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Glass
Artists Newsletter - July 2006 |
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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. |
In
June we built quite a number of windows.
Several were for new homes and a couple
were for individuals who ordered them.
One
arched window was very colorful and
matches the decor in Alisha's home. She
has collected many hand blown glass pieces
and filled bottles with colored water to
brighten her kitchen. The new window matches
beautifully.
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| This
month, we thought it would be educational
to show the steps we take to insulate and
prepare stained glass before it is
installed in a door. We took pictures at
Jones Paint & Glass while they
insulated the unit for us. It is an
interesting process. |
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Insulating
Stained Glass To Be Installed In A Door
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Tempered
glass needs to surround decorative glass
used in a door. This protects people from
injury if the glass is broken and it also
serves as a barrier against heat loss
during cold months. Tempered glass must be
ordered in advance and once its been
tempered, it can't be cut or ground. |
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#1
Here the panel is lightly cleaned to get
any dust off of it that may have collected
after you take it to them. They only do a
light cleaning, you are responsible for
making sure that it is as clean as
possible when you take it to them. |
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#2
Next, the tempered glass is sent through a
machine which "super cleans" and
dries it. |
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#3 The
stained glass is next laid out on one
sheet of the tempered glass. It is
centered and there is a gap on each side
and top and bottom of 5/16" (the size
you subtracted from your finished size
when building your panel). |
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#4 Now,
a sticky backed, foam tape with a metal
skin is applied to the stained glass panel
and the tempered glass below. It sticks to
both pieces and holds them firmly. |
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#5 The
metal tape is scored on each corner so it
can be folded around the corner with a
sharp clean edge. The tape can vary
in width, this tape is 1/2", (we
recommend 1/4" since the air gap will
be less noticeable and the final width of
the piece will be 1/2" total. |
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#6 Laying
the second sheet on the foam tape requires
help because they only get one chance to
do it perfectly. Once the top sheet
touches the tape, it's stuck. For this
reason, you should always allow for an
extra 1/8" in the finished opening of
your door, in case the two sheets are
slightly misaligned. |
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#7 Finally,
the completed "sandwich" of
glass is clamped in a table and hot butyl
rubber is forced between the two sheets of
tempered glass and filling the gap between
the two. This covers the foam tape
completely. |
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#8 Here,
the completed window is ready for the
customer to pick it up and to install it
in their door. |
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Finally,
the completed panel is installed in the
door and it looks great! |
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To correctly size
a window, we recommend the following:
The decorative
panel should be sized 1" smaller
than the actual opening in the door. This
allows there to be enough space for foam
tape in the bottom of the opening to
support the window and for silicone in the
sides and top to hold the panel securely.
The tempered glass (ordered in
advance from the glass company) should be
1/8" smaller than the actual opening
on each side or 1/4" smaller in
total.
The window trim
must be 1/2" or greater on each side.
This will allow any slight gaps between
the foam tape used when applying tempered
glass to the decorative panel to be
covered by the trim.
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