Stained Glass Patterns and Tips from GlassSorcery.com

I highly recommend Glass Patterns Quarterly as a source of free patterns, tutorials, inspiration, and just plain good information regarding stained glass, hot glass, glass beads, etc.

I have read on other websites that this a magazine just for beginners, but do not be misled. While it is an excellent source of basic, yet attractive suncatcher patterns, and usually contains at least one beginner pattern with step-by-step photographed instructions, it also has more advanced patterns, and it is a source of inspiration regardless of experience level.

The Winter 2006 issue, for example, features Playing Hands, a pattern by artist Robert Oddy which requires glass plating. The description and well-photographed step-by-step instructions by the artist give a good introduction to this intriguing, more advanced technique.

The elegant and graceful Egrets panel, designed by Mark Waterbury, is another more advanced pattern that utilizes brass rods, and copper foil and copper wire overlay in construction.

For beginners to the lead came method there is a simple lead panel with materials list and step-by-step instructions with photographs.
The same issue also offers at least eight straightforward Celtic freeform suncatcher patterns and more than a dozen others requiring beginner to intermediate skills.

All of the patterns I have described are contained in a removable center section of the magazine.

As you can see, this quarterly publication has a great deal to offer and is absorbing reading. Even the ads are interesting, showcasing the latest supplies and tools available for stained glass.

You can order Glass Patterns Quarterly by clicking on this link.

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I was working on a stained glass panel recently on which I intended to use copper patina. The common wisdom is to use the copper patina immediately after you have soldered and cleaned the piece; delay results in black spots or blotches in the patina.

Unfortunately, I was called away just after I completed my soldering and clean up, and it was a few days before I could get back into my studio to work again. I was not looking forward to the problems I would face with my copper patina, so I kept putting it off. I procrastinated so successfully that three weeks went by before I forced myself to deal with the problem.

I searched the internet for answers and only found more reinforcement for the position that a decent copper patina simply could not be achieved even 24 hours after the completion of the soldering and clean up.
Hmmm . . . Bad news, but I was determined to go forward and make this work.

The decision regarding patina must be reached early on in the life of a project when the foil is applied. Depending on the patina selected, black-backed, copper-backed, or silver-backed foil is used on clear or cathedral glass where the backing will show through.

The panel I was working on included some clear glass and some light colored cathedrals, so the copper backed foil I had used in anticipation of copper patina would stand out clearly and glaringly, unless I could achieve a decent copper patina.

The reason for proceeding immediately is to avoid any oxidation or contamination which will spoil the result, so I decided to clean the soldered seams as much as I could.

I washed and scrubbed the project in dish soap and baking soda, and it looked pretty good. I then decided to make use of my Dremel. I experimented until I found a metal brush attachment that would clean up the solder seams without destroying them. I went over all of the seams carefully with the Dremel with the metal brush attachment. As a last step, I polished the piece with Kem-O-Pro Finishing Compound (probably any good polish would do,) and buffed it with the Dremel and by hand until no more black would come off and the piece was a shiny silver. That was a lot of work, but well worth it!

Finally, I applied the copper patina and dried the piece with paper towels. (Note: Do not wash the piece with water again. Water will discolor the patina and leave the spots and blotches we all dislike so much.)

Success! I had a rich clear even copper patina with no spots or blotches. Woo hoo!

The best scenario is to immediately patina, but if you encounter a delay, such as I did, be reassured. You can still achieve a beautiful copper patina. Do a thorough job of washing with dish soap and baking soda (to remove any flux residue,) and then polish, polish, polish. If you do not have a Dremel, just apply more elbow grease with your polishing. I believe that the most important step is to polish the piece until no more black comes off and it shines silver.

For more helpful hints on how to finish your stained glass pieces visit our Tutorials on the Web page and view the finishing section. Go forth and patina with confidence.

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Late last night (or was it very early this morning?) we made a complete overhaul and up-date of our Guide to Stained Glass Tutorials, Tips & Techniques on the Net page. Whew!
We added a LOT of links and organized the entire page according to the type of information each link has to offer. There are links for categories such as soldering, lead came method, how to make lamps, and a whole bunch of others.

Go check it out and try some of these tips today.

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Christmas is fast approaching. Have you got your suncatchers, ornaments, and Christmas gifts ready yet? it can be difficult to complete projects quickly with work, school, kids, and other competing responsibilities.
Don’t panic! Here’s a suggestion to help you finish early with less stress.
Have you considered a pre-cut stained glass kit?

