How to set up a glass art studio.

We found this information on Dummies.com and it is excellent information for anyone who is interested in setting up a stained glass studio.

Creating stained-glass and warm-glass designs can be a fun and addictive hobby, but to get started you need to go shopping for some basic tools and supplies and develop basic skills. Then you can practice and perfect the different techniques to your heart’s content.

Stained Glass For Dummies

From Stained Glass For Dummies by Vicki Payne

Creating stained-glass and warm-glass designs can be a fun and addictive hobby, but to get started you need to go shopping for some basic tools and supplies and develop basic skills. Then you can practice and perfect the different techniques to your heart’s content.

A Stained-Glass Shopping List

Stained glass is a hobby that requires quite a bit of equipment. Thankfully, most of the equipment is rather versatile and can be used for both copper foil and lead came projects. Some supplies, though, are specially designed for a particular technique. Print off the following shopping lists and take them to your nearest glass or hobby shop to make sure you have what you need for whatever project you’ve set out to create.

General stained-glass tools and supplies

The following tools are needed for both copper-foil and lead-came projects:

·      Basic drafting supplies: These supplies include a metal ruler, white pattern paper, a pencil, and permanent markers.

·      Combination breaking-grozing pliers: You need both breaking and grozing pliers, but you can save a little money by buying just one pair of combination pliers. You can use your combo pliers to help you break glass and fine-tune unwanted glass shards.

·      Flux and brush: Flux is a chemical you have to use to clean any surface on your project that you want to solder; you can’t solder where you don’t flux. You can use a basic disposable brush to paint the flux onto the foil and lead surfaces of your project.

·      Glass: When you first start out with stained glass, you should work mainly with clear glass because it’s less expensive than colored glass. Then, when you’re ready to create your first full-color project, visit a glass shop or go online and purchase some smooth, colored glass (smooth glass is easier to work with than textured glass).

Always buy 25 to 50 percent more glass than you think you’ll need for your project.

·      Glass grinder: This must-have power tool has a diamond wheel that allows you to grind away any unwanted glass edges so your pieces fit together perfectly on your pattern.

·      100-watt soldering iron: A 100-watt soldering iron gives you plenty of heat for all your stained-glass soldering needs. Note that stained-glass artists don’t use soldering guns.

·      Project patterns: All stained-glass projects — even simple sun catchers — start as designs drawn on pattern paper, so the first step in any project is to find a pattern. You can find hundreds of patterns to work with online or in stained-glass books.

·      Safety glasses: Select glasses that are comfortable to wear so you’ll be sure to wear them whenever you work in your glass studio.

·      Self-oiling glass cutter: You can select a pistol-grip cutter that’s easy to hold in the palm of your hand or a barrel cutter that you hold more like a pencil between your fingers. Both cutters have the same cutting heads.

Special copper-foil tools

Before you start your first stained-glass project using the copper-foil construction technique, make sure you gather up the following basic tools and supplies:

·      7/32-inch copper foil: To wrap each piece of glass in your project, you use thin strips of copper foil with adhesive backing. (3/16-inch foil is also common among stained-glass artists, but it’s a little more difficult to work with than the larger 7/32-inch foil.)

·      Foilmate roller: This little tool helps you burnish, crimp, and roll copper-foil tape tightly to each piece of glass in your project.

·      60/40 solder: You need to use solder that’s 60 percent tin and 40 percent lead to hold your foiled glass pieces together.

Special lead-came tools

Before you can start creating stained-glass projects using the lead-came technique, you need to purchase the following tools and supplies in addition to the general stained-glass supplies:

·      50/50 solder: When soldering lead-came projects, you need to work with solder that contains an equal blend of tin and lead.

·      Horseshoe nails: You use these nails to secure glass and lead-came pieces during the construction process.

·      Lead came: Cames are strips of lead that come in either H or U profile shapes. The glass pieces of your project fit into the cames. The most common lead-came sizes are 3/8-inch H, 3/16-inch H,7/32-inch H, and 1/4-inch U.

·      Lead nippers or lead knife: You use these tools to trim your lead came to the correct size when building your projects.

·      Rheostat: A rheostat is a temperature controller that helps you reduce and control the temperature of your soldering iron so that you don’t heat your lead came too much. Note: If you’re working with an iron that has a built-in controller, you don’t need this tool.

