How to Cut and Solder Stained Glass

The art of stained glass has its origins in the Middle Ages and was originally developed mainly for church and cathedral windows. There are actually two types of stained glass: painted glass, where the design is painted onto the glass to give it color; and "art glass" or "cut glass," which is pieces of colored glass cut and fit into a pattern. There are also two different ways to build an art glass or cut glass piece. One uses copper foil, which is wrapped around each piece then the seams are soldered to hold everything together. This is known as the copper foil method. The other uses lead came, which comes in the shape of an H and the glass is fit into the channels then the joints between each piece of came are soldered to hold everything together. This article gives a brief overview of how to make a stained glass piece using the copper foil method.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Work table or surface to assemble the project
• Tacks or nails to help hold the glass in place
• Pattern plus two copies of the pattern
• Safety glasses
• Scissors or glass pattern shears (these cut the pattern with a slight space for the copper foil)
• Glass marking pen
• Glass cutter
• Glass pliers
• Glass grinder
• Soldering iron
• Temperature controller or rheostat for the soldering iron
• Copper foil
• Exacto knife
• Lathekin or fid
• Flux
• Small paintbrush
• Solder
• Glass cleaner
• Cloth or paper towels for cleaning

1. Use one pattern as a guide, one to lay out the pieces on your work surface, and the third to cut into pieces so you can trace the pattern on the glass for cutting. Glass pattern shears work the best, as they take a small piece out of the pattern as you cut, which takes into account the space taken up between each glass piece by the copper foil. As you become more experienced with this and knowledgeable about how the glass fits together you may find it easiest to use regular scissors. However, if you do start out using regular scissors, be aware that you will need to take into account a small space between each piece that will be taken up by copper foil in the final layout.

2. Use the pattern pieces to trace the outline of each piece onto the chosen colored glass. Take some time to lay out the pattern pieces to make the best use of the texture or swirls of color on the glass, and to use as little of the glass as you can (glass can be fairly expensive). For example, if your pattern has a straight edge, match the straight edge on the glass piece to the straight edge of the pattern, unless the color or texture of that edge doesn't look right for the piece you're working with.

3. Use your glass cutter to score the glass, making sure not to press too hard. Do not score over this line a second time, or run the cutter back and forth. The score should always go from one edge of the glass to another edge in one slow, smooth move. This is why placing the pattern is so important to make the best use of your glass. If you need to practice, you might want to purchase a piece of clear window glass, as it is an inexpensive glass to practice your technique on. Make sure to use safety glasses.

4. Use one of the pliers to break the glass along the score line. Grozing pliers can be used both to break the piece of glass off and to take off sharp shards that sometimes remain, especially in curved cuts. Running pliers have a curved edge and can be used to slowly coax the glass into breaking for curved lines. You can use the running pliers on one end of the cut, then the other end, till the break meets in the middle, and hopefully avoid a bad break.

5. Set the piece on your pattern to make sure it fits. The glass grinder can be used to smooth down the edges and take off extra to make it fit the pattern better. It is easiest to build a piece with straight edges (a square or rectangular pattern). You can prepare a work board with a right angle ledge to square your piece against. When you have it built up to the outside edge, you can put in nails or tacks to hold it in place. There is also a Morton system you can use to make a border all the way around your pattern to fit the glass into.

6. Once you have the pattern cut out and all the pieces fit together, put the copper foil around each piece. Clean each piece before applying the copper foil. Center the foil so that it is as equal as you can get it on each side of the glass piece. Use one continuous piece of foil for one piece of glass, peeling the backing off as you stick it to the glass. The ends of the foil should overlap a little and you should line them up so that the foil is a continuous line around the glass with no crooked areas. For pieces around the outside edge, make sure the overlapped area is on the inside of the piece, not along the outside edge. Unless you are putting a frame on the outside edge, this overlap will show on the outside.

7. Use the lathekin to smooth the copper foil down on the edge of the glass and then the two sides. On deep curves it is best to smooth the foil down slowly to help it stretch into the curve.
   Note: If there is a split in the foil as sometimes happens on curves, you can do a quick repair by cutting a little strip of foil and folding it over the split. Then use an exacto knife to cut it so it matches the edges of the foil that is already on the glass.

8. Make sure all the copper foiled pieces still fit the pattern, and once all pieces have foil and are fit together again, apply flux to the copper foil seams using the brush. Apply it as evenly as possible and to the entire area you will be soldering. You don't want to have to stop soldering every few minutes to apply flux to a new area.

9. Heat the soldering iron and apply a bead of solder to each of the copper foil seams to hold the piece together while soldering the seams fully. Use a damp sponge or paper towel to wipe the tip clean periodically. Hold the solder against the top of the soldering iron until it starts melting and pull the tip along the seam to form a rounded line of solder. Do this on both sides of the piece, including the edges. You can use the touch and lift method to fix any seams that don't look right. Just touch the iron down briefly till the solder melts and lift it up to leave a rounded line of solder. You may have to practice this a bit before you can get it just right.

10. Clean your stained glass piece using soap and water or an ammonia-based glass cleaning product. Once it is clean, use a carnauba wax product (you can buy one specially made for stained glass, or just use car wax with carnauba wax) for a final clean and polish. You can apply different patinas to the lead lines if you don't like the silvery color. There are a few choices, such as copper or black, and you will need to do different preparations to the glass piece to make them look right.

11. Add a wood or zinc frame if desired. The zinc frame should be soldered at each solder line along the edge of the piece so that it is well attached to the glass and won't pull off the piece due to the weight over time. You can also add hangers at this point.

Tips & Warnings

• There are machines you can get to help with copper foiling, though they can't be used on very small pieces or glass with varying thicknesses.
• Be sure to use protective eye wear when working with glass, and handle glass very carefully. Use caution when handling the flux as it is a caustic substance. Always solder in a room with good ventilation, as solder contains lead which can be detrimental to your health. A fan blowing from behind you can help if you don't have a fume extractor. Wash your hands well after working on your project.

Resources

• Website with an in-depth tutorials for all steps, including illustrations.