Stained Glass Express - The Blog / Category_For Beginners
So Many Pliers!
Glue in the Kiln
- Scrape off any excess glue. Don't use cloth or tissue -- a chemical reaction between the fabric and glue could potentially cause burns or smoke.
- Soak the bonded fingers in a bath of warm, soapy water.
- Don't try forcing the fingers apart, or you'll tear the skin.
- After soaking, use dull, rounded utensil to carefully wedge the fingers apart.
- If you see no immediate success with this, drop a little acetone (found in nail polish remover) on the area. Again, try wedging the digits apart.
- Since you're dealing with an area on the face, do not use acetone.
- Using a wide coffee cup or bowl, immerse your mouth in hot water.
- You will also want to dampen the bonded skin from the inside of your mouth as much as possible.
- Once you sense a loosening of the grip, use a dull, rounded utensil to wedge your mouth open. Be careful not to force it, or you will tear the skin.
Grinder Bits
GETTING STARTED - FUSING
- WHAT IS FUSING
- The Ramp. The rate in degrees per hour, that kiln temp will rise or fall during the segment
- The Goal Temp. The temperature the kiln will seek during each segment.
- Hold Time. the number of minutes the kiln will stay at the Goal Temp, once it is reached.
- Tack Fuse: glass is joined with little change beyond the softening or rounding of glass edges.
- Contour: The glass edges are soft and rounded, yet the project surfaces retain a degree of dimension.
- Full: Works best on two layer projects containing an even amount of glass on each layer. These will melt together completely and smooth surface.
- Slump: This is a second trip to the kiln and it is taking what you have created and put it in a mold to "slump" into the shape of the mold.
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 or decreases the iron temperature, allowing the tip temperature to be controlled.
Ceramic Heating Element Irons
A temperature control/iron combination offers you greater control and flexibility than a temperature controlled tip iron when working with different metals and solder mixes. Look for one that is at least 80 watts. Since the flow of electricity to the tip is consistent and never completely stops, encounters with cold spots are nearly eliminated.
Hakko Soldering Iron FX 601 (stainedglassexpress.com)
These irons are relatively new to the stained glass trade. They are made with highly efficient ceramic heating elements. Like a ceramic room heater, they produce a consistent temperature using less electrical wattage during operation. When initially heating and when reheating during "recovery" periods, they can draw a "burst" of power exceeding100 watts and then efficiently reduce electrical consumption, often below 60 watts, during the soldering process. The result is efficiency and economy.
A remarkable feature of ceramic heater irons is they generally reach operating temperature in less than 60 seconds. Of the three types of irons, the ceramic heater type best maintains consistent tip temperature.
Irons with Temperature Controlled Tips
These irons are supplied with an internal regulator in the tip that does not allow the iron to exceed a predetermined temperature. An example would be a 600°F tip. The iron heats to that temperature then "shuts off." When heat is required, the iron "turns on" again. Tips are available in predetermined temperatures up to 800°F. These irons are easy for beginners to use because the temperature is automatically maintained for you, however, as your skills increase, you may prefer to control the amount of heat yourself for different soldering situations. The limited amount of control may become frustrating as your soldering skills increase. With this type of iron you will likely encounter "cold spots" where the iron will not melt your solder. These cold spots occur when heat is being drawn out of the tip faster than it is being replenished. You will need an iron with a minimum of 100 watts.
The Weller 100 is one of these irons.
Stainless Steel Heater Technology
These are nice stable irons. Best to use them with a separate controller. The biggest advantage is if you drop this iron it does not have a ceramic element that is very easily going to break. These are little workhorses.
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 mixed with Selenium and Sulfur, it gives you bright red and orange. Adding Titanium produces yellowish-brown glass. https://www.bullseyeglass.com/is-bullseye-glass-food-safe.html At this link you can find the list of Bullseye glass that contain more than 1% lead and more than .5% of cadmium. They recommend this list be capped with clear. They also said that transparent glass leaches lead/cadmium at levels below FDA limits and less than opalescent lead/cadmium-bearing glass. So, you can decide not to cap transparent glass. I also found from Randy Wardell in his book "Everything Else", this: The official answer from the glass manufacturers is, all tested compatible glasses have been tested by the FDA for food bearing surfaces and were determined to be suitable. However, if you add other processes or compounds to the items, for example paint, stains, decals, glazes, etc. it is important to check that these items are also approved for food bearing surfaces.- Glassline pens are lead free and food safe.
- Mika powder must be capped.
- Iridized glass needs to be capped. Bullseye irid is safe if full fused.
- By spraying a coating of Fuse Master Super Spray on top - food safe.
FLAMEWORKING
Clear Boro (COE 33) is food safe. Think Pyrex. Boro colors with high metal content or fuming are not food safe. Boro is food safe if the colors with high metal contents and fuming are not the surface. The metals can cause issues in microwaves and sometimes older dishwashers that get really hot during the drying cycle. I was not able to find a list of Boro colors with high metal content. However, here is a little info on metal oxides. When glass color is made, the metal oxides are stable and "in solution," anytime you work with the glass, in any manner, you may be breaking open "the solution" and expose the metal oxides. Rods can contain: Iron Oxide, Chromium, Sulfur, Calcium, Manganese, Manganese Dioxide, Cobalt, Arsenic, Potash, copper Oxide, Nickel, Chromium, Tin Oxide, Cadmium, Titanium, Uranium, Didymium, Selenium, Copper, Gold & Silver.TRADITIONAL STAINED GLASS
In traditional stained-glass work where you solder, there are also concerns. If the product is going to be near food or next to your skin, you should use lead free solder. Or, if you are doing something like a night light for a child's room, use lead free solder. Lead toxins can be absorbed through the skin.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/
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So many foils!
Different backing, different widths, and different thicknesses
Why does this matter? Take a look.
Can you see how the color of the backing shows through? It matters when you are using see through glass. It helps when the patina matches the backing. Like the center one is black backed. If that copper on the outside gets patinaed black it looks good. If you were doing a piece with a lot of see-through glass and you used copper back, you would be sad, disappointed and distracted by the copper peaking out at you.
https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/metals/copper_-_silver_foil/
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FUSING WITH NON-FUSIBLE GLASS
Can you do it? Yes. However, you cannot mix sheets because the coe is unknown. If you know that two pieces of glass came from the same sheet, you could fuse them together. Sometimes non fusible glass will devitrify. Probably because you don't really know what temperature to fire it at. If you coat it with Spray A that generally takes care of it. This is also good for slumping bottles. They come out clearer if you coat the up side with Spray A.
You could take two wispy pieces of glass from the same sheet and put one across the other with the wisps going in a different direction and get a nice effect.
You cut shapes from one piece and fuse to another piece if they are from the same sheet.
You could take single pieces and slump them into a vase.
Pic from Glass with a Past
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TRACKING HEAD
This is a great cutter for straight cuts. You just will not believe how much easier it is to use.
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CUTTING TUBES WITHOUT CRUSHING THEM
When cutting a tube, put a toothpick in the end where you are cutting, and it will keep you from crushing the tube.
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Have an old circle cutter you no longer use to cut glass? Use it to cut paper.
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PLIERS - WHICH END IS UP?
RUNNING PLIERS - Just cannot live without them. They are used to run a score. You just position the jaws at the end of the score line and gently squeeze. To remember which end is up, remember the saying "screw up or screw up"
https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/Glass-Tools/Hand-Tools/pliers/metal-running-pliers.html
GROZIER PLIERS
I learned this one just this week. Your pliers should look like alligator head to be the right way.
https://www.stainedglassexpress.com/Glass-Tools/Hand-Tools/pliers/grozer-breaker-pliers.html
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 the price of the glass.
Breakage Law II: The number of bad breaks is an opposite proportion to the amount of glass on hand.
Breakage Law III: The number of bad breaks is proportional to the distance from your supplier.
Law of Studio Geometry: Any horizontal surface is soon piled up.
Law of Focus: At the most difficult point in construction of any project, the phone will ring.
Law of Focus II: The moment your hands touch lead, flux or patina, extreme hunger pangs will commence.
Law of Commerce: Everyone knows someone who does glass....cheaper.
Replacement Law: The moment you replace a lost tool with a new one, you will find the original.
Installation Law: The time required to install is proportional to the number of people watching.
Installation Law II: The tool you desperately need is back at the studio.
Common Sense Law: There is no such thing as a clean stained-glass window.
Common Sense Law II: The number of people you did not know were listening is proportional to the severity of the swear word used.
Common Sense Law III: Everything takes longer than you think.
Common Sense Law IV: Deadlines are always closer than you thought.
Setting Up a Workshop
- Proper ventilation. That can be a ventilation system or a fan blowing the fumes away from you or a fume trap. A good option would be the Weller Fume Trap Smoke Absorber.
Types of Glass
OPALESCENT
Opalescent glass was first developed and patented by John La Farge in 1879, but it was Tiffany who created the masterworks in glass using this type of glass. The Tiffany studio would often create a piece of glass just for the particular piece they were currently working on. So within this category, there are the following variants: Mixes. You can have a mix of one color and white. You can have a two- or three-color mix, or even a mix with more colors. The more colors that are mixed, however, the more difficult it is to not end up with a muddy glass. Mixing many colors with success is certainly a skill. Iridized. Many manufacturers were adding an iridized coating to their glass. This is very thin metallic coating that gives the glass a mother-of-pearl effect (or for those who don’t care for it, an oil-slick effect). Textured. There are many textures that can also be added to glass, such as flemish, granite, hammered, ripple, starburst, vertigo, corella classic and moss. Again, different manufacturers produce slightly different looks and may call them something different. Solid Opals. Glass that is a solid color.CATHEDRAL
This glass has been around a long time. References as early as 675 A.D. talk about colored glass in buildings. Textured: There are many different textures of glass available. Some examples would be waterglass, reeded, English muffle, artique and Celtic. Streakys. This style of glass is still a bit see-through. Some color is mixed with clear.No Bad Luck Here!
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