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May

10

Stained Glass: the Copper Foil Technique

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May 10th, 2008 by msotherdenartglass

I wanted to take a minute and explain about the copper foil technique, utilized mainly in free hanging stained glass pieces. The process was invented either by Louis Comfort Tiffany, or John La Farge, back near the turn of the century. (They were apparently rivals, and although most sources credit Tiffany with the invention of the copper foil technique, I’ve been told by a couple of people that it may have been La Farge). Originally, small, even widths of copper were cut, and applied to the edges of the cut glass with beeswax. It functioned like tape, and since copper can be soldered - Voila! A new way to build stained glass panels was born. Nowadays, the copper tape comes sticky - no beeswax necessary - but it is still wrapped around the edges of the glass, and covered with solder.

Unfortunately, a lot of people making stained glass with copper foil didn’t cut their teeth where I did - on real, live Tiffany windows. One of the things you learn from a Tiffany window is how to solder copper foil correctly - after all, the copper foil sections of his windows are generally in pretty good shape, even after a century. So how do you tell if a copper foil stained glass piece is well-made? Here are a couple of things to look for: First, I want you to try and see where the tape meets itself - there is a tiny bit of overlap where this happens. In a quality piece, you won’t be able to spot this, because the artist has built up enough of a solder bead to cover this juncture. See, copper foil is kind of like tin foil - it doesn’t have a lot of shear strength. But, when it is properly coated with a nice solder bead - when the edges of the piece look slightly rounded, even though the edge of the glass is square - the solder provides the strength needed to hold the piece together for, well, a century or more.

Another indicator of a well built copper foil stained glass piece is when any hanging implements - hooks, wires, loops, etc - are stuck well into the solder. Here’s a photo of what it ought to look like. If you can see the outline of the hook, wire, etc, stuck on the back or sides of the foil, that’s not necessarily a good thing. What it comes down to is this, really: Solder is not cheap, and the artist willing to use enough of it to cover tape ends and sink hook ends properly is probably intent on selling you a quality product that should last until your kids or grandkids inherit it.

If the piece is framed by lead (it will have a smooth, milled looking finish - see the photo below - and have solder joints at the intersections) this isn’t necessarily something to avoid purchasing, however, you should keep in mind two things: One, lead is inelastic, so if it’s a hanging panel, gravity will subsequently cause it to droop over a period of time. Therefore, if you have a long run of lead that is not interspersed about every inch to 2 inches by a solder line, the lead will gradually (over a period of a few years or more) show the ravages of gravity upon it, and begin to droop off or pull away from the edges of the glass. If the piece is completely constructed with lead, then it really ought to be in a frame. You’ll just be frustrated down the road when your piece needs repaired, because the artist forced the lead to support a stained glass panel with no rigid exterior support, such as a wooden or metal frame. Secondly, if you are considering purchasing a piece framed in lead, make sure that the hanging mechanism (hook, hoop, wire, etc.) is completely sunk into the solder seam, like this:

If it’s attached solely to the lead, consider buying a different piece, or shop with a different artist.

Last but not least, you should generally avoid pieces where the artist has left an intentional interior angle (typically about