Adding Warm-Glass Tools and Supplies to Your Stained-Glass Studio

Glass fusing (also called warm glass) is one of today’s most popular art-glass techniques. It involves heating glass to specific temperatures so that you can form and shape it into fun projects like bowls, vases, and jewelry. Before you can add this neat technique to your studio’s to-do list, though, you need to gather a few warm-glass-specific tools and supplies:

·      Didymium safety glasses: These special safety glasses protect your eyes from the glare of red hot glass.

·      Glass: To make a warm-glass project, you need to buy compatible fusible glass. The two basic categories of fusing-glass compatibility are COE 96 and COE 90.

For any given warm-glass project, you must use one and only one type of fusible glass (either COE 96 or COE 96); you can’t mix the two together.

·      Glass kiln: Kilns are the most expensive tools you have to purchase for your warm-glass studio, so you may want to start small with a kiln that has 5-inch shelves. Then as your interest and skills grow, you can invest in a larger kiln so you can make larger projects. Make sure your kiln comes with its own shelves, posts, and temperature gauges.

·      Heat-resistant gloves: You need to wear special heat-resistant gloves to protect your hands whenever you’re working around the kiln.

·      Kiln wash and brush: You have to apply kiln wash to your kiln shelves and glass molds before you fire your project to keep the hot glass from sticking to them.

Tips for Improving Your Glass-Cutting Skills

One of the first skills you need to master as you begin your stained-glass hobby is cutting out your glass shapes accurately. Here are some tips that can help you get off to a successful start:

·      Select a high-quality, self-oiling glass cutter that fits comfortably in your hand. Always check the oil level in your cutter before you start cutting, and make sure the oil lubricates the cutting wheel as it turns. Add more oil when needed.

·      Purchase a pair of safety glasses that fit your face comfortably. Wear your glasses every time you work with glass to keep your eyes safe from flying glass chips and dust.

·      Make sure you have good lighting in your studio so you can see what you’re cutting. Cutting in low light is dangerous and can lead you to make poor, inaccurate cuts.

·      Stand whenever you cut glass. Applying the right amount of pressure to the cutter is difficult to do when you’re seated.

·      Position all your pattern templates at least 1 to 2 inches away from the edges of the glass.Doing so gives you enough glass to hold when breaking and helps support the glass.

·      Score from one edge of the glass to the other, and don’t apply so much pressure that the cutting wheel crushes the glass. Try not to have any gaps or skips in your score line. You may be overscoring if your score line is bright white and chips of glass are flying from that line.

·      Don’t go back and forth over a score line with your cutter. If your initial score line doesn’t turn out right, move over ¹/₄ inch and try again.

·      Use your hands to break the glass whenever possible. If you need more leverage, use your glass-breaking pliers. If you’re using a pair of breaking-grozing combo pliers, make sure the flat side of the pliers is on top of the glass and the curved side is under the glass.

·      Clean up any rough edges using the ridges inside your grozing pliers or glass grinder. Each cut piece has to be the exact size as your pattern template so all the pieces fit together during the building process.

·      Keep your cutting surface clean and free of glass chips and shards. Use a bench brush or a clean paint brush to sweep your cutting area in between cuts. If you try to cut your glass pieces on top of small chips of glass, your glass may break unexpectedly.

Foil versus Lead: Which Stained-Glass Technique Do You Choose?

When constructing a stained-glass project, you use either copper foil or lead to hold the glass pieces together. How do you know which one to choose? Keep the following factors in mind as you determine which construction technique to use for a particular stained-glass design:

·      Geometric designs lend themselves to lead-came techniques. Making a lot of straight lines meet up nicely (often a key in geometric designs) is difficult when you’re using copper foil. On the other hand, using lead came allows you to hide the small imperfections between glass pieces and keep everything on pattern.

·      Designs with a lot of small pieces work best with copper foil. Copper foil is easier to wrap around small pieces, and it keeps the project from looking bulky.

·      Sun catchers are naturals for copper foil. Because lead stretches, it needs the support of a rigid frame. Sun catchers don’t work well in rigid frames, and if you construct a sun catcher out of lead, it’ll stretch over time and pull apart.

Sandblasting Abrasives

For reference, we have listed and rated the types of blasting abrasives used in sandblasters.

