Saturday, July 16, 2011

Octagonal window glass cut

Back on track after a surgical procedure sidelined me for a couple of days this week.  Full steam ahead from here!  All of the glass is now cut for the octagonal window. (Click to enlarge photo).

Thanks to careful cutting, each piece of glass fits nicely after some minor trimming here and there.  Each piece has a tiny bit of "breathing space" in between, to allow for the copper foil which will follow.
Notice that the jig is still in its original position, to contain the glass until after it is tack soldered.  As is the case with all stained glass windows, the true beauty of the window can't be seen when its laying on the pattern.  The blue will be much more rich and transparent and the clears will glow as soon the window is lifted from the pattern and placed in the light.

The cuts on this design were mostly straight with a few soft curves, so I did all of the glass cutting by hand.

Tip:  Grinding glass requires that it be held firmly against the grinding wheel, which is wet by a damp sponge as it spins.  To protect your manicure, and to safeguard against glass cuts, always wear Staples Cosco Rubber Finger Pads.  At $2.29 for a dozen, you can't go wrong .. And they come in two different sizes.  Find them here.

The next step will be applying copper foil to the edges of each piece of glass.  I'll post an update as soon as that process is complete.

Boehm Stained Glass Studio website and FaceBook site.

1 comment:

  1. I also use those rubber fingers. Did you use a strip cutter for all those straight lines. It makes the cutting a lot easier. I always make sure my cuts are good because I do not like grinding. Can't wait to see your panel up from the table.

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