Allendale Festival Day & Car Show, Saturday, October 1

This weekend, Saturday, October 1, Eric and I will have a booth at the 19th Annual Allendale Festival Day and Car Show on West Allendale Avenue.  We'll be among over 100 vendors for what promises to be a fun, successful show.

We'll have a few of our stained glass windows on display, as well as framed photos of many others that I've created.  We'll also bring my full-color binder which shows, step-by-step, the entire process of constructing the windows, from design through installation.  And something new .. We'll be offering a variety of soldered glass refrigerator magnets as seen in the posting below.

If you're in the area, stop by and say hi!

 

Boehm Stained Glass Studio website and FaceBook site.

Soldered Glass Magnets and Necklaces

Something different today.  Eric and I are getting ready for a craft show next weekend and I wanted to offer something small and affordable at our booth, in addition to soliciting commissions for custom residential stained glass windows.  These little soldered charms are just the thing!

They are super easy to make .. There are several good videos up on YouTube to show you how.  Here's a good one:

The products she uses are slightly different than mine .. and I ground the glass before foiling, but this video will give you all the basics.  I found 8x10" clear glass that is 1/3 thinner than most stained glass, which made using 7/32" copper foil tape an ideal choice.  I used lead-free solder. I will be turning some of these little 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" gems into refrigerator magnets.  The rest will become necklaces.

Here's the info on the show ...
Eric and I will have a booth at the upcoming 19th Annual Allendale Festival Day and Car Show, next weekend, Saturday, October 1, 2011 from 10:00 to 4:00.  Come by and say hello!

Check out the new look of Boehm Stained Glass Studio website (testimonials added, too), and also visit our FaceBook site.  Thanks!

Repair to Mission Style Lamp

This beautiful, classic Mission style lamp came to me for repairs after my customer's grandchildren accidentally damaged it.  The lamp had been in his family for 20 years.  Here's the damage. (Click on any photo to enlarge).

The goal of any good stained glass repair is to restore the piece to looking as close to the original as possible.  With older glass that's not always an option, but I've generally been fortunate in finding good matches.

The first step is to score and break out the broken piece of glass.  Then, using a soldering iron, melt off the surrounding solder and pull off the copper foil around the entire perimeter of the piece which was removed.  The photo below shows the broken piece removed as well as some of the foil, with a small piece of glass still attached.

Notice that I left the surrounding metal channel at the bottom, for structural stability.  If I had removed that piece, it would have compromised the strength of the entire lamp.  Also, if I had replaced that channel it would not have matched the original.  Since it was still in good condition, the better option was to leave it "as is" and work around it. 

I made a template of the 15" x 3" opening which became the pattern I used to cut a replacement piece of glass.  Though the new glass is not an exact match, it is very close in texture, opacity and color, and I was confident it would work well.

I applied new copper foil to the perimeter of the opening as well as to the new piece of glass.  In order to match the foil width that was used on the lamp originally, I chose a 3/16 size which is more narrow than the commonly used 7/32 foil.  Note again that the original metal channel at the edge of the lamp is still in place. I carefully tucked the replacement glass into that channel and fit it into the open space while the lamp was laying flat on my work surface.  I then taped the glass in place.

The photo below is the view inside the lamp laying flat, with the replacement glass taped in place and ready for soldering.

Solder is of course, molten metal, and it requires a flat surface on which to work.  I soldered the inside of the lamp when it was flat on the work bench.  But to solder the outside, I also had to make it "flat".  I carefully placed the lamp into a large box full of packing peanuts, with the outside facing up.  I soldered the outside while it was still in the box so that the solder would flow properly and I'd get good lines.

Another challenge with this repair was matching the existing patina, a beautiful bronze color.  Since there is no "bronze" color patina available for purchase, I experimented with a mix of black and copper patinas until I found the right color.

Note the small piece of clear glass above the bowl in the photo below.  I laid out a few pieces of copper foil, tinned them, and brushed on small amounts to test the color.  The best ratio was approximately 40% copper and 60% black patina. This proportion gave me just the right amount of warmth and darkness to match the existing patina on the lamp.

The repair was a success ..

My customer is happy with the results, and his grandchildren are probably relieved as well.  Call me if you have a broken copper foiled stained glass piece which needs repair. I'm happy to assist you with getting those broken pieces back out to be seen and enjoyed.  201-600-1616 or email me.

Boehm Stained Glass Studio website and FaceBook site.

Boehm Stained Glass Studio recent newspaper ad

Here is our ad which ran recently in the Suburban News, in Midland Park, Ridgewood, Hawthorne, Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff, NJ.  Think of us when you want to have a custom-designed residential Stained Glass window built .. or if you need repairs. We are happy to work long distance!

See more of our work at Boehm Stained Glass Studio website and our FaceBook site.

Art Deco windows installed

My husband Eric installed all 9 Art Deco windows this weekend.  Here he is, affixing clips to the large window to securely anchor it to the wood frame window. (Click on any image to zoom in).

 

He installed the 8 smaller windows above it with clear silicone caulk.  First he positioned each piece of glass in the center of the mullions and then secured each one in place with blue painters tape as shown.  Note that he also positioned a few layers of cardboard beneath each piece of glass to help center them.

Below, he's applying clear silicone caulk to the space between the edge of the glass and the edge of the mullion.  The silicone will secure the glass and is ideal for this application since it is clear and it will allow light in.  Its also flexible to allow for temperature changes through the seasons.  To allow for airflow between the layers of glass, some gaps were left in the silicone caulking.

 

It takes about 24 hours for the silicone to set, so we left it to our customer to remove the blue tape.  Here's what the windows looked like when we left. 

These windows face the front of their home.  It was wonderful to look up on our way out and see the character the stained glass windows add, even from the outside. 

Below is a photo of the completed window, as taken by my customer the next day.

Here is a lovely comment left for us ... "The window is gorgeous and exceeded our expectations! The pictures of the finished window don't really do it justice as the colors and the different types of clear glass are quite astonishing; especially when the light reflects through. We have already received quite a number of compliments after only a few days! It is the focal point of our bathroom, and rightly so"

Thank you for finding me, Mark and Debi.  It was a pleasure bringing your vision to reality .. May you enjoy them for many, many years!

Boehm Stained Glass Studio website and FaceBook site.