Clear Stained Glass and Bevel Bath Window

Sometimes the simplest designs and choice for glass make for the prettiest windows.  Here's an example of a recent bath window we created.

My customer needed inspiration for a design, so I brought her several pattern books from my extensive library.  This is the one which caught her eye.  It features clear textured glass, rectangular bevels, and a central bevel cluster.  This was a good starting point. Her window is 19" wide by 54" high.

There are hundreds of bevel clusters available from several companies.  I chose a variety of them for her to consider, and here was the winner.   This bevel cluster has 13 pieces and measures 9-7/8" wide by 18.35" tall.

 Here is my computer rendition, scaled to fit her window.  For the outer border we decided on clear swirly Baroque glass.  Inside that border is a box of 3/4" bevels.  Then for the larger squares, we opted to use clear glue chip glass.  And then the bevel in the center is the focal point.

 The pattern making begins by taping together Manila folders as shown.

 Onto the Manila folders goes a layer of carbon paper, then the “cartoon”.  This is the original pattern with all my markings on it.  I trace all the markings onto the Manila folders as shown.

 

Here I’m applying copper foil to the edges of each piece of the bevel cluster.  You’ll notice that the inside of the foil is black.  This is so that when I patina the solder in black, the inside of the foil will not be seen through the clear glass.

Now all of the bevel cluster pieces have been foiled.  I’ve pinned them down securely on my work surface.  I’m now applying liquid flux to the foil.  This is a catalyst which enables the solder to flow freely.

Here you can see the progression of the soldering.  On the left side of the bevel cluster I’ve done “tack soldering”. This is to lock the pieces together so they don’t shift. On the right side, I’ve competed much of the full soldering.  I turned the cluster over and fully soldered the back as well.

After the pieces are locked together, I took out the push pins and slid the pattern out from underneath.

I set the bevel cluster aside and turned my attention to the “pencil” bevels.  Here I’ve got them push pinned against a straight edge.  I’ll solder then where they join and lay them as a unit onto the “cartoon”.

Back to the pattern .. After all of the markings have been transferred from the original “cartoon” to the Manila folders, I cut the border with regular scissors.  I use specialized, double-bladed pattern shears to cut out the individual pattern pieces.  These shears leave a small space between pieces.  This is taken up later by copper foil.

Now all the pattern pieces have been cut out.

This is the “cartoon” or pattern on which all the cut pieces are laid in preparation for soldering.  You’ll notice that there’s an aluminum “fence” that’s push-pinned against the border.  This is to prevent the cut pieces of glass from shifting as I work.  At this point, The bevel cluster is soldered and in place, as are the pencil bevels.  As I’ve mentioned before, the bevels are the “boss”, so they go down first.

Here I’ve traced the pattern for two pieces of Glue Chip glass and I’m using an oil-filled pistol grip glass cutter to cut the glass.  If my left hand weren’t holding the camera, I’d be pressing down on that yellow ruler for stability.  (That’s how I normally hand cut glass with straight edges).

As each piece of glass is cut, I bring it to the electric grinder.  This enables the copper foil to adhere better and it also makes the glass safe to handle.

I’ve cut two pieces of the clear glue chip glass and all of the bevels are in place.

Another view showing the whole window.

Etching my signature and date into the piece at the lower left corner.

Here I've inserted one of several lengths of copper reinforcement.  It will serve to strengthen the window. It is fitted between the pieces of glass and becomes invisible after soldering.

At this point, all the glass has been cut and all the copper foil has been applied.

Brushing on the liquid flux. This is a chemical which permits the solder to flow freely over the foil.

Tack soldering.  At this point in the process, I apply small amounts of solder to random areas to connect the glass together.

After the front has been tack soldered, it’s safe to remove the metal “fence” which served to lock the pieces in place.  I’ve done that here and am in the process of sliding out the “cartoon” or original pattern.

My husband Eric is using a tool which creates the angles for the zinc frame.

Here Eric has put the side frames in place.

After all sides of the frame is cut, he puts the fence back on to hold them in place.  Here I’ve soldered the corners and the lead lines to the frame.

In one of the final steps, I’m applying black patina to the solder. This chemical works instantly.  After it sets for a bit, I wash off the remainder with a neutralizing chemical spray.  After it dries, I apply stained glass finishing compound, which is a light wax.  This helps to protect the patina and give the glass a nice shine. 

And here is the window, prior to the final cleaning.

Here's a view after the evening installation.  You can clearly see the textures in the glass.

Another view taken at night, from outside my customer's home. 

And here is a photo taken the following morning, courtesy of my customer.  Thank you Linda, for having Eric and I work with you on this pretty window.  May you enjoy it for years to come!

For more information on my other projects, please click here to visit my website.

If you're on FaceBook, please click here to "like" my BoehmStained Glass Studio page to keep up with all the latest projects.  Thank you!

Beveled Stained Glass Window

Bevels are a beautiful component of many stained glass windows.  Most use them as accent pieces, at the corners, or as a cluster in the center of the window.  This project is a window made almost entirely of bevels.  The challenge with bevels is that the glass is softer than traditional stained glass.  It is also very heavy.  Therefore, this window required some special treatment.  Here's how I went about the construction ..

Here's my customer's window.  Its in his newly renovated modern kitchen.  At this point, he has applied faux stained glass lines as shown. He removed it prior to our installation.

Here's a sample triangle bevel.  The center top is raised and the sides slope down.  The bevels do not require grinding along the edges, as other stained glass requires.  

Something else different about the construction of this window is that I do not make a computer rendition of it beforehand.  My husband Eric made a template of the kitchen window to get the exact dimensions.  Then he calculated the largest size diamond bevel that could use up the most surface.  In this case, it was a 4" x 7" diamond. Then we added 1" rectangular bevels along the border.

Applying the copper foil to one of the many diamond bevels.

Bevels are made of a softer, more scratchable glass, than stained glass.  Therefore, I'm resting them on a piece of soft packing paper.  Here I'm burnishing the foil onto the bevel using a "fid".

Examples of the reinforcement used in this window.  One is Flex-Bar which is a flexible reinforcement.  The other is Re-Strip which is a solid, harder to bend reinforcement, appropriate for the many straight lines in this project.

I've taped down the areas where the reinforcement has been placed between the glass.

Adding more braided reinforcement tape.

The tape marks where all of the reinforcement lies.  I was very generous reinforcing this window.  It weighs 14 pounds.

Here I'm "tack soldering" the joints between the diamond bevels.

Now the entire front of the window has been soldered.  I'm cleaning it with "Kwik-Clean" spray, then letting it dry thoroughly,

My husband Eric is now measuring the sides of the window to give me measurements for the border glass which will be attached here.

I'm using a pattern to mark the border pieces, which are made of hammered clear glass.

Here I'm using an oil-filled pistol grip cutter to cut strips of the border.

After tapping repeatedly, front and back, along the score lines, the glass "loosens" and splits evenly,

Now the border pieces are trimmed to the correct size and placed outside the window as shown.

Another view of the newly cut border glass.

I placed braided reinforcement between the border glass and the rectangular bevels.  Then I soldered it together.  The fence is back on to keep the glass from shifting as I work.  The green liquid in the cap is "flux" which is the liquid catalyst which helps the solder flow freely over the copper foil.

Here my husband Eric is measuring for the frame, which is a thick strip of zinc.

Here's the window, soldered and framed.

We used a thicker frame at the top and bottom.  Here I've soldered both to the lead lines.

After the frame is in place and cleaned, I'm now applying "black patina" to the solder.  It reacts instantly and makes the solder a deep black. 

Here's the window, still wet with patina, but almost ready for installation.  After the patina dries, I coat it with "stained glass finishing compound" which protects the patina and shines the glass.

We did this installation at night, so I don't have a daytime view.  But here's the window, installed by Eric in this newly renovated kitchen in Belle Mead, NJ.  Thank you Chris, for finding us and having us create this for you!

For more information on my other projects, please click here to visit my website.

If you're on FaceBook, please click here to "like" my BoehmStained Glass Studio page to keep up with all the latest projects.  Thank you!