How to Make Beveled Glass Windows

Beveled glass puts sparkle in a stained glass window.

Beveled glass adds sparkle and elegance to a window and is commonly used in entry ways. Beveled glass is used in both types of stained glass construction, copper foil and lead came, so the first step is to choose the bevel design you like and then decide what method of construction you wish to use. Lead came works well in a design with long straight lines, while copper foil is best for a window with small, curvy pieces.

Things You'll Need

• Glass bevels
• Stained glass
• Window pattern and copy
• Scissors or pattern shears
• Glass cutter
• Glass pliers
• Glass grinder
• Lead came or copper foil
• Wood or plastic burnisher
• Flux
• Small brush
• Solder
• Soldering iron
• Rheostat or temperature control for soldering iron
• Glass cleaner
• Carnauba wax
• Lead came only:
• Lead knife
• Nitrile or latex gloves
• Stained glass putty
• Putty knife
• Nylon bristle brush
• Dust mask
• Whiting powder
• Nail or toothpick
• Natural bristle brush

Instructions

Preparation

1. Measure the window where the beveled stained glass window will be installed.

2. Choose the bevel cluster and any additional bevels you want to use in the window. These can be found online or at a local stained glass store.

3. Design the pattern for the stained glass window, incorporating the bevels you chose.

4. Make a copy of the pattern. Secure one copy to the work surface and cut the other copy to pieces. Secure a straight edge around the pattern on the work surface. Either metal or wood will work. The Morton system is a popular method to use that provides straight edged pieces of metal that fit into a base.

5. Use the pattern pieces, glass cutter and glass pliers to cut the pieces out of the stained glass.

6. Grind the pieces down to fit the pattern and smooth the edges for safer handling.

7. Clean the pieces and lay them out on the pattern to make sure they fit. It is usually easiest to assemble the window with either copper foil or lead came as you cut the pieces, building it from one edge to the other. This way you can modify pieces as needed to fit the pattern. Bevels require careful handling as they scratch easily. Protect bevels with etched or textured designs with contact paper to avoid marring the special surface.

Copper foil technique

1. Wrap each piece with copper foil, including the bevels. The copper foil is wrapped around the entire edge, with an equal amount folded over on either side, and should overlap itself about a quarter of an inch so there are no gaps.

2. Smooth the copper foil firmly down with the wood or plastic burnisher so that it sticks to the glass.

3. Make sure all the pieces fit together snugly and adhere to the correct size of the pattern.

4. Apply flux to the copper foil seams and melt solder along them with the soldering iron. The final soldered line should be smooth and slightly rounded. Solder one whole side at a time if possible.

5. Clean the flux off the side you have just soldered, then flux and solder the opposite side. Clean the entire window, and apply carnauba wax to protect and polish the glass and lead lines.

Lead came technique

1. Secure one end of the lead came length into a vise or other gripping device and stretch it just until it is firm and straight. It may not require very much stretching. Do not stretch it too much or the channels get squished together and the glass will not fit.

2. Place the first piece of frame against straight edge along the bottom of the window and another along the left side. Fit the first piece of glass into the channel along the bottom left corner of the frame, fit the first piece of lead came around it, measure it, and cut it with the lead knife.

3. Continue to cut and fit the pieces of glass and lead came into the pattern, building out from the corner. Grind the glass as needed to fit the pattern. The lead came pieces should fit snugly against each other with as little gap as possible. Tap nails in to hold the pieces in place as you work, you can use scraps of lead came tucked between the nail and the window's lead came strips to protect them from the nails. Remember to handle the bevels carefully, as they scratch easily.

4. Make sure all the pieces fit together snugly with no gaps. Cut and final two pieces of frame and fit them into place.

5. Apply flux to the joints where lead came pieces come together and melt a thin layer of solder to hold the joints together. The solder joints should be as unobtrusive as possible and smooth. Solder all joints on both sides of the window, one entire side at a time.

6. Clean the flux off the window with warm water and mild dish soap and allow it to dry completely. Handle it with care, keeping it vertical as much as possible when it is not lying flat on a surface.

7. Place newspaper over the entire work surface and lay the window down in the middle.

8. Put the gloves on and work the stained glass putty gently under the edges of the lead came. Use the nylon bristle brush to help pack the putty under the edges of the came and work it off the glass and outside of the came.

9. Put on a dust mask and sprinkle whiting powder over the entire window.

10. Clean the nylon bristle brush and use it to scrub the whiting into the putty on the panel in a circular motion. Be careful not to pull the putty out from under the edges of the lead came. This also cleans the remaining putty off the glass and outside of the lead came. When the panel is clean and the putty under the lead came is sufficiently dried so that it no longer oozes out, clean the remaining powder off the panel with a brush or vacuum.

11. Pick off any putty that has oozed out by running a nail or toothpick along the edge of the lead came and brush or vacuum it off the window.

12. Allow the putty to finish drying, then repeat steps 8 through 11. Allow the window to dry for another 24 hours if possible, and scrub it vigorously but carefully with the natural bristle brush. This darkens the lead and solder joints to a more uniform color and polishes the glass.

13. Give the window a final careful cleaning with glass cleaner and a paper towel. Cotton swabs can be useful to get into areas where the lead fits together closely.

Tips & Warnings

• Always use safety glasses when cutting and grinding glass.

• Never touch your mouth, eat or drink when working with lead.

• Make sure there is adequate ventilation when soldering.

References

• Warner Stained Glass: The Leading Technique / The Copper Foil Technique
• Create Stained Glass Art: Here Are the Stained Glass Methods You'll Need to Be Familiar With
• Free Patterns for Stained Glass: Learn How to Copper Foil / The Lead Came Technique