Stained Glass: Let's Break Some Glass

It's pretty simple, but also difficult to cut glass accurately. Just place the pattern on the area of glass you think will fit what you are trying to express in your artwork. Score the line and break. In the piece pictured above, I wanted a section of glass that had only a few shards of green glass as the background. The piece of glass is located in the upper corner of the stained glass. The curves were formed with the wire saw and the glass grinder. I can't emphasize this enough: Make sure you keep your work pinned down! Do not allow any movement after the glass is cut. Also, keep the glass pieces within the lines to allow for the lead came.

I'm using two types of lead came. One is soft (curved lines) and the other is hard (straight lines). I like to use a plastic fid to form the lead to the contours of the glass. I cut the lead with a razor knife. The lead comes in 180cm lengths and is very easy to cut. I stretch the hard lead came before use to get any kinks out of it.

Pictured above is the plastic fid I use for forming the lead came.

Starting from one corner, I like to work my way to the most difficult areas of the glass first. In this case, the bevels require the most bends and require that all the pre-made pieces fit together closely. Some grinding was required to get everything to fit. That should be expected when working with a manufactured bevel cluster. Some people copper foil the bevel pieces and spot solder everything together. The bevels are then treated as one piece of glass. I chose to do it the hard way and lead the entire panel one piece at a time. I feel at this point I need to work on my skills before I start taking short cuts in my work. 

I continue adding bevels working very carefully to prevent any gaps from forming. Don't be afraid to press hard on the glass bevels and really force them into place. Take your time and fit the pieces as accurately as you can. The tighter the fit, the stronger the finished stained glass will be. That's very important for a cabinet door.

Please note the nails for supporting the glass have been omitted for clarity.

Here's the nails holding the piece securely in place. Typically the process goes like this: Lay the pattern on the glass, cut the piece, trim to fit, form the came, check the fit, trim as required, check the fit, nail in place and repeat.

Here's a piece with the pattern attached to the glass. The piece is then ground to shape. The sponge is used to keep the glass and grinder head wet at all times.  

Here's a photo of a lead came intersection. Note how tight the lead came pieces fit. This takes practice so don't be discouraged if you have small gaps.

The process is repeated until the panel is complete. I'll try to show you how I score and break glass in the next post.  Stained glass is frustratingly fun. As small problems arise, it's challenging to figure them out and to see the whole project come together. I think this hobby should come with a warning: Beware. Stained glass is addictive! Please stay tuned...