Brought To You By The Number 9

Most students have trouble with their windows after they've wrap their pieces in copper foil and discover that things no longer fit together as they did before the foil was added.  This is because each piece is a little larger due to the foil.  The thickness of the foil may not seem like much but, like the pages in a book, they will add up to a very measurable difference especially when you realize that there are not one but TWO pieces of foil between every piece of glass.  I like a lot of wiggle room between my pieces but students are always afraid that they're going to have too much space and tend to grind too tightly.  Long ago I used a trick to space out my pieces that we're going to start using throughout of classes.  While grinding we will leave at least two pin between each piece of glass which will leave plenty of room for the copper foil that will be applied later on.  You'll see this being done in Linda F's Logo Window a little later in the blog.

Right now we're going to get our update under way by looking at the three completed windows that we have this week, starting with Brenda who finished work on her Magnolia Window.  Can you say 'perfect'?  Because that's what this is.  The double border matches the Magnolia flowers and branches beautifully.  How can you not love this?

Terry's Egrets and Magnolias Window is stunning, but we've come to expect that from Terry.  Pay attention to the glass she used for the water because it's what really makes this window shine.  The blue glass has green mottled throughout which makes it look like you can see the leaves of the magnolias reflecting in the water.  Gorgeous!

 

Susan made her second 3D Sunflower Lawn Ornament and she put this one together all on her own.  And as you can see there's not a flaw to be found in it.  It's darned near impossible to screw this project up while assembling the 3d section (unless you possibly drop it) because none of the angles are fixed.  You can always angle something somewhere a little more to make things fit better.

Becky S's Steer Head is just about complete now.  This week she added her border, filled in her missing piece, and soldered the front side after she put the brass channel on her window completely on her own.   I think that it's now official-- from beginning to end Becky no longer needs me to make a stained glass window. :-(

 

 

Bonnie's Angel is all cut and ground with one wing and her hair already wrapped.  Bonnie took this home with her so could could finish wrapping it during the week, but even if she doesn't get it completely foiled I have no doubt that this will be completed during her next class.

 

Gale's Military Tribute Window is almost completely cut out already.  I thought that as a new student this might take a little time for her to work through but the only thing left to cut is the purple heart which shouldn't take long at all.  Her work is impeccable and her color choice is spot on as well!  Wait until you see that helmet lit up.

 

Ann just has background left to go in her flower window because her flowers, leaves, and stems are all wrapped and tacked.  She's considering adding something to the right and left sides but she isn't quite sure.  Alas, I have an idea....

 

And Janet's Melon Window has its border and zinc channel attached.  For all intents and purposes it is ready to be soldered.  There's a missing lead line that she really wants to fix but we'll do that at the very end in a way that will probably knock the socks off Janet.  It's a solution that always leaves students saying, "You mean that's all there is to fixing that?"

 

Linda F is making some major headway on her Logo Window.  Linda is one of MANY students who usually finds that she's ground things too tightly and then has to regrind pieces as she's wrapping her glass so that the project fits back together.  This week she's using  my old pin trick to make sure that there's an equal amount of space between each piece of glass that will allow for the foil without making her project grow.   All of those yellow dots that you see are pin heads and they're about to make Linda's life much easier.

 

 

Meanwhile,  Linda L worked on two clear stained glass boxes complete with inscribed beveled lids.  She had made a bottom at home but wasn't happy with the amount of copper foil that was showing through the clear glass.  Once I told her how to help minimize it she decided to start from scratch and just cut out two more.  All she needs to do now is add the mirrored bottoms and then attach the tops.  Look to see these completed in our next update. 

 

Martha is just about ready for a border with her Round Magnolia Window.  She only needs to grind a few clear background pieces and then she'll get her border attached.  It may be round but it's still easy.  The big question is, will Martha use yellow or green glass for her border?

 

Mary Grace has her Fruit Bowl all cut out AND ground as well!  She's wasting no time at all on this project and if this gets wrapped quickly enough we'll easily see the six pieces of background glass get cut during her next class.  A double border looks great on this window and I suspect that's where Mary Grace will be leading this window to soon ehough.

 

And Jeanne's Winnie the Pooh Window is ready for its border.  Once all of her foreground was tacked together she slipped a piece of blue glass under the finished portion of her window and then traced around everything that she'd already wrapped and tacked.  Once the blue glass was marked it was simple to cut out everything and get an almost perfect fit after a quick skim on the grinder.  I can't wait to see what color border Jeanne goes with.

 

Rowena got all of the upper portion of her Baseball Window all cut and ground while she was in class. She has no problem working the grinder and when she walks away from it her pieces all fit beautifully.   She also managed to get the white background to her letters cut out and will grind them when she comes back in.  Just look at that glove!  This is really turning out nice.

 

The shrubbery around Myrt's Outhouse Window is just about complete.  The rest will be child's play  because the hard part is officially in the past with this project.  I'm guessing that she'll have the ground completed when she comes back in.

 

Natalie's Crab Window looks fantastic.  There's a lot of detail in the body but Natalie just set her mind to it and finished grinding it in class.  She started wrapping it and before you know it she'll be cutting the background glass.  The extra work has really paid off with this design as you can already see.

 

Terry took a Beveled Cluster and  combined it with another pattern that she's seen someone do in class.  The end result is this stunning window that just needs three more borders (just twenty-four straight pieces) before it's complete.  And for the record, Terry has perfected the art of making symmetrical patterns.

 

Poor Sue carpools to class and accidentally left her background glass in her car when she switched vehicles!  That didn't stop her from being productive though.  She still had enough scrap background glass left in her box of tools that she was able to continue working on all the small fill in pieces.  In the end, no time was wasted and this pair of windows is nearing completion.
 

Jane had only flower petals when she left last week and this week she has all of her glass cut.  In fact, the only thing left to do is wrap the border, attach it, and then solder the second side.  Octagon borders are a bit tricky but once you see how they are aligned they become very easy to do.

  

Cindy worked on a lamp repair this week which she'll wrap up during her next class.  This lamp is already stronger than it was when it was originally purchased and the repair work has shown Cindy why lamps can be purchased so cheaply at discount stores--- They aren't made correctly!  Not one of the pieces that Cindy removed was ground which explains why this lamp was so flimsy.

  

Somehow, even though I walked out to the car with Carol, I managed to forget to take a picture of her latest window.  The Fleur De Lis is all tacked together and the background has been cut out of a wispy white glass.  She'll be working on cutting out the 'SAINTS' text that will rest under this Fleur De Lis next.

And that, as they say, is that!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Dean Has Them At The Convenience Store

Our tip this week is quick and simple.  Never wash the flux off of your project until you are completely (100%) finished soldering and touching up your window.  Once you take that flux off you're committed to the soldering job you see in front of you.  Refluxing won't make things any better, in fact, most times it makes things worse.  Just remember that when the flux is gone the patina goes on.  Learn it, live it.  :-)


So, as I had suspected, Jeannette completed her Crab Window this week.  She even went the extra mile and added a little wire work around the eyes to make this as authentic looking as it could be.  And it's exactly as I expected it to be-- gorgeous.

 

Gale completed her Louisiana Fleur De Lis Window and it looks so good.... (How good does it look?) It looks so good that the pattern has already been claimed by Carol where it may then go to one of the Wednesday students.   Gale did a great job with this window and I believe that a double border FDL would already be child's play for her to make. 

 

Linda F Completed her frog window and I'll bet this is going to look great in her yard.  It may be a small window but the attention to detail that Linda put into it pays off richly.  Everything lines up perfectly and this window is a great example of how far Linda has come since she first started.

  

Betty also completed her clear stylized Fleur De Lis and for the first time ever a clear window has photographed beautifully.  Just look at all the textures she used to make this truly elegant window.  With colors replaced by textures, this window has a completely new look.  (And it's good!)

 

Shelley completed her Mermaid with a Pirate's Treasure Chest and she's the catch of the day.  Shelley says, "No more stained glass Mermaids!" but I think that will only last a little while because Mermaids certainly seem to be Shelley's muse.  Next up she'll be working on her flower window, after that maybe a Merman?

Jeannette  also finished her Anchor Suncatcher which is actually a mashup of three different anchors that I found on the internet that I liked different parts of.  There's nothing looking taking ideas from here and there and assembling them into one GREAT looking suncatcher.  But it wouldn't be great if the craftsmanship were weak and that's something that Jeannette has nothing to worry about.  Anchor's aweigh!

 

Betty completed her 3D Bumble Bee and was amazed at how just a few small curves can make such a big effect on this bee.  Seeing it all laid out on the pattern was one thing, but seeing the bee with all of its curves after it's assembled is another thing entirely.  I just wish they carried over the the pictures of these bees.

Janet now has all of the background glass for her Melon Window cut out.  And even better yet, most of it is ground.  I think there were only four pieces left to grind so there's a good chance we'll be cutting a nice yellow border for this when Janet comes back in.

  

Ann has all of her flowers cut and ground and has begun wrapping them so she can tack them together and reduce the amount of pins holding things together (and also help minimize any piece slippage)  With the flowers all wrapped Ann will start grinding the stems and leaves when she comes back in.  She may have to tack these first but that shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.

 

Betty started a new window this week and it's halfway cut out and looking great already.  She found this flowing geometric design online and although it's an easy window to cut out, the grinding and piece placement is crucial in making the design flow.  If just one piece is a hair more than a 1/6th of an inch the flow will break and the effect will be gone.  But I know Betty can easily handle this window (even with her eyes closed).

 

Carol came in with her new rose window all cut ground and wrapped.  In fact, the only thing left to do was to cut a border for it.  Once she picked a color it only took a simple 5 passes through the strip cutter and her border was ready to be ground, wrapped and then tacked into place.  I think that Carol turned this complex rose window into a not so complex two week project.  Nothing can stand in Carol's way now!

 

Becky S's steer is completely ground but there was one casualty.  One of the small upper corner pieces slipped and hit the grinding wheel scuffing it so much that it was readily apparent even in the small 1/4 inch piece.  So Becky will be replacing that when she tacks this together and adds her border.  Problem solved.

 

Gale not only completed her Fleur De Lis window but also began work on this Soldiers Window featuring and American flag background, a rifle, a helmet, and a Purple Heart.  I do believe that this is going to be another standout window in gale's stained glass crown.

 

Jane loved this Octagon Iris Window and began cutting out purple water glass iris petals this week.  She ground them all to fit and then then took it home with her so she could resume working on it there.  I can't help but wonder how much will be completed when she returns to class next week.

 

Natalie made some astounding progress on her Crab Window this week by not only cutting out the remaining crab pieces, but by also getting more than half of the crab ground as well.   I'm  amazed at how easy Natalie is making this project look.  Once the crab is completed she'll wrap the pieces and then tack it together to make fitting the background a lot easier..

 

Rowena's baseball window is not really coming together... It IS together!  The only thing left to cut out is the bat and the background to the letters.  I think that Rowena is going to be very proud of this when it's completed and I doubt that will be long from now.  She can really focus on the task at hand.

 

Linda F is making an interesting window which is, in all actuality, a CF Knives Logo.   But for all intents and purposes it's a Celtic Knot so that's what we're going to call it.   It's only nine inches in diameter so the pieces making this complex design are kind of small, but Linda has proven time and again that she's up to the task.  This sucker is almost completely cut out already.

  

Sue's  first section of her Featherized Window is just about complete which puts her almost at the halfway point of this project.  I was impressed at how quickly she plowed through the background pieces and can't see how that will change when she starts cutting out the background to the second section of this project.  Before you know it Sue will be picking our a new design to work on.

 

And lastly we have Susan who worked on her second Sunflower Lawn Ornament.   As you can see, it's just about ready for wrapping,   The best part about a student making two of these 3D projects is when they assemble the second one on their own.  I'll be there to offer reassurance but I know that like so many other students who have made these, Susan will be very thrilled when she sees how easily this complex looking project goes together. 

And that brings us completely up to date!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

It Just Screams Horns

Easter closed down the shop for a few days while we headed out of state to visit family up in Pennsylvania.  It was a short trip but  it put the Blog behind a week so this post actually covers the events that occurred the week before Easter Sunday.  Since this is late, let's delve right into things.

First off we got to see Becky S complete her Bamboo and Panda Window and it's really striking.  The Panda is small enough to not steal the focus of the window which makes the bamboo the central theme and the window completely adult oriented.  Most times a bear in a window will make it scream "CHILD'S WINDOW" but in this case not at all. 

 

Carol put the finishing touches on her Octagon Humming Bird Window while she was at home, right down to already having the lead patina'ed.  We just added two hooks when she brought it back in and then took its picture.  Carol's soldering is amazing and she's completing things at home regularly now.

 

Cindy's back and she finished this Eye of the Tiger Suncatcher.  She needed one or two small touch ups on her soldering but they were very minor so at 8:50pm she washed it and took it home with her at 9:00. Along with her  great work it was also great to see Cindy back in class again.  We missed her.

 

Jane completed her first 3D Rose Lawn Ornament but don't think this is something small for the end table-- it's as large as the sunflower you'll see below this.  Putting this together is a little perplexing at first but once it's done students find that it's impossible to screw up.

  

We've seen these Sunflowers before but this is Susan's first and it's a one of two project.   She'll be working on a second one next week and like the Rose Ornament, Susan has learned that there's no right or wrong here-- just a perfect Sunflower.

 

Our last completed project this week is another Lawn Ornament and it's a Bumble Bee that Rowena made.  During the assembly she got to see how to tack all of the body pieces and the wings into a slight curve.  Trust me when I say that when you see the completed project the curve makes a world of difference.  A little extra effort goes a long way in stained glass.

Becky B spent the day working on her Bird Of Paradise flowers and leaves and they are officially  cut out now.  There's no point in laying this on top of her background glass since the foreground is so busy.  That means that Becky will be cutting her background glass individually before she starts grinding this project.

 

 

Terry's Egrets Window now has a border cut out and most of the center section is wrapped.  Soldering is just a step away for these birds.  And Terry's 'H' window features borders that are far more complex than other Letter Windows that she's made in the past.  I think she's feeling far less challenged by these and that she's doing what she can to make them more of a challenge!

Jeanne's Winnie the Pooh is almost all ground and tacked together.  The only thing left to do is cut the sky.  She's left the sky blank so she can cut it all out of one piece and get the grain to flow smoothly throughout the window.   She's also added extra leaves to fill the tree out more which I think looks great.

  

Betty continued working on her large clear Stylized Fleur De Lis Window by getting the top curved border and its matching corners cut.  Everything lines up beautifully and this window is ready to be soldered.  Betty also cut and ground a her first 3D Bee Lawn Ornament which moved along quickly for her and I suspect the assembly of it will go just as smoothly when she returns with it during her next class.

 

Gale worked up a storm while she was home and came in with her Louisiana FDL Window only needing a border.  After that was attached we added some brass channel and then she began the soldering process, leaving class with the front side almost completely soldered!  If this isn't finished when she comes back in I'll be shocked!

 

Brenda got all of her multi-million piece Magnolia Window ground and ready for foil.  Once this is tacked together we'll add the border and then get ready to do some soldering!  This is a beautiful design and I can't wait to see what it looks like when she comes back in.

Once Becky S's Bamboo and Panda Window was completed she set upon cutting the glass for her Steer Head Window.  Before I even knew it all of her glass was cut and Becky was already grinding.   Sometimes you luck out and find the perfect glass for something that initially worries you when you see it as a black and white pattern.  And that was the case for the horns on this window--they're perfect.

  

Mary Grace has all of her Fruit Basket cut out and has even begun grinding some of it.  And to her credit, all I helped with were some of the grapes.  That's some pretty impressive work she's accomplished all on her own.  She'll resume grinding upon her return to class, but first she'll cruise.

  

Linda F fell in love with this frog pattern and simply shortened it and then stretched it out slightly so it would fit into a metal frame which will display it prominently in her yard.  With all of the glass cut out already I know she'll have no problem grinding this while she's at home during the week between classes.

 

And Myrt's working away on her own multi-million piece project.  She's approaching it one section at a time (like I do to projects with a lot of pieces).   Her Outhouse Window's  wheel barrow is all cut out and ground now so I guess it's ready for hauling out the... well, never mind. 

And Linda L's Wild Thing's eyes are cut and ground meaning that the woman itself is all cut and ground.  With that part completed Linda will take this home to possibly begin wrapping it.  But with a vacation coming up on board of a cruise ship I won't be surprised or or disappointed to find that she didn't get to it.  Either way Linda will be adding some text to the bottom of this when she comes back in.

 

Martha has been making great progress on her own Magnolia Window.  In fact, she only has two sections of leaves to go and then she'll be ready to cut out her background glass.  Since there isn't much background to this window she'll cut and grind it before she starts tacking things together since she'd only be wasting glass doing it any other way.  I love the precision of her grinding.

Rowena continued working on her Baseball Window and you can see that the colors are just perfect for this.  There's no doubt at all that this is a baseball field. She still needs to cut out the bat and the letters that spell out the name KYLE, and then this will be headed towards the home stretch.

 

Sue's Featherized Window is all ready for background glass now.  Both sides are cut and ground but the window is extremely fragile at this point so Sue will be working on it solely in the shop rather than risking the transportation of such a delicate window.  Once the background is cut and tacked into place things will be far more solid.  And the reason that one of those 'feathers' is off color is because the other three are stacked two deep whereas the lighter one isn't. Trust me, it all matches.

 

Shelley's latest Mermaid Window has a border and just needs solder now We knocked out some glass in the stomach to give the mermaid a more natural look and when this is completed Shelley will be adding some glass jewels to the treasure chest.  This mermaid is going to be rich!

Jeannette's Crab Window is finished save for the soldering.  When lit up, the colors of this are spectacular.  Jeannette also worked on a large Anchor suncatcher which she got all cut out and ground before taking it home to wrap and maybe even solder.  If the Anchor comes back soldered I think Jeannette will leave with two completed projects next week.

 

Carol got the Rose portion of her new Rose Window cut out but all I have to show you is her pattern.  Sometimes I'm a little slow when it comes to getting my camera out and that's exactly what happened during class last week.  But something tells me that there will be plenty more to see of this window when Carol comes back into class.

 

We have a second Blog Update almost ready to be posted so expect that within the next two days.  Once that's up we'll be back up to date after the Easter weekend took me out of state and away from my computer for a while.

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

A Fourth Option

 
Options, options.  When making a stained glass window one must consider what color the lead will be once the project is completed.  In the past we've had basically three options to 'finish' our stained glass windows.  We could leave the lead silver, you could color it copper, or you could turn it black.  Now, thanks to Novacam, we have a fourth choice: Neon Green.  Superglo comes in a handy spray container and is applied the same way that any other patina is applied.  There's no wait after the application, just wash it off, wax it, and enjoy the rich semi-florescent green hue that your lead takes on. Superglo Neon Green won't wash off and is great for outdoor projects that face the harsh elements.



In the daylight Superglo's green is clearly visible yet it's far from overpowering.  Many users say that the lead takes on a well-weathered  copper look.  Here's a look at a beveled window that's been colored with Superglow Neon Green Patina.

But where most windows disappear at night, Superglo shows it's true color in the dark of night when your lead actually glows in the dark allowing you to enjoy your window in the middle of the afternoon or the middle of the night.  Just look at this night shot of the same window.

 

Novacam Superglow Green is easy to use, safe, reasonably priced, and available at most Stained Glass Suppliers.  Get your bottle today.  And be sure to look for Superglo Nuclear Blue, coming soon!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks