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Glass
Artists Newsletter - June 2007 |
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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 able to attend the Utah
Valley Home show. There were several homes
which had nice stained glass (including
the one we built panels for).
I can see
that we have a long way to go in educating
folks about stained glass. We don't see
near enough creative uses of it. It should
be going everywhere!
We also
attended a Childrens Art Fair in Nephi,
Utah where we showed kids the steps that
go into building a stained glass panel.
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| This
month, we show how to fix either a small
break or a weakness in a thin piece of
glass using a solder bridge technique.
It's a trick that you won't need very
often, but when you do need it, it will
save you hours of repair time! |
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How
To Solder A Reinforcing Edge On A Curved
Panel
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This is an edge panel that went with two other
windows. You can see the entire piece installed by going to
http://www.gommstudios.com/stained-glass-gallery1/bailyhour/bailyhour.htm
The top edge of this piece is curved and we often get asked how we
put 1/4" outer bar on curved pieces. It's very difficult to put
outer bar on a piece which has a radius of less than 4'.
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Here you can see the entire panel laid out on a
board big enough for it to fit. You can see that there are already nails
holding the glass in place on the square edges of the panel. A straight
piece of outer bar is laid along the curved edge of the panel.
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Moving the edge of the outer bar so
that about an inch of it extends beyond the glass, we nail several
horseshoe nails in a row to hold the metal in place as it's bent. I
prefer to use more than one because I want there to be enough holding
power to keep the metal in place.
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Gripping the end of the metal, gently begin to bend
it towards the glass. Use care to take this slowly, trying to keep the
metal from twisting as it's bent. |
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As it gets closer to the edge, guide the
"U" of the metal onto the edge of the glass. |
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Once the edge is up to the glass edge, nail it
down. Remember to hold the nails so that if you slip while hammering,
you will hit your fingers and not the glass.
"Your fingers will stop hurting if you
miss, but if you hit the glass accidentally, it won't heal".
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If the edge isn't quite tight enough, the outer bar
needs to be pushed up and over the copper foil. It needs to be pushed up
tightly all along the glass panel and held tightly with nails. |
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When the edge is wrapped properly, you'll have
nails holding all along the zinc strip, holding it tightly in place. |
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Next, remove the nails holding the panel in place
on the next edge you want to wrap. Only take out the nails on that edge,
If you take out too many nails, the panel will begin to slide on your
board and you'll have to start all over. |
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After laying the zinc on top of the panel and
marking the angle of the cut you need, cut it on your saw. |
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It should exactly match the angle of the other
piece of zinc. |
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Once you slide it into place, you can mark where
the other end of the zinc needs to be trimmed, and then cut it on the
saw. |
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Continue to fit your pieces of zinc all around the
panel as it makes sense to you. I like to fit in the pieces that touch
the curved piece first and then the other pieces. |
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Once you have all of your reinforcement pieces in
place, you'll be ready to solder all the joints and corners of the
panel. Then flip it over and solder the other side. |
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You'll still need to cut off the edges that extend
beyond the panel and solder the holes in the cut edges of zinc closed
(if you desire), But your panel will be much stronger and ready to hang
or install.
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