CRACK!!! Repairing a stained glass panel

The next step (for most) in making a leaded panel for a door or window is cement. This step is optional, but I find it keeps the glass from rattling when the door is open and closed. It's a must if the glass is exposed to the elements. The cement in Japan comes as a black putty. 

This is new to me as I'm used to using a cement that is wet and brushed on. As I understand, the putty is softened by the heat of my hands and applied with a putty knife. The putty is forced under the lip of the lead came. 

The excess is scraped off and the whole glass is then cleaned with whiting (a white powder that easily removes any residue left from the putty and flux (from the solder). Easy enough. 

Well, I made a mistake by applying too much pressure when I forced the putty under the lip of the lead came... CRACK!

Instead of panicking and throwing a temper tantrum, I quickly decided that this would be an ideal opportunity to relearn how to repair a stained glass panel. This mishap gave me a chance to do some copper foiling along with improving my soldering skills. Good thing! The most important benefit was the confidence it gave knowing that if a glass does break...I can fix it. Lets' get started. Get over the shock of breaking a brand new panel. If I had used a lead came with a wider lip then I could bend the lip up and install a new piece of glass, bend the lip back down, cement and clean. This was not possible with the lead came I'm using. Plan B was to remove the broken glass, cut the lip of the lead came, cut a new piece of glass, copper foil the new piece, solder the whole thing together, patina to match the existing came. Piece of cake! Make sure the back side of the panel is facing upward. You want the face side (lead came) to remain untouched. Remove the broken glass by scoring the piece and gently breaking it. 

Be careful not to damage the face side of the lead came. After the glass is removed, clean any residual cement from the lead came channel. 

Using a brand new razor blade, cut the lip of the lead came around the entire perimeter. Lead is poisonous so be sure to wear gloves. It's a good idea to scrape the lead came with the razor to leave a shiny, clean surface for the solder. After the lip is removed, use pattern paper and draw a template for the new glass. The template must fit the "compartment" for the new glass accurately without any gaps. Be patient with this step. Take your time. Remember the glass won't bend like the template.

Use the template to mark and cut the new glass. If everything goes right, the new piece will drop right in. If not, keep grinding. Use a fine grit grinder head because you want a smooth edge for the copper foil. 

Once the piece fits without any gaps, go around the perimeter one more time with the grinder and slightly remove (1.0mm) of material to allow room for the copper foil. 

Copper foil is a copper tape with a sticky back. 

Wrap the tape around the perimeter of the glass. 

I won't go into details here. Just make sure the tape is pressed firmly to the clean glass without any air pockets. Don't worry. If you make a mistake, rip the tape off and do it again. 

Once the tape is applied, place the glass in it's compartment for the last time. Take a peek on the face side and make sure no copper foil is showing. Also check on the back side and make sure the foil is not wider than the lead came. It will look strange if the solder lines are wider than the came. 

Apply flux to the came and foil and have fun soldering. Again no details about soldering...that's another post entirely. 

Clean and patina to match the came. Congratulations! You just repaired your first stained glass panel. 

On to the next panel...I drew this with a slight variation to the leaf placement. 

I'm looking forward to getting started. Once both panels are completed it will be time for installation. Please stay tuned.

Scoring and Breaking Glass, Finished Panel (well almost)

Naturally our instinct tells us not to break glass. Get over it! Breaking glass is fun and it's not that hard to do (with some practice). I'll show you how I score and break a large piece of glass. I find that it's a lot cheaper to buy larger sheets. Plus with a larger sheet you have more control of your design. You can choose a corner or an edge or whatever rather than having a vendor choose it for you. I hate having a piece of glass that has only a part of a design that I need. I like the freedom to choose from a larger piece of glass. However, the glass I'm breaking is clear. No problem with design. This glass has a texture that makes breaking a little bit tricky. Let's get started.

 I selected the smoother side and scored a line with the glass cutter. I prefer a Toyo pistol grip cutter because I have more control of the pressure applied. That's the secret to successful glass cutting...the pressure. There are a ton of Youtube videos on cutting glass. Pay close attention to the sound as the glass is scored. That will be a good indicator if you are pressing too hard or not enough. Practice on some cheap glass until you have the technique down. It doesn't take long to get a feel for cutting glass. It's been over ten years for me and I was able to cut this sheet within ten minutes of practicing. I mention using cheap glass to practice on because the good stuff costs anywhere from $150 to $350 a sheet. You really don't want to waste any glass at this stage. Alrighty then...I scored my line using my glass cutter and a cork-backed straight edge.

Where I finish the score, I start the break using my breaking pliers. Don't press too hard...just hard enough to start the break.

Here's a picture of the break just starting. On the right side the glass is fractured and on the left it is only scored.

Here's a close up of what I'm trying to describe.

For large sheets I like to use the tapping method to break glass. Using the end of my pencil grip Toyo cutter, I gently tapped the glass along the unbroken score line. The score is on the top surface and I tapped on the lower glass surface.

I carefully tapped along the score line. As I tapped, the glass fractured along the score. Take your time and don't tap too hard. You run the risk of fracturing the glass perpendicular to the score line...that's a bad thing.

Continue tapping until you hear the glass separate. Really...you'll hear the tone of the tapping suddenly become lower.

Gently push up and pull away from the rest of the sheet. Congratulatons! You just broke your first sheet of glass. I'll try to describe how to cut smaller pieces of glass  (with curves) in a future post.

This is the first of eight panels I'll be making for the kitchen cabinets. The next panel will be similar to this one except the iris will be facing to the right and the leaves will be slightly altered.

The panel requires cement/ whiting and then it's ready to mount in the cabinet door. Please stay tuned...

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...