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How To Hang A Stained Glass Window
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BETTERSTAINEDGLASS.COM |
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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 first and last name and 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 enjoyed sharing instructions
on how to make charms, just in time for
Christmas gift giving.
We're doing a show at The Covey Center For The Arts this month. It's the third time we've been invited to run the December show. Click here for information on the show. It will be worth attending as is has been in past years. Many times, we get asked how can one hang a window in an easy manner that may be permanent or temporary. We've shown how to install a panel into a frame where it's been made to fit, but we haven't shown how to hang small panels in larger window spaces. |
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| This month we have a show at the Covey Center For The Arts. Beautiful! Click here to learn more. | This was the image they selected to advertise the show, "Dreaming Of Spring." | ||
| This month we show how to hang small panels in larger window spaces. This is a quick and easy method to get a panel in place and start enjoying it in the light. | |||
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How To Hang A Stained Glass Window |
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The key here is we're talking about "Hanging" a stained glass window. See the window in the picture? It's framed in 1/4" zinc outer bar and is hung by two 3/4" round rings. We're not talking about installing it in a cabinet door, or in an existing framework. There are other articles on the website about hanging windows using that method. We're talking about hanging a framed piece of glass. Either wood framed or metal framed. There's no time limit on a
temporary install. You may hang a panel for a few days and come back
years later to discover it's still there. So the hanging methods
described in this article can be considered either temporary or
permanent. |
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The simplest way to hang a stained glass panel is
to attach some hooks to the existing framework of the window and hang
the stained glass with wire or chain. This is a good way for people who
plan to move and want to take their window with them. The stained glass
can be much smaller than the existing window frame.
This is the method the Art Deco window above is being hung. |
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This window was slipped into a wooden frame made
especially to fit the piece. There are 1/2" X 1 1/4" hooks holding the window in place. Also some
very stout 14 gauge copper wire connecting the hooks to each other on
both sides.
It would have been more conventional to hang the hooks above the ends of the window and to hang the window from chain, but that would have interfered with the operation of the shutters and the decorative cover that was already in place. |
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You can see how the hooks are placed in the oak
frame and into the wall. I was careful that the screws were long enough
and set over far enough to get a good bite into the 2x4 framing below
the sheetrock.
Make sure to get into the framing so the window is well supported. Also, drill a pilot hole with a bit that's smaller than the diameter of your hook into the oak frame to avoid splintering it. |
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These windows were installed in very heavy frames to go with the ski lodges' decor. The panels were centered in the wooden frames and had wood stops placed in either side of the frames to hold the panels in place. |
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To go along with the heavy look, a blacksmith
friend forged metal U's and plates which were attached to 1" forged
chain and screwed to the wooden frame and to the wood above.
This is overkill, the hardware didn't need to be so stout but it really looked good with all the wood and rock and ornamental iron in the lodge. |
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The temporary hanging of the Art Deco window that
was the first picture in this article was done by putting deck screws
into the framework over the window.
Then strong, stout wire was wound about the screws and run through the ring at the corners of the zinc frame. |
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The two wires held the window in place for all the
time the panel hung in the window. If the hanging were to be in place
permanently, we would have replaced the temporary wire with chain.
We went back later and soldered on a middle ring so it could be hung with third wire to prevent the panel from bowing. |
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Here, an angel panel is hung in a semi-permanent manner using hooks and chain. I would have turned the hooks to face out since the chain is at an angle. |
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This photo shows a panel that we soldered 4 copper
tabs to. They allowed the owner to hang the window on a door in a rental
property. She simply used drywall screws which were attached to the
framework in the window of the door it was placed on.
When she moved, the window was easily removed and the tabs were de-soldered from the window. |
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These panels simply hang from cup hooks by the rings attached to them. |
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This panel hangs from cup hooks and use fishing line to hang lower into the center of the window in an almost invisible way. |
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This window was hung by hardware chain to keep folks from accidentally running into the clear glass. |
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Here's an extreme example of hanging windows. Four windows are attached to a hanging rail above the store window and then more windows hang from those four windows. That's a lot of wire and the potential was there for a real mess. But it was simple to remove one window when it was sold. |
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| Looking for more information on hanging stained glass, a site "creativity-in-glass," has an article on stained glass hangers that might be of interest. Click here to see article. | |
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Send us e-mail with your comments and suggestions. We enjoy the chance to share with others. | |||
There are many ways to
hang your stained glass art.
This month's featured decorator pieces.
Women featured in Our Show at the Covey.