1 Sand – Typically not used for glass. Single use. Health hazard. Low cost 2 Garnet – Typically not used for glass 3 Aluminum Oxide – Commonly used for glass. Can be reused many times. Creates static electricity in cabinet (especially indoors and in a dry climate). Moderate cost ($0.50 to $0.75 per lb),  Harbor Freight 4 Silicon Carbide – Commonly used for glass. Can be reused many times. Longest lasting abrasive. High cost ($1 to $1.50 per lb)  Use 100-220 grit for blasting glass 180-220 grit is good for rapid mask or photo resist http://www.kramerindustriesonline.com/blasting-media/silicon-carbide.htm http://kleenindustrialservice.thomasnet.com/item/silicon-carbide/carborex-ra/carborex-ra? 5 Other (walnut shells, glass beads, plastic beads)

How to fuse textured dichroic glass with a clear glass cap without loosing any texture, tutorial.

This tutorial is for artists who are wanting to fuse textured dichroic glass with a clear glass cap (ie piece of clear glass fused on top of the dichroic glass).

Artists new to fusing textured dichroic glass will sometimes get frustrated when trying to keep that textured look intact while fusing.  What typically happens is that when the textured glass is fused in the kiln, it flattens out and looses its textured appearance.  So the easiest fix for this little problem is quite simple; you will need to sprinkle some clear frit, with the same COE on top of the dichroic glass' textured crevices, then put the clear glass cap on top so that it lays flat.  If the clear frit seems to fall out of the edges of the piece you are planning to fire, use some thinned out Elmer's Glue or a bonding agent made specifically for glass fusing to hold the frit in place.  Just mix the Elmer's Glue with the frit and pack it on top of the dichroic glass.  It is easy to add other colored piece of glass (this includes dichroic glass too!),  frit, stringer and or noodles to this method by either placing them between the clear cap and the textured dichroic (and clear frit) glass to get a 3-D effect, or place those elements on top of the clear cap for a flat looking effect.

When fused, you will see that the dichroic glass now seems to have more depth and it's texture is intact!  Another different, yet fun effect, is to use the clear frit on top of textured dichroic glass with a black back on the bottom of the "sandwich" and instead of using a plain glass clear cap, use another pattern of clear dichroic glass (this time with a clear back) on top.  With the new fun patterns of dichroic glass available, you can create very exciting "scenes" using this method!

Important sandblasting links for glass artists.

Compressors
	Northern Tools
	Harbor Freight
	Sears, Roebuck and Co.
	TP Tools
	Home Depot
	Lowes

Sandblasting Cabinets/Dust Collectors
	Northern Tools
	Harbor Freight
	TP Tools
	Glastar
	Rayzist
	Photobrasive

Pressure Pots
	Northern Tools
	Harbor Freight
	Glastar
	Rayzist
	Photobrasive

Abrasive
	Dawson MacDonald
	McMaster-Carr
	AAA Industrial Supply

Resist
	Dawson MacDonald
	Rayzist
	Photobrasive
	Etchmaster
	EtchWorld
	Sign Warehouse

What do you do with old lead came?

Occasionally you'll have unwanted lead came hanging around in your glass studio.  You might have scraps left over from working on a new window or perhaps pieces from a repair job.  Either way, eventually, if you use lead came, you'll end up with unwanted scrap came.

So how do you safely throw lead came away?  

First of all, never throw it away in the trash like common garbage.  Lead is considered a heavy metal.  Lead, at certain exposure levels, is a poisonous substance to animals (that includes humans).  It damages the nervous system and causes brain disorders.  Excessive lead also causes blood disorders in mammals.  Like the element mercury, another heavy metal, lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates both in soft tissues and the bones.  Lead poisoning has been documented in ancient Rome, ancient Greece, and ancient China. 

Typically, when lead came is thrown away in a local landfill, there is a great potential of causing a certain degree of lead poison leaching from the landfill and into the nearby ground and subsequently the groundwater and eventually the water supply.    

The best way to get rid of unwanted lead came is to take it to a local recycle center that handles hazardous waste.  Some states have hazardous waste centers where lead is accepted.  Another way of disposing of lead came is to send it back to a lead came manufacturer so that they can recycle the lead back into new lead came!  Which ever way you decide to use, it is our responsibility as glass artists to keep our craft from contaminating our environment! 

How to take good pictures of stained glass

The light and color which gives stained glass its brilliance also makes for brilliant pictures. However, to capture stained glass at its best you must have the right lighting conditions and might need to override your camera's default settings.

