Stained Glass Mirror Repair

This beautiful mirror, over time, had one of the shelf brackets come loose.  My task was to repair it.  Click through to see the process ...

Here's the mirror showing the bracket on the right side about to detach.

To begin the repair, I took it off the mirror by melting away the existing solder and foil.

Then I took off the existing metal channel on the side, which had bent slightly.

Here I've replaced the metal channel with a new piece, which I cut to size.

To prepare for the re-attachment, I used steel wool to clean off remaining patina from the area.

Here's the partially refurbished bracket, ready for re-installation.

Along the seam where the bracket will be re-installed, I put down a series of solder beads. 

On top of the beads, I lightly soldered on a strip of flat braided reinforcement wire. It's 1/8th" wide, the same width as the glass.  By using this wire, the bond will be much stronger than without it.

Next I positioned the bracket on top of the reinforcement wire.  When the soldering iron was applied, the bracket bonded to the wire, and thus to the mirror as well.  Then I added more solder to the sides, as additional reinforcement.

 After I smoothed out the soldering, I applied black patina to the solder, as shown.  I checked the strength of the left bracket and saw that it was also beginning to loosen.  So I repeated the process on the other side. 

And here is the mirror, with both brackets now firmly in place.

Another view of the finished project.  Thanks for finding me, Marita. It was a pleasure doing this repair for you .. May you enjoy it for many more 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!

Mirrored Wall Hanging Repair

I'm a bit behind on my blog posts.  Three weeks ago, I repaired this 30-year-old fine art mirrored wall hanging for a lovely couple who used it for treats for the grandchildren.  Here are a few photos of the process:  (Click on any photo to enlarge .. Click on the "X" in upper right to return to post).

Here's a side view of this lovely piece.  If you look carefully (or click to enlarge photo), you'll see that the bowl has broken away from the glass mirror.

Here's another view of the separation which occurred.

And below is the view from the back.

 Below, I've replaced the copper foil around the outer edge and taped the bowl to the mirror to temporarily close the gap to prepare for soldering.

 Below, I've removed the old foil and applied new foil to the back edge of the piece.  Here I'm pressing the foil onto the glass using a flexible plastic wand or "fid".

 I used several, side-by-side layers of 7/32" copper foil on the back, just as the original artist did when the piece was created.  Here I'm applying liquid flux to prepare for soldering.

 Below, the copper foil has been soldered.  I removed a thick patch of foil from the spot where the supporting back wire attaches to the bottom edge.  I re-soldered it to the body so that the mirror will lay flat against the wall, as intended.

Since the solder is silver, I applied Clarity Stained Glass Finishing Compound to the newly soldered areas, as well as to all the areas of stained glass.  It protects the solder from oxidizing and gives the glass a nice shine.

And here is the repaired piece.  Thank you Faye and Harvey for bringing your lovely piece to me for repair!

Please visit my website to see my custom windows and repairs (click here).  And if you are on FaceBook, become a fan and I'll keep you up to date on all my stained glass projects.  Call me any time at 201-600-1616 or email with your questions. Thanks!