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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 were busy. We got the show
at the Covey Center set up, (it will run
till the end of January). There was a
great feature on it in the Daily Herald,
you can see it by clicking
here.
We
enjoyed many holiday activities and now,
it's great to be able to settle down and
get back to the work we love! We're
designing and building several projects
and feel that things are really looking up
for the new year.
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We
visited the home of Lynde Mott with some
friends. Lynde's home is a delight, filled
with creative art and decoration.
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Our
grandson, Keyan, left for a two year
mission for the LDS church. He'll learn
Italian then serve in the Milan Italy
area.
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| Last
month we showed how we built the
frames for the shutters that the angels
went into. They are the main pieces in the
Comfort and Joy show at the Covey Center.
This month, since we're getting back to
work on projects that we started a while
ago, I thought I could show how we
repaired a lamp shade and then next month
how we build one.
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Fixing
A Cheap Stained Glass Lamp
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There are lamp shades out there
that are lower quality than others. The best lamp shades are built using
the copper foil technique that Louis Comfort championed. They are strong
and sturdy.
Those made with extruded lead came
are cheaper to make, but they don't hold up over time, especially if
they haven't been cemented, which is the case with most of them. You see
these around because they are less expensive to build.
They break easily.
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You can see how the lead has pulled away from the
glass because it stretched and because it broke.
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First, I clipped off all the lead on top to begin
the repair.
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Looking down, you can see how the lead is bent and separated
from the glass. The whole structure wants to collapse.
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I placed the shade over a child's ball that is
the right size. There are heavy boxes on each side to keep it from
rolling too much.
I push the lamp down on the ball slightly to get
all of the glass back to the round shape we want.
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Then I began to get the pieces of glass back in the
lead came. I used a fid to open the came in damaged spots. Sometimes I had to put the ball back to get my shape again.
Each time I got the glass and lead back together, I used painters tape
to hold them.
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It took patience and care to wiggle out the broken
piece of glass, I had to bend nearby pieces up so there would be more
room to remove the piece.
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I used the old piece as a pattern for cutting the
new one. Then I put it back in place, shifting and working it back into
the lead came.
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Once the shade had all the pieces back into the
came, I pressed firmly to get a perfectly round hole.
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Then I place a proper heat cap over the hole. There
would have been one if this had been a higher end lamp. |
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I tacked it in two spots to keep it from moving
around. I was careful to get the cap centered so that it would hang
level when placed on the lamp.
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I put paper on the ball so hot solder wouldn't hurt
it.
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As I soldered the lead lines back onto the cap, I
sometimes used pliers to straighten them.
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Then I tacked them in place. Once they were
all tacked, I test hung the shade to make sure it balanced. If it had
been slightly off, I would have tacked weights to the shade to get it
balanced the way they do in a tire shop.
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I added flux to the interior and soldered each line
up to the cap.
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I cleaned the shade and placed it on the lamp.
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Then I screwed the decorative top and nut onto
the assembly. The heat shield is covered and the shade fits snuggly onto
the base.
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The repaired shade is stronger than it was
originally.
I did this as a favor, I'm glad I don't have to
make my living repairing broken glass! But, there is a feeling of satisfaction when the
job is complete. And the owner is always happy to get the piece back.
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