Difficulty:

 

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. • 1
     Take pictures of stained glass on a bright, but completely overcast day for the best results for general pictures. Direct sunlight makes for uneven lighting through the glass. Overcast skies evens out the lighting which shines through the window.
   • 2
     Use direct sunlight to show the light shining through the stained glass reflecting the color of the glass onto the floor or other object. These specialty photographs are a good way to take advantage of a sunny day.
   • 3
     Photograph stained glass from outside of the building at night. At night, if the lights are on inside the building, you get similar results taking pictures of stained glass from the outside.
   • 4
     Choose manual exposure settings. Your camera, by default, balances the bright light coming through the stained glass with the much darker interior of the building. Use an exposure compensation of -.5 or -1 to fully capture the color of the window. Look in your camera's manual if you don't know how to change the exposure compensation.
   • 5
     Pick out small details to focus on. Capturing the whole window may not show the proper detail to appreciate intricate stained glass. Pick sections of interest to zoom in on.
   • 6
     Use the flash on a sunny day to balance out the light. The flash compensates for direct sunlight shinning through one part of the stained glass, but not another. Otherwise, it's best not to use the flash. Be sure to turn off your flash when taking night pictures from the outside.

     This article was written by an eHow contributor.  We hope this article will help you get the best shots possible of your stained glass.  Sometimes it's difficult to get that perfect shot!

All about glass cutters!

When you hold your glass cutter does it feel uncomfortable? Do you have trouble seeing the wheel the entire length of the score?

Being uncomfortable and not being able to see the wheel are just some of the problems encountered when you are cutting stained glass. Learn about the different types of glass cutters, for stained glass, and how to use them. Many of your problems can be solved by using the cutter that suits you best.


You can hold your glass cutter any way that feels comfortable to you as long as:

1. You can always see where the wheel is in relation to
the line you are cutting along.

2. The cutter is always absolutely perpendicular to the glass.






Oil Versus No Oil

All glass cutters that I will be talking about, for cutting stained glass, are oil filled cutters. There is always a big discussion as to whether to use oil or not. Just because there is a chamber that can be filled with oil, some people prefer not to use oil in these cutters.

I have always used oil, even back in the "good old days" when oil cutters were non existant. At the end of this page, you will see the type of cutter I learned with. Even then, I always dipped my cutter in a small jar that had an oil soaked cloth on the bottom. This kept the wheel lubricated and running smoothly.

I feel that oil is needed to lubricate the wheel of any glass cutter. It keeps the wheel of your glass cutter turning smoothly, and free of tiny glass chips that can lodge between the wheel and the shaft. It is also needed to keep the score clean and cool. It helps to prevent minute chips of glass from flying about. The final reason I use oil is because it preserves the life of the wheel. Did you ever listen to a dry cutter going over glass? It sounds like you're dragging it over sand paper. In my opinion, that shortens the life of the wheel.

To fill your glass cutter with oil, unscrew the brass cap on the end of the cutter and remove it. Fill the barrel with oil to about 1/3 to 2/3 full. Replace the brass cap. To regulate the flow of oil, open the brass cap about 1/2 to 1 full turn. Totally unscrewed will make the oil run fairly fast (not a good thing), and full closed will give you very little or no oil at all. Experiment with your cutter. They all seem to flow a bit differently. When your cutter is not in use, tighten the cap so that oil doesn't leak out.

What kind of oil should you use in your glass cutter? There is special cutting oil available at your local stained glass shop. I have also used sewing machine oil, 3-in-1 oil, lamp oil and kerosene, all of which work for me.  Right now I use lamp oil, as I have an abundance of it, and it's cheap. My pistol grip cutter has not been used for several years, and I left it laying flat with oil in it. The inside is stained from the oil.

Here is what it looks like now. Not a pretty sight, even after I made a valiant try to clean it out! On the bright side, the wick still feeds oil and the cutter works like a charm.


An alternate suggestion for oiling the wheel of your glass cutter is to keep a small amount of oil in a shallow container with a sponge or a piece of cloth in the bottom. Fill the contained with just enough oil to soak the sponge or cloth. Rather than filling the oil chamber of your glass cutter with oil, just roll the wheel over the oil soaked sponge or cloth before every few scores. That will keep the wheel lubricated.


Taking Care Of Your Glass Cutter

There are a few simple things you can do to preserve the life of your glass cutter...especially the wheel.

First of all, don't ram the wheel over the edge of the glass when you are finishing a score. That will eventually chip, or at least dull the wheel. A gentle roll over the edge is quite sufficient to finish the score. You don't need to let up on the pressure just be aware that you are getting close to the edge and be ready to gently roll the cutter over the edge.

