How to Make a Stained Glass Fish

Stained glass is an art that combines glass with color and light. Who can forget the lovely rose windows of Notre Dame or Canterbury Cathedral? Stained glass for the common man gained popularity with the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany. While not all of us can claim to be Tiffany, we can definitely make our own stained glass. Why not start with a stained glass fish?

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Draw a picture of a fish on construction paper. Make the design simple, consisting of no more than ten sections.

2. Label the color you wish each section of the stained glass fish to be, and assign a number to each section as well.

3. Cut the pattern pieces apart with a pair of scissors.

4. Choose the glass you wish to use for the stained glass fish. The glass can be of any texture you choose—both smooth or patterned. You can find glass at stained glass stores or craft stores in your area.

5. Place the pattern pieces on the corresponding pieces of colored glass and trace around them.

6. Score the glass with a cutter wheel. Do this step carefully, so that you follow the lines that you have traced accurately. Push the cutter away from you on the glass with a steady, downward pressure. Your other hand will help guide the cutter as you score the glass around the pattern you have traced.

7. Hold the glass you have scored between the thumbs and index fingers of both hands. Your hands should be tightly balled into fists, and your thumbs on either side of the scored line. Quickly snap the glass by rolling your knuckles to the outside and pulling with your thumbs.

8. Place the picture of the fish that you have drawn on the table. Make an assembly jig on top of the drawing by using push pins to keep your pieces of stained glass in place. If the glass pieces do not match the drawing, use a glass grinder to grind them into the proper shape.

9. Clean each piece of glass before proceeding. Your hands must be clean as well. Press foil tape onto each of the glass pieces' edges, peeling back the paper on the tape as you do so. When you reach the end of the piece of glass, overlap the tape by ¼ inch or more. Fold the edges of the tape down over the glass.

10. Burnish the foil with the lathekin, which prevents the foil from curling up. When the foil is smooth, proceed to the next step.

11. Brush flux onto all of the seams of the stained glass fish, then gently touch the tip of the soldering iron on the flux, and bring the tip down on solder. Do this for the length of the seam, filling in any gaps in the foil. When you have finished one side of the stained glass fish, turn it over and solder the other side.

12. Solder loops of copper wire to the top of the stained glass fish's seam if you wish to hang your fish when you are done.

13. Clean your stained fish carefully when you are done with glass cleaner and a soft rag, then hang your stained glass fish and enjoy!

Resources

• Admire the art of Louis Comfort Tiffany.
• Glass Crafters has stained glass supplies.