It’s OK, it’s not really cheating. After all, it’s better to create a nice looking piece from a kit than not to create one at all. Most of your family and friends won’t even know that you cheated took a shortcut.

Go ahead and just take a look at some of the really cute pre-cut kits available.
They might make great projects to do with your kids. Order soon and take care of other things while your pre-cut kit is shipped to you.
Stained Glass Warehouse has these holiday pre-cut kits: Snowman, Poinsettia, Snowflake, Wreath, and Angel.

Delphi Glass has the following seasonal pre-cut kits: a selection of Santas, poinsettia wreath, and a Christmas Moose.

AmeriGlas has an angel kit.

Maple City Stained Glass has these holiday kits: a nutcracker, an angel, a moose, and two Santas.

Down East Stained Glass has pre-cut glass pieces, not in kits: Christmas stocking, ornament, holly leaves, bells, and dove

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We recently added a new guide to Stained Glass Tutorials on the web. We will be adding to it whenever we discover a new stained glass tutorial or page with stained glass tips and advice. There are tutorials listed for everything from soldering to making a stained glass lamp[/tag\] or [tag]stained glass box. The tutorials are written by very talented individuals who are generously sharing their knowledge and experience on the internet. You don’t want to miss these.

If you haven’t been there already, take a look at our new Glass Sorcery Guide to Stained Glass Patterns on the Web. We are creating a guide with links to FREE stained glass patterns that you can access throughout the internet and stained glass pattern books that you can purchase online. As with all of our site, this guide will continue to grow as we add new links every week, so bookmark our site and stop by often.

Another new page contains a guide to other websites that also have links to stained glass patterns on the web.

You are sure to find something of interest on these pages. Happy browsing!

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Many years ago I purchased a copy of Fish and Sea Life Cut & Use Stencils by Ted Menten. Yesterday I was looking for inspiration and I came across it and decided to make a stained glass pattern out of one of the stencils.

I chose to make the mermaid that appears on the cover of the book. Here is a color picture of the stained glass pattern I made from the stencil. You can easily convert these stencils into stained glass patterns or use them for mosaics. I made my pattern by scanning the stencil, saving as a jpg and bringing it up in my Glass Eye 2000 where I could modify it into a stained glass pattern.
I highly recommend this book. It contains stencils of many different fish, seahorses, shells, crustaceans, underwater plants, octopus, a mermaid, King Neptune, etc. This book is still available after all of these years (my copy was published in 1983,) which says good things about its popularity. You can buy the book by clicking this link.

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In order to get the best solder seam you must use high quality solder. One solder that I have come to trust is Canfield solder. Their quality is very consistent. A major reason for this is that Canfield makes its own solder. Stained glass teacher Vicki Payne recommended Canfield in a seminar I took at Glass Expo 2005.

Some companies market solder that they do not make. They obtain it from a variety of sources which results in inconsistent quality. Further, if the supplier they buy from uses re-cycled materials, the solder can include impurities that contaminate it and ruin your soldering.

Another possible source of contamination in your solder is the materials you are working on; if you spend too much time working and re-working an area, copper and other contaminants may leach from your work into the solder.
After you have spent all that money on beautiful glass, don’t ruin it with second rate solder.

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I came across a book on decorative soldering entitled Solder Magic Book: Instructions and Patterns by Kay Bain Weiner that sounded interesting.

I looked the book up on Amazon and I found it has two reviews: one review rated it two out of five stars and the other rated it five out of five stars. Neither review was very helpful. the 2-star review just said that there wasn’t much information in the book and you could find it all online, while the 5-star review was just a quote right out of the introduction to the book. (You can read the same thing when you use Amazon’s “search inside” tool.) This didn’t seem very promising, however, the author was just named recipient of the 2006 Art Glass Association Lifetime Achievement Award. Hopefully, that says something for her abilities as a teacher.

Ms. Weiner has written several other how-to books on art glass techniques. For more information see her website. http://kaybainweiner.com/KBW/

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Here are a couple of ideas for copper patina.

If you are using a copper patina, place some of the liquid copper patina in a separate container and add a couple of drops of lemon juice. This will impart a rosy glow to your copper patina.

Use jeweler’s rouge to polish your copper patinaed items; it will keep the copper glow alive.

It stands to reason that the cleaner and shinier the solder seam is before you apply the patina, the better it will look after you have applied the patina, so thoroughly clean and rub or buff shine the finished solder seams before applying the patina. It should go on more smoothly and give a better finished look.

(See previous post on cleaning the seams to avoid “white mold.”)

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