If you have straight edges you should bump them against the straight edge of the glass you are cutting from. Look at the piece on the left and compare its placement to the picture above. By positioning the edges against the end of the glass you eliminate 2 cuts and get a nice even edge. As for the piece on the right, never be afraid to rotate your pieces for a better fit. Any piece can be rotated 180 degrees and still match the grain of the glass correctly. By turning the right piece 'upside down' we can again use two edges of the glass for a perfect line.
Okay, we've all been waiting for this. Roy has officially completed his Traditional Design Transom Window and then went the extra 9 yards and made a wooden frame for it as well. When you have a window this large (and beautiful) a wooden frame helps give it a degree of added stability that re-bar alone can't add. Roy did wonderful work on this and learned a great deal by doing it completely on his own. Impressive!
Angie completed her Ladybug Window this week and I have to say that I was impressed at how she extended the pattern all on her own. It's a very vibrant window and Angie did great work on it.
Jeannette completed her Dove Window and added a black glass bead as an eye on both sides of her window. Using the 1/4 inch grinding wheel would make an eye hole that's just too big for a bird this size so a simple glass bead with a thin strand of wire running through it and soldered into the lead line on each side of the bead works beautifully.
Tracey now has a second Cardinal Window under her belt and her soldering on this was (again) exemplary! She's really honed her skills and this window proved to be very little challenge to her. I can't wait to see what she decides to do next as all I know is that a different cardinal will be involved.
Rowena made another 3D Butterfly Lawn Ornament while she was at home and she brought it in so I could show her how to change it up by attaching a body to it. I love the end result and think that we'll be seeing many more of these Butterflies made with a body from here on out. I just wish I had thought of it earlier.
Becky S has cut out the water for her Heron Window this week and with the water in place her white Heron is now easily seen. She's moving along quickly on this and I expect that the rest of this will cause her no problems at all. This is really coming together quickly for her and I suspect that she'll be working on the companion piece to this before you know it.
Cindy has begun a second Santa Clause Window to match the one she made last year. She has the hat cut out already and after she completes her Kaleidoscope (which you'll see later on) she'll really be focused on this Holiday window.
Jeannette got so much of her newest window, a Rose, cut and ground that she left me with my head spinning! I mean, this woman is a speed demon! Sometimes that can be a bad thing but as you can see her pieces fit beautifully. This is an impressive window made by an impressive student!
Jan has all of her glass cut and attached for her Mary and Child Panel which is very similar to the one that Barbara completed last week. The big difference is that Jan has decided to border hers with only one color rather than two. With everything tacked together and her channel attached there's little doubt that this will be completed when she returns.
Becky B is very close to completing her Frog Lawn Ornament as she only has to wrap a few more pieces and then add solder. She's sent me a picture of a window pattern that she likes so perhaps her next project will be a window rather than a suncatcher. We'll see what she decides as soon as her Frog is staked out in her front yard.
Mary has begun cutting glass for her Santa Claus Window and made great progress in just three hours. Although the bottom portion of the lantern has 9 pieces of glass in it, Mary has cut them out as one large unbroken piece. Once everything has been ground and fitted into place she'll score the 'tic tac toe' cuts onto the lantern and break them into the 9 individual pieces. This will make a perfect fit with a very minimal amount of grinding.
Carol's painted face and 3D lips have been fired in the kiln and then cut to fit inside that large opening that we saw last week in her Noir Window. As you can see it looks absolutely stunning! With the front side of this soldered and the brass channel attached, Carol only needs to solder the back of this window to finish it off.
Brenda is in the process of wrapping the pieces that she ground in her Caduceus Window and once those are tacked together she will trace out her rounded background glass from the pieces that she has cut already. This will ensure a perfect fit with minimal grinding. Oh and this window won't be staying round-- she'll be adding corners to make it square and then add a second border to it before she's finished.
