Repair to Stained Glass Sidelight

This pretty sidelight came to me from the same customer as the previous post.  (Repair to Stained Glass Floral Square .. Click here to view).  It was also made by her mother and so has great sentimental value.  Her daughter recently got her own place, so this sidelight is to be a special gift for her.  It has three broken pieces .. Here's how I went about repairing them.  Click on any photo for a closer look.

Here's a "before" photo with the upper left panel removed.  I posted it to show the size of the panel, which is about 6' tall and 10" wide.

The first step in any repair is to find matching glass.  Fortunately, I was able to find the lightly textured amber from another stained glass artist whom I happened to meet with on the same day that my customer dropped off the panel.
The clear glass was another story.  I went on a road trip to Maryland and brought back some of what I thought was a perfect match, but it was too shiny.  I then ordered the same style of glass, but from a different manufacturer in Washington State.  Voila!  Perfect.
So once I knew I had the correct glass, I went in, one piece at a time, and cracked out all the glass from the first affected piece as shown below.  Needle nose pliers and safety glasses are essential at this stage.

 Now all the glass is out.  I've also pulled off all the old solder and copper foil.  Here I'm cleaning off the old adhesive using Goo Gone.  Works wonders.

 Next, I've applied copper foil to the interior border.  Then I tucked a piece of Manila folder underneath the panel and traced it as shown.  This becomes the pattern for the replacement glass.

Here I've traced the glass ..

And I scored it with this pistol-grip glass cutter.  Here I'm using the metal end of the cutter to tap along the score line to make it crack.  You may notice that it didn't exactly crack on a straight line like I wanted it to.  That's typical for glass!  Fortunately, the crack is outside the line, so I simply separated the piece and used another tool, groziers, to snap off the glass exactly at the traced line.

Next, the edges of the glass get run through a wet grinder.  This is done to protect the fingers (I'm wearing "rubber fingers" here) and to allow the copper foil to adhere properly

 Now I've applied the copper foil to the replacement piece.  I'm using a "fid" to press the foil onto the glass.

 This is an edge piece, so I intentionally cut it a little wider so that it would fit into the groove in the frame.  This way, I did not have to remove the entire frame in order to re-insert the new glass.  It worked like a charm.  I've taped the new piece in place from the back.  And here I'm applying Blu-Glass Liquid Flux to the copper foil seams, using a metal acid brush.  This chemical can be caustic.  I'm always careful to avoid contact with skin, and I wash thoroughly after use.

 Onto the next piece.  Here I'm using a pistol grip cutter to score another cracked piece.

 After tapping repeatedly on the piece, I removed all the old glass.  I also pulled off all the old copper foil and solder using needle nose pliers.  Then I cleaned the borders using Goo Gone.

Again, I'm using liquid flux on the copper foil .. This makes the foil ready for the solder which followed.

 Here's a photo of the third and final piece to be replaced.  At this point, I've removed all the glass and am in the process of tugging off the old foil and solder.

 Now all three pieces of glass have been replaced, foiled and soldered.  Next, I'm applying a mixture of copper and black patina to the solder.  This piece was originally soldered in copper but has darkened with age.  By adding a bit of black to the copper, I was able to exactly duplicate the color of the patina.

 

 Here's the other side of the panel which shows the three replaced pieces.  They are copper foiled only.  So I went in and applied the liquid flux, then the solder, then the patina.  Between the solder and the patina, the areas receive a thorough cleaning. 

 

 As a final step, I carefully washed and scrubbed the entire piece, and then applied Livia Stained Glass Finishing Compound, which is a wax which protects the patina and brings out the shine in the glass.  And here it is!  Finished and ready to be passed from grandmother .. to mother .. to daughter .. to be enjoyed for many years to come.  Thank you, Gwen for bringing me your mother's lovely artwork for repair.  It was a pleasure!

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!

Repair to Stained Glass Floral Square

This lovely piece was made by my customer's mother.  It sustained cracks in the upper corner piece.  Here's the process to repair it.  (Click on any photo to enlarge for a closer look).

Here, you can readily see the cracks in that corner piece of clear glass.

Scoring the glass with an oil-filled pistol grip glass cutter.

 Pulling out the cracked pieces with a needle-nose pliers.

Here I'm using my soldering iron to melt off some of the more stubborn old foil and solder.  In order to make a strong repair, all of the old materials need to be removed.

 Once the old materials are off, I'm cleaning off the old adhesive using Goo Gone.

Then I line the cleaned border with copper foil.  The foil is centered at the edge of the glass, pressed by hand down the sides, and then burnished with a "fid" or flexible plastic wand, which can be seen in the background, top right. 

 Now that the corner has been cleared of old material and old adhesive and has been copper foiled, I'm tracing the area onto a piece of Manila folder.  This will become the pattern for the new piece of replacement glass.

 Tracing the pattern onto the glass.  I hand-cut the piece using the oil-filled pistol grip cutter shown earlier.

