How to Stain Glass a Window

You can create your own design and stain glass a window by following a few basic procedures.

Stained glass can turn a normal window into a work of art. Purchasing a premade, custom-sized glass window to fit your needs and taste can be challenging, not to mention expensive! You can create a stained glass window yourself, and save money and create your own design based on your unique vision. Follow these steps to learn how to stain glass a window.

Things You'll Need

• Glass cutter
• Glass pliers
• Soldering iron
• Glass grinder
• Lathekin
• Glass pattern shears
• Glass marking pens
• Push pins
• Layout kit
• Foil tape
• Solder
• Flux
• Applicator brush
• Pattern paper
• Pattern card
• Carbon paper
• Glass
• Glass cleaner
• Rag

Instructions

Stain Glass a Window

1. Use a practice piece of glass to learn how to score and cut the glass. Position the class cutter approximately 1/8th of an inch from the edge of the glass nearest to you. Push the cutter across the glass's surface to score it. Place glass pliers with the the jaw at a 90-degree angle to the score. Pull the glass outward with your hand, then push down on the pliers to break the glass. Practice these methods until you feel comfortable to proceed on your glass workpiece.

2. Draw a pattern for the stained glass window on a pattern paper. Trace the design onto a piece of carbon paper and on a pattern card. Write a number on each pattern piece to help you correctly reassemble them later. Use glass pattern shears to cut out the patterns on the card.

3. Use a glass marking pen to trace the pattern pieces on your glass. Write the appropriate number for each pattern on the glass. Score the inside of each pattern line and break out the patterns.

4. Apply push pins to your original pattern drawing and place it in a stained glass layout kit. Assemble your cut glass pieces in the kit to create the design. Use a glass grinder to reduce any oversized glass pieces one at a time to make them fit precisely into the pattern.

5. Clean the glass and your hands. Break off a piece of foil tape and remove 2 inches of the backing. Tape the end of the foil to the glass edge so that the same amount of tape hangs over each side. Continue applying foil tape along the perimeter of the glass until you reach your starting point, leaving a 1/4-inch overlap at the two ends. Use your index finger and thumb to pinch the foil toward the center over the edge of the glass. Repeat this procedure with all the glass pieces. Use the round edge of a lathekin to secure the foil to the glass. Replace the stained glass pieces in the proper order inside the kit.

6. Apply flux with an applicator brush on the foiled joints of the glass pieces. Position the tip of the soldering iron on a foil joint and touch the solder to the iron's tip. Move the iron down the foil joints so that the hot solder forms a layer over the foil. After one side of the glass assembly has cooled, turn over the glass piece and apply solder along the seams of the other side. Use a rag and glass cleaner to clean the stained glass.

Tips & Warnings

• Pick up and hold a glass sheet properly by grasping it with both hands by the top edge. If the sheet is heavy, place one over the top edge and the other along the bottom edge.

• Always wear safety goggles and gloves when working with glass to prevent injury.

References

• TheStoreFinder: How To Do Stained Glass; Randy Wardell
• Art-of-Stained-Glass: Art of Stained Glass

Resources

• "Basic Stained Glass Making"; Eric Ebeling, Michael Johnston and Alan Wycheck; 2003