How to Make Stained Glass Panels

Stained glass panels add a prominent accent to any home, business or church. The art is an ancient therapeutic process that results in beautifully crafted windows for your home or business. You can draw out your own measured design beforehand, or else just come up with the glass design as you go along. Just make sure you understand how many panels you need and what size before you begin.

Things You'll Need

• Thick work gloves Protective eyewear Tape measure Short glass Different colored and textured glass Resin, glass or metal panel Sheet of glass measured to panel size Pliers/glass clippers Soldering iron Wax Copper strips, measured to fit Cementing mixture Cementing brushes

Instructions

1. Decide on the size of the various panels and colors of glass you want to use. Stained glass panels can be small shapes of glass that, when put together, create a stained glass window. Or it can be just one large panel to create a decoration or window. Depending on the type of design you want to use, you can choose from complex or simple designs that each use several colors of glass. You can do this easily by drawing out a life-size sketch with the color combinations, then purchasing this color of glass in the certain amounts that you need.

2. Break the glass up in multiple pieces in a safe area while wearing gloves. Use the clippers or pliers for thick pieces. Fit it together to create certain patterns, shapes, or color correlations on a flat piece of glass that is the same measurements for the window pane. Make sure this pattern fits within the measurements.

3. Trim and sand the edges of the cut glass one by one while keeping the pattern intact. Once completed, secure the glass pieces together by inserting wax between the cracks to separate the glass sheet from the cementing mixture in the next step.

4. Use the cementing brushes to carefully apply the cementing mixture between the cracks of the colored glass. The wax should prevent the cement from attaching itself to the glass sheet underneath. Quickly wipe away any cement mixture that gets on the colored glass.

5. 

   Let dry. Remove the underlying glass pane from the stained glass and all the wax stuck behind. Lay out the panel and insert then solder using copper strips. Seal it permanently into the window. Clean regularly.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind that very large panels can take a long time and a lot of resources to create, and are very fragile.

• Always be cautious when working with sharp or hazardous materials or chemicals.