August 2005 Installing Art Glass In A Pool Table Lamp

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Glass Artists Newsletter - August 2005 More Newsletters
All month we've been working to get ready for a crafts festival in Midway, Utah. Join us September 2 & 3 to see enjoy one of the best festivals in the United States.
Installing Art Glass In A Pool Table Lamp
We had a metalworking artist build a framework for a pool table lamp. It was a little tricky but not difficult to install the glass. We don't electrify lamps, because that would require U.L. listings and the costs for custom work would be prohibitive. What we do instead is call the lamp a "lamp shade" and allow local electricians to install whatever light package they desire.
	The panels are all built and sized to fit into the metal frame that I had built for the pool table lamp. After dry fitting each piece to make sure they would fit, I put a small bead of clear silicone caulk around the inside of the angle iron.
	I have to gently ease the panel in place without allowing it to fold over since there are weaknesses in the glass design where the lead lines provide no support and depend on the frame they are going in for support.
	Once it's inside the frame, I gently lay it in place and center the gaps to be equal on each side. I'm careful not to let the glass hit the metal edges of the frame and chip.
	I then apply silicon to the side panel frame and ease the first side panel in place.
	Same thing with the other side panel, add silicone and ease the panel in place. I have to be very careful not to allow too much pressure between the glass pieces. I even cut and grind some of the pieces so that the fit doesn't have too much pressure.
	I take little strips of wood and c clamps to keep the glass tight against the frame, but I'm careful to only apply very gentle pressure. I don't want to crack my glass.
	I let the frame work sit for 24 hours so that the silicone can set and cure properly.
	Here, Jeanne has just applied the black patina to the final panel and cleaned, waxed and polished it.
	I stand the frame so gravity will work in my favor, remove extra sticks that were being used to clamp the panels and ease the final panel in place. I have to get the widest edge into the framework first and the pull the panel up into place so that the whole thing fits perfectly. I do it without silicone first so that I am sure it fits and then I bed it into the silicone.
	At each corner, I make sure there isn't any pressure against the glass and I add a bead of silicone between the panels to fill the slight gap between them. I make sure there is a little space between them because I don't want the glass edges to touch. If they do, heat expansion could cause them to expand and break each other. Silicone will protect against breakage.
	I put sticks and clamps against the final piece to hold it in place and I gently place books on the panel to hold it against the frame where I can't easily get a clamp to fit. Once the silicone sets the glass fits well into the lamp and it's done.
Building a lamp frame
This is the design we give to the welder with instructions that it should be built with 1/2" angle iron. By making the top 38" long, a 36" long fluorescent light can be fit in the frame. We also ask for two straps to be added on the top so we can hang the fixture with chains and the light can be mounted below (see the photo below for strap detail).
The strap shown has one hole drilled for the hanging chain and additional holes can be drilled for attaching the fluorescent lamp. The frame we show in the article had the straps installed about 4" from the end of the frame. We now find we get better strength (less flexing) to the strap if it's installed at the end. The strap should be at least 2" wide. Once you get your lamp fixture installed, you may find that it has hanging options on its' metal frame that will allow you to hang the whole assembly.
Designing the glass sides to fit
To get the glass to fit into the frame, we trace the sides of the frame on poster board, cut it out and test fit it over and over until we get the pattern to be about 1/8" smaller than the frame will allow. This is important because if the glass isn't at least an 1/8" smaller, the width of the pieces will be too fat and the other glass won't fit. It's important the the glass panel don't touch each other when installed, but we grind the glass to fit when doing the install. We can't make the glass too small or it will fall through the metal frame.
Additional Help
On the internet I ran across an interesting article on building panel lamps by Brian McMillian that you may find interesting as well. As you may know Jeanne and I are very fond of Arts and Crafts decor so I was especially glad to find a three page article on building an arts and crafts style floor lamp by Neal Barrett.

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