BETTERSTAINEDGLASS.COM
Phone (801)
344-0178 • Fax (510) 892-4564
How To Add Coining To A Panel For A Very "French" Look
|
|
||||
|
BETTERSTAINEDGLASS.COM |
|
|
||
|
When
talking with people, Jeanne and I are
often accused of having a lot of fun. They
will say, "It must be so fun doing
what you do for a living!"
And they're right! It is a lot of fun, and a lot of work. The old saying goes something like, "If you love what you do for work, you'll never work a day in your life." It really is true. |
|
|
|
|
| January has been cold. We took a day off and walked on Utah Lake with Christopher and his kids. | Jeanne worried about the thickness of the ice, but felt the existing bridge would be safe. |
| Last month we introduced our Painted Leaf project, this month we're showing the coining technique we developed for one of our favorite designers. | |
|
How To Add Coining To A Panel For A Very "French" Look |
|
| When we work with Candace, a designer of note in Salt Lake City, she loves to have us build windows with "French" diamonds. In January 2007, the newsletter was about cutting the glass in that diamond pattern efficiently. This month we show how to achieve the coining look that really makes this glass style pop. | |
|
|
Before we show how to do it right, we have to show
our first attempt. In this window, we cut the glass leaving spaces,
which we filled with solder, to simulate the coined look. The results
just weren't good enough. Some spots were the size of dimes, others the
size of quarters. It looked okay, but it just wasn't good enough. We had
to abandon 2 weeks work and start over. *Note how bad the corrosion is on this panel. It was never cleaned after soldering. |
|
|
To get really good "coining" we reasoned that we were going to have to actually apply real coins. So we started with pennies, after all they would only cost a penny each! |
|
|
As you start by tinning the pennies (applying a thin coat of solder to them), you'll find that you need to use a strong flux. We used the strongest we have in the studio. There's a lot of corrosion on old pennies. |
|
|
When soldering, first solder one side by heating the penny and allowing a little solder to melt unto the surface. You'll want to try to coat the surface of the coin evenly. (Gravity will assist you in doing this, but the corrosion on the penny will make it a challenge to get the solder to stick. |
|
|
You'll want to use a pair of pliers to turn the coin over to solder the backside. The melted solder will start to ooze out from the bottom of the coin and this will help cover the edges of the coin with solder. |
|
|
Once you have enough coins for both sides of the window, you'll want to wash off the gunk created when tinning them. It would be difficult to clean the back of the coin when it's applied to the glass. |
|
|
Coins will be applied to all intersections of the diamonds where there's room for them. So start by tacking the entire window together. You'll notice that instead of tacking the glass at the intersections, like normal, we choose to tack the glass away from the joints. This allows an easier install of the coin. We've tried it both ways, this way is faster and easier. |
|
|
Now, you can lay the coin down and center it over the intersecting lines. |
|
|
Hold the iron directly on top of the coin and allow the solder to melt under the coin. You'll see it melt on top and then you'll see a little bit of solder run out onto the copper below the coin. The only trick here is to apply even pressure so the coin doesn't start to slide around. |
|
|
Next, create a bead of solder up each of the lead lines that go under the coin. |
|
|
Bring the solder right up onto the coin. |
|
|
Then heat the whole top of the coin so that everything is smooth. You may have to rejoin the lead lines to the coin if too much solder runs under the coin and creates an "undercut" next to the coin. |
|
|
Continue on, soldering a coin at each joint. When you turn the panel over, simply line up each coin so that it's directly over the coin on the bottom of the panel. |
|
|
|
|
Here are the insulated panels, ready to be installed. You know the job's a success because they look like ancient, old world windows that have been rebuilt. |
|
|
||||
|
|
Send us e-mail with your comments and suggestions. We enjoy the chance to share with others. | |||
Adding coining to a panel
really gives it an elegance!
