Entryway window glass cut

All of the glass for the entryway door window has now been cut.  Using the manila folder patterns, each piece was traced with a black or silver Sharpie as shown below. (Click on any photo to enlarge).

Here are some stained glass tools, shown clockwise: Toyo brand pistol grip glass cutter, (blue) running pliers for cracking glass in a straight line, groziers to trim and snap off small pieces, silver Sharpie for marking dark glass .. and the purple rough rolled glass with manila folder patterns.

After each piece was cut and trimmed, the edges were ground on the electric grinder as shown below.

I'm wearing rubber fingers purchased from Staples.  They come in 4 sizes .. Find them here. They are invaluable for avoiding glass cuts and protecting your manicure.

The purple sponge shown in the photo above draws water from the reservoir which is below the grinding surface.  The water serves to cool the spinning grinder.  To enhance the effectiveness of the water and to protect the life of the grinding wheel, I recommend adding E-Z Grind Advanced Formula from Glastar to the reservoir.  For more info on this product, click here.

Most of the glass chosen for this window was cathedral, but we decided to add one piece of translucent wispy pink glass as a point of interest.  Here it is, below, with the pattern laid on top of it.  Also, I hoped to locate flat red one-inch wide marbles for the "eyes", but alas, they were nowhere to be found. Instead, I cut some brilliant red cathedral glass as shown below, with the pistol grip glass cutter.

And here is the window after the glass has been cut. The paper pattern or "cartoon" has been pinned to the homasote work board and a metal bumper, or "jig" is placed around the perimeter.  The jig serves to hold the glass in place until after the entire piece is tack soldered.

Note that the grape rough rolled glass for the "heart" appears dark when on the homasote work surface.  All of the glass will "come alive" when its in the light.

Next step: Applying copper foil to the borders of each piece of glass.  Stay tuned ..

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