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You
can read our current newsletter here
on-line each month, free of charge. We
hope you will take the opportunity to let
your stained glass artist friends know
about the newsletter and if you have
students, encourage them to read it.
If
you'd like a reminder when a new issue is
published simply send us your e-mail
address.
In
the meantime, we welcome your input and
support. Let us know if you have tips and
techniques or product information you'd
like to share. |
Last
month we celebrated getting a new shipment
of stained glass and we finished freezing
at the Farmers Market in Provo. Jeanne has
been making charms, which are really hot
right now.
She is
teaching special Christmas gift seminars
in making Charms and Stars in
November.
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Jeanne
designed a beehive panel for a show at the
Terra Nova gallery. Learn more at their
site (click
here).
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We got to
demonstrate how we build stained glass at
the Window Box
gallery. (Click
here to see their site). |
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| So,
it was fun getting more glass last month and now
we're frantically working to be ready for
Christmas sales. This month, we want to
show how you can make Stained Glass Charms
for Necklaces, Bracelets and Key Chains.
The following steps are specific for
making charms, to read an overview of the
entire process click
here for the article we wrote
describing the steps and the tools you
need for charm making.
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How To Make Stained Glass Charms
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Jeanne has found that if she takes the pictures
from a wedding announcement, she can make one or several charms from
them and they make a wonderful, unique gift for the bride which will be
cherished.
Charms are versatile and personal. Charm
bracelets have been around for years and very collectible, but these new stained glass charms
are even more tailored to the wearer than mass produced charms.
To
read about the video we sell about making charms, click here.
To
see the promo clip for our video on Youtube click here.
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First, pick pictures that will make
nice charms. You can use family photos, original painting prints or even
original original art.
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Then decide which size of glass you want for the
charms. Jeanne will often pick colored glass for the back of a charm.
Sometimes she uses beveled glass and sometimes she cuts clear glass to
size.
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Lay the glass for the charm on top of the picture
you desire for the piece and trace it. Then cut the picture out.
(Jeanne is using a bevel as a guide to cut
around with a craft knife)
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Place the cut picture (or pictures if both sides
are clear) between the pieces of glass.
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Wrap the assembly with copper foil. The foil should
hold the pieces together and make it water tight. We like to wrap our
charms with thick enough foil to allow at least 1/16" to fold over
on each side of the charm. We often find that 5/16" or even
3/8" foil works well.
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Burnish the foil so it's tight against the glass.
You want it to be as tight as possible to prevent water or flux from
seeping into the charm.
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Next, brush flux around the edge of the charm to
prepare it for soldering. Use it sparingly, avoiding soaking the charm.
You want to get flux on the foil but you don't want it to get under the
foil and risk it seeping in between the glass pieces.
You'll want to use lead free solder when you
complete the charm. Lead solder would be dangerous to wear next to the
skin and lead poisoning could occur.
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Solder the top of the charm, flip it over and
solder the back of the charm.
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We find it helpful to use pliers to pick up the
charm when placing it in a vise. The glass stays hot for a time
and the charm is covered in flux which we want to avoid touching.
We only tighten the vise so that it holds the
charm and really has little or no pressure on the glass.
Hobby stores carry jewelry vises which will work
to hold your charms while you hold them. The one we use is an old vise
that we've had for years and used for many purposes.
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Brush the side to be soldered with flux again. The
lead-free solder doesn't flow as easily as solder that contains lead, so
careful attention to flux and soldering is important.
Using a hot iron helps, so we usually apply the
first coating of solder with the iron as hot as possible.
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Start at one side of the charm and placing a
bead at a time, work from one end of the charm to the other.
You'll find that sometimes the solder flows well
and other times there will be gaps and flaws in the solder. When flaws
occur, continue on to the other edge of the charm and then go back and
touch up those spots where there are flaws.
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Once the solder is well distributed along the
charm, you may wish to drag the iron tip along the charm edge in a
smooth stroke to get a perfect edge. |
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After all edges are complete, you'll want to attach
a ring to the top of the charm. Grip the ring solidly so it won't slip
as you solder it, with the split in the ring down so it will get
sealed.
Align it so it's directly in the middle of the
charm and touch the solder right next to the ring with the soldering
iron tip and pull the iron away.
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Touch the other side of the ring so that solder flows
onto that side as well.
You may find that you need to do a finish pass
with the iron, starting at the ring and dragging through the solder to get
a perfectly smooth edge.
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Then, polish your charm with a dry rag so you can see
it well.
You can find Never-Dull polish on the internet for
around ten dollars a can and it works well for polishing charms that are
to remain silver.
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Here's a cleaned but not polished charm. There is a
flaw in the lower right corner where a pin hole is left in the solder.
We'll touch that with an iron and fill that gap. We'll also need to touch
the upper right and upper left to fill those slight gaps. We'll also place
the charm back in the vise and drag the iron across the bottom of the
charm to smooth out the little bump on the bottom.
It takes a lot of practice to create perfect
charms. I personally find it so frustrating that I let Jeanne solder them,
she has more patience than I do.
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There are so many uses for charms.
Each one can be as unique as a snowflake or you can make many of the
same kind. They can stand out from each other or unify the team or the
club. The possibilities and uses of charms are also varied, your
imagination is the only limit.
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