 I fit the new glass in place after the edges were ground.  Prior to that, I applied copper foil to the edges of the new piece as shown.  Here I'm using a metal acid brush to apply Blu-Glass Liquid Flux on the copper foil lines.  This enables the solder to flow properly.  I placed blue painter's tape beneath the foiled seams in order to prevent solder from leaking through, and to hold the glass in position.

 Here I'm soldering the new glass onto the rest of the piece, using 60/40 lead/tin solder.

 This is an older piece and the copper patina has aged somewhat.  In order to match that aged look, I added a bit of black patina to the copper for a uniform look and a good match.

And here's the repaired panel, ready to be enjoyed again by the family.  Thank you Gwen, for entrusting your mother's art to my care.  May you enjoy it for many years to come!

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!

Yankees Stained Glass Lamp Repair

Another recent repair .. This one is a New York Yankees lamp.  The cap came apart from the dome and there were two badly cracked oblong pieces which required replacement.  Here are the repairs .. Click on any photo to enlarge for a closer look.

This is how the lamp came to me .. With the cap detached, two pieces of blue glass fallen out, and two pieces of the white cracked.

 

 Here's a close up of one of the two cracked white rectangles.

 

Before replacing any glass, the borders have to be clear of any residue remaining from old foil or solder.  Here I'm using "Goo Gone" to clean off the border.  I've also added new foil to it.

 The detached blue pieces were surrounded with old copper foil and solder which I removed by hand.

Many lamps such as these do not have ground edges on the glass.  The grinding helps the copper foil to adhere, and it makes the glass much safer for handling.  Here I'm grinding the edges.

 Copper foil is centered on the edge of the glass ...

 ... And pressed into place with a "fid" or a flat, plastic wand.

After the pieces and the border have been foiled, I tape them into place using blue painter's tape.  Its inside the dome, not visible.  Then I brush on liquid flux which enables the solder to flow correctly,

Soldering the pieces back in.

In order to replace the cracked pieces, I score them on both sides and then use the back end of the butter to tap out the remaining pieces.

Here I'm tugging out pieces using needle-nose pliers.

After the glass is removed and the borders are cleaned, I apply new copper foil as shown.  Then I trace the opening onto a piece of Manila folder.  This becomes the pattern for the new piece of glass.

The glass has been scored with the pistol grip cutter (the purple tool).  Now I'm using "running pliers", the blue tool, to snap the straight cut.  I do the same with the remaining two sides of the rectangular piece.

Now the replacement piece is in place, held there by blue painter's tape from the inside of the dome.

Now the two pieces of cracked rectangular white glass have been replaced.

Onto the cap.  The cap is often the weakest part of any lamp because it holds all the weight.  The borders of the circle had not been grinded during construction.  I'm using a hand file to roughen the edges of the glass to prepare it for copper foil.

 My husband Eric made a new copper ring for the cap and soldered it into place.

And here is the finished lamp!  Thank you to Wyckoff Lighting for passing this repair on to me.

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!

Pendant Lamp Stained Glass Repair

This small pendant lamp is part of a matched set.  One of the four panels of clear seedy glass had cracked from the outer part of the lamp.  Here's how I went about repairing it .. Click on any photo for a closer look.

Here's how it looked with the panel badly cracked and a chunk of glass missing.

After I located a piece of glass to match the existing glass, I tapped on the cracked piece repeatedly to loosen the remaining pieces.  Then I carefully pulled out the glass with a needle-nose plier and with leater-palmed gloves.

Here's the lamp with all the cracked glass removed.  I've added blue tape to the top to strengthen the lamp as I work.

 This was a nice find.  The builder of the lamp inserted lengths of straight wire in the seams, in order to strengthen the construction. I left those in place.

Below, I've applied 7/32" copper foll to one of the sides, and wrapped it around the support wire shown in the photo above.

Now both sides of the opening have been copper foiled.

Below, I'm tracing a piece of Manila folder to make a pattern for the replacement glass.

The pattern is then traced onto the glass with a black Sharpie pen.

Leaning against a flat ruler to "score" the glass with an oil-filled pistol grip glass cutter, my preferred tool.  Behind it is a pair of blue "running pliers" which I use to snap glass such as this which has been scored in a straight line.

After the glass is snapped, I run the edges through a grinder.

Then the new piece of glass is rinsed and dried and copper foil is applied to the borders.  Below, I've taped the replacement glass onto the rest of the lamp. The next step is to apply liquid flux to the copper foil.  Then I went and soldered the sides, top and bottom of the replacement glass.  The soldered areas then receive a thorough cleaning with Kwik-Clean Flux and Patina Cleaner.

After the soldered areas are thoroughly clean and dry, I apply Novacan Black Patina with a metal acid brush, as shown.  This chemical instantly turns the silver solder to black.  After it sets up, I again clean it off with Kwik Clean and allow it to dry.

Here is the finished lamp ...

And here it is, atop the smaller, secondary part of the fixture.  I also repaired that as well, by adding some solder to the fitting at the top. Its now ready to be re-hung and enjoyed for many more years!

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!