Terry has begun re-making a large window from her past, albeit in a slightly more manageable size. This Flowing Flowers Design was a highlight in her stained glass repertoire and making it a second time will undoubtedly allow her to make an even better version of it since she now knows where the trouble spots can be. Although this version is smaller than the last it's still longer than 50 inches so she's decided to split it into two panels.
Linda F got her borders attached on her Tree of Life Window and as you can see she decided against a clear outer border and went with green instead. Green borders may be predictable for Linda but I have to admit that they always work out beautifully! With her channel already attached, Linda is ready to officially begin the soldering process.
Rowena has started working on her Louisiana Tiger Face Window and may very well have all of the small pieces cut out for it. I know it doesn't look like much now but trust me-- it will. Once other colors are cut and placed onto the pattern this will transform into a window that turns many heads. I love it already.
Linda L remembered to bring in her glass and was able to get most of the Mickey cut for her Mickey in a Pumpkin Window. We're making a minor change to the face and will cut the extreme right angle that forms the mouth with a glass saw. The trick will be to keep the angle tight but also rounded so that the glass doesn't break when the heat of the soldering iron hits it. I'm sure it will work out just fine and that Linda will enjoy seeing a glass saw in action.
MiMi has the two shades of purple ground for her Industrial Fleur De window and will now move on to the clear pieces that reside in between all of the purple pieces. There are a lot more clear pieces to this window than you might first imagine so MiMi still has her work cut out for her, however, slow and steady winds the race and this is a race that I know she'll win.
Martha spent her night getting started on a Pair of Cardinals Window. Her pattern was finalized and then traced out onto some VERY vibrant poster board. Before class ended she was able to cut out the branches and the leaves out of both the poster board and glass. Look how nicely it already fits without any grinding!
With her Dog Window now a project of the past, Cindy began work on a second Kaleidoscope Airplane. She has the color wheels all cut out and ground as well as having the airplane itself cut, ground and wrapped. Hopefully this will be ready to fly out the door upon her return!
Melissa got all of the center section of her Autumn Leaves Window all tacked together and she even managed to fill in a few missing pieces as well. After that was done she cut her border out of a mottled glass that mixes many of the colors that we associate with Autumn into one piece of glass. The end result is perfection and Melissa hopes to have this completed upon her return.
Sheri resumed soldering her Coffee Cup Window and flipped it over to begin soldering the back side. As you can see she's managed to almost completely solder the second side so I'm going to call it and say that this will be completed when she returns next week.
Shelley is flying through her Once Upon A Time Window. When she came in this week she painted some eyes onto flesh colored glass with enamel paint and then Russ took it to the kiln to fire it. After that Shelley resumed grinding the rest of the pieces that make up her window. Once this is tacked together she'll position the glass that was fired in the kiln under the opening and then trace around the perimeter of the face. After a few quick cuts she'll be able to attach the final piece of glass and be very near to completing this window.
Susan R began working on a Oil Wand Kaleidoscope and she would have had all but the stand completed if I hadn't forgotten to show her how the mirrors get taped (yes 'taped' ) together. It sounds simple enough to secure three small pieces of mirror but there's a specific under-over pattern that needs to be followed which can be tricky to accomplish-- especially if it is your first time doing it. Look to see this completed upon Susan's return.
Susan D Is working on a Traditional Kaleidoscope and is very close to getting it all assembled. the body has been wrapped and is ready to go together which means that she'll be working on the two color wheels when she comes back in. I have to say that this kaleidoscope really has a spectacular view when it's completed. Hopefully a picture will do it justice.
Barbara H was in between projects and when she saw the Santa Claus Pattern that Mary was working on Barbara decided that she had to make one herself. She picked out all of her glass and traced out her pattern which means that she'll be ready to cut glass upon her return.
In ending this I have to say that Lara has been working at her day job so hard that she's been missing in action during her stained glass classes. I hope she can get back soon because I'm starting to forget what she looks like and everyone is dying to see the two windows that she has started get finished! We miss ya!
Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment