond the scope of this book and isnot discussed here.

If you plan to display the lampin a particular room, it is suggestedthat you choose stained glass colorsthat will complement the look andfeel of the room. A lamp like this canhelp to accent many types of décor.Take some time to consider whatwill look appropriate to you.

87

Tiffany-S

tyle Lampshade

12

Basic Stained Glass Repair

Basic S

tained Glass R

epair

1. The best way to begin repairinga piece of stained glass with a singlebroken panel is to score it repeatedlywith a glass cutter, making sure torun the cutting wheel edge to edgein a cross-hatch pattern.

2. Use the ball of the cutter or someother breaking tool to gently tap outloose pieces. Be careful not to strikewith too much force. Pieces alongthe edge may be firmly held by thesolder, and impact could break ad-joining pieces.

3. Take a piece of steel wool andrub it along the soldered seam of thebroken piece to remove oxidizedmaterial from it.

4. Apply flux to the seam.

If you make enough stained glass projects, there inevitably will come a time when one of your creations falls onhard times—or actually, a time when something hard falls on one of your creations.

It is disheartening to see one of your projects sustain damage, but there is usually no need to trash the entirepiece—especially when only one or two pieces of glass are cracked. A beginner can effect minor stained glass repairssuch as the one detailed here. Keep in mind that some repairs should not be tackled by amateurs; heavily damagedpieces should be handled by an expert.

125

Replacing Broken Glass

BasicSTAINED GLASS MAKINGAll the Skills and Tools You Need to Get StartedAll the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started

Ebeling

Precise, step-by-step instructions teach basic techniques

CRAFTS /Stained Glass Making

• Complete guide to equipment and materials

• Skills and projects fully illustrated with color photos

• Basic repair techniques included

Contributors

Michael Johnston is a stained glass expert who has been perfecting his craft for years in the central Pennsylvania region, where he ownsand operates Rainbow Vision Stained Glass. He is an accomplishedteacher of stained glass techniques and artistry for all skill levels.

Alan Wycheck is an award-winning photographer based inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Precise, step-by-step instructions teach basic techniques

STACKPOLEBOOKS

www.stackpolebooks.com

$16.95 U.S.Higher in CanadaPrinted in China

STA

CK

PO

LE

BO

OK

SB

ASIC

STA

INED

GLA

SS M

AK

ING