If you don't use your glass cutter frequently, don't fill it absolutely full of oil. The oil deteriorates over time and will stain the inside of the barrel. The oil becomes thick and darkens. It makes a mess in the barrel and is very hard to clean out. A small amount of oil will last a long time. I'd recommend filling the barrel about 1/3 full.

When you are storing your glass cutter, leave it upright rather than laying on it's side. There is a cotton wick that runs from the oil chamber to the head of the cutter. Leaving the cutter upright will keep oil feeding the wick. If the wick gets dry, it will take a minute or so to get the wick saturated so the self oiling can begin.

When you have your glass cutter apart to put a new wheel on, don't pull the piece of string out, thinking it's something that shouldn't be there. It's the wick and the lifeline between the oil chamber and the wheel. I've had students come to me holding a "piece of string" they pulled out of their glass cutter. Believe me, it is an impossible task trying to put that wick back. Once the wick is out, you will no longer have a self oiling glass cutter. You will have two choices: either buy a new glass cutter, or use that one by dipping it in oil every few scores.

Every now and then, hold the cutter up to the light so you can see between the wheel and the head. You will be looking for tiny pieces of glass that might get lodged in there. If you see any, take a fine needle or pin and poke it through the opening (which is very small). That should push out any debris that is in there.

If your wheel is scoring a dotted line the wheel is chipped. If you are having to use more and more pressure to score the glass, the wheel is dull. It is time to buy a replacement wheel.




Types of Cutters
and How to Use Them



There are many brands and types of glass cutters for stained glass work. The two most commonly used types are the pencil grip and the pistol grip.



Pencil Grip Cutters





To learn about the Pencil Grip Glass Cutter,
click here: Pencil Grip Glass Cutters








Pistol Grip Cutters


To learn about the Pistol Grip Glass Cutter,
click here: Pistol Grip Glass Cutters







Two glass cutter, for cutting stained glass, that I really like are the Custom Grip and the Thomas Grip, made by Toyo. Both are small, and rather than holding them like a pencil or a pistol grip they have a saddle that sits between your thumb and index finger. As a result, they give you a lot of flexibility and take less strength to make a score line.

These two cutters are used less often than the pencil or pistol grip, but I think many people would switch to either one if they had a chance to try them and see how easy they are to hold and control.


Toyo Custom Grip Cutter






To learn about the Toyo Custom Grip Glass Cutter, click here:Toyo Custom Grip Glass Cutter










Toyo Thomas Grip Cutter



To learn about the Toyo Thomas Grip glass cutter,
click here: Toyo Thomas Grip Glass Cutter






How to Cut Along a Straight Edge


To learn How to Cut Along A Straight Edge,
click here: Cutting Along A Straight Edge









A Few Final Comments

As I said before, there are many brands of glass cutters for stained glass, both oil filled and non-oil filled. Each one has it's own merits and all should be investigated before you make a decision. I have used Toyo brand in all of the pictures above, because Toyo was the first to make oil filled cutters and that is what I started with. I've never seen any reason to change.

There are a couple of mechanical glass cutters that have a cutting wheel built in. With the Cutter's Mate you simply push and pull a handle to keep the cutting wheel going in the direction you want to cut, while the glass is laying on a flat surface. It sort of reminds me (in looks) of an old fashion pentograph, but is much more flexible and goes in any direction. The people that use it, love it. The other one is the Score One. This one is a two handed operation. You guide the glass with one hand and turn a wheel (sort of like a small version of a wheel on a sewing machine) with the other hand. It is also well liked by the people that use it.

I prefer to do it all with a glass cutter, by hand. Actually, I really enjoy cutting glass. However, if you have a lot of trouble cutting glass, just plain don't like cutting glass, or can't hold your glass cutter for physical reasons, then investigate the Cutter's Mate or the Score One. One of them might be the answer to your problems.


One last comment:

This is the type of cutter I learned with. It certainly made glass cutting a challenge. It takes a lot of pressure to score the glass, and it makes your hand and wrist sore very quickly. Also, the wheel dulls at an amazing rate, so you frequently need to purchase a new cutter. What a joy it was the first time I used an oil filled cutter. And it has continued to be a joy every time I cut glass. If this is your glass cutter, do yourself a favor and get an oil filled cutter. You will never regret it.

Thank you Free patterns for stained glass for writing this very informative and helpful information on glass cutters!  They are one of the most important tools used with art glass and without a good cutter, glass pieces may not cut or break as intended!