Specialty Frits
SPECIALITY FRITS Frit is crushed glass, ranging in particle size from a fine powder to fine, medium, coarse and mosaic. It is made from crushed, screened and cleaned COE tested sheet glass. It is used by artists as a coloring agent or used to created decorative effects when blowing...
So Many Pliers!
SO MANY PLIERS! When customers are new to stained glass, it can be overwhelming figuring out which tools to buy. As if choosing a soldering iron wasn’t complicated enough, something that seems as simple as pliers ought to be easy, right? Maybe not! There are several tools that are...
Glue in the Kiln
There is a lot to chat about when it comes to glue in glass fusing. Let’s start with these cute little owls with wonky eyes. They started out with the pupils glued to the white nugget eyes. Since the glue cooks off at about 450F, the eyes just slid...
Grinder Bits
The biggest question we get about grinder bits is “how long will it last?” Tough one! Depends on how much you use it. A bit can be adjusted up and down, and carefully you can use lots of the surface. Once you get a bare spot, move the bit...
GETTING STARTED – FUSING
Info taken from Spectrum Glass System 96 Getting Started with Kiln-fired Glass WHAT IS FUSING Stacking two or more layers of compatible glass to make a design and then melting it by placing it in a kiln. You can flat fire or slump. Bring the kiln to 1300 –...
CONTROLLING YOUR SOLDERING IRON TEMPERATURE
Temperature controllers are generally separate units that the iron plugs into. They are small, easy to use and relatively inexpensive. It operates similar to a light dimmer switch. By dialing the control to a higher or lower setting, more or less electricity is fed to the iron. This increases...
FOOD SAFE ISSUES
I think I have not researched an issue and come up with less concise data ever. Here are some things I did find. FUSING The causes of concern when fusing are lead and cadmium. Cadmium when combined with sulfur forms Cadmium Sulfide and results in deep yellow color. If...
TIDBITS OF INFORMATION
What is the difference between copper wire and tinned copper wire? They are both copper wires. The tinned wire is a bit easier to use if you are soldering it because it already has a coating of solder on it. https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/metals/wire/ ************************************************************************************************************ So many foils! Different backing, different widths,...
MURPHY’S LAWS FOR STAINED GLASS
(I would like to give credit for this, but I no longer know where I got it) Solder Law: Hot solder looks exactly like cold solder. Solder Law II: One lead joint will always be unsoldered. Breakage Law: The number of bad breaks you get is directly proportional to...
Setting Up a Workshop
Recently on Facebook, I saw someone asking about the floor in her workshop she was setting up. Her husband wanted to put down carpet since the workshop was in the cellar and the carpet would make the floors feel warmer. Of course, she got an emphatic, “no” because of...