Stained Glass Shopping List
Starting up the hobby of stained glass can be fun and most of all addictive. To be successful it is advised that you enroll on a stained glass training course and you will need the equipment to get you started. Below we have put together a shopping list that can be used for both lead came and copper foil crafts.
Tools and supplies
The following tools are required for both copper foil and lead came stained glass:
- Basic equipment needed are white pattern paper, pencil, permanent marks and a metal ruler.
- You will need both grozing and breaking pliers, however you there are combination pliers available on the market to save you a little bit of money. Combo are used to break glass and fine tune glass shards that are unwanted.
- To clean surfaces that you wish to solder, you will need a chemical called flux, this is very important as you can not sold without using flux to clean. Basic disposable brushes can be purchased to use on foil and lead surfaces.
It is always advised to buy up to 50% more glass that is needed for your project.
- A glass grinder is a very useful power tool used to grind any glass edges that are unwanted so that your pieces fit perfectly together.
- 100-watt soldering iron gives enough heat for all your stained glass soldering projects.
- Every creation of a stained glass project, even the simplest design, begins as a paper drawn design. Hundreds of patterns are now available from specialists shops or online.
- When working with glass it is important to wear safety glasses, they should be worn when you are working on your project or in your studio.
- Select a pistol-grip cutter that can be self oiled, make sure that you choose one that is easy hold within the palm of your hand or if you choose a barrel cutter that fits in between your fingers like a pencil.
Specialist copper foil tools
When you agree to first project using the copper foil technique, make sure you purchase the following tools and supplies:
- Copper foil that is 7/32 inch is used to wrap each piece of glass in your project, you use thin strips of copper foil with adhesive backing. Slimmer foil is more difficult to handle than 7/32 inch.
- The little foil tape tool allows you to burnish, crimp, and allow you to roll copper foil tape tightly to each piece of glass.
- You will need to purchase solder that is 60% tin and 40% lead this is used to hold your foam glass pieces tightly together.
Lead came tools
The following tools are needed in addition to your general tools in order to start creating lead came projects:
- Your solder needs to have an equal amount of tin and lead; 50/50.
- During the construction process you will need to use horseshoe nails in order to secure glass and lead came pieces.
- Obviously you will need lead came strips that are available in H or U profile shapes.
- A lead knife or lead nipper is used to trim the lead for accurate sizing.
- A temperature controller that is called a rheostat, this helps to control and reduce the heat of your soldering iron. You will not need this tool if your iron has an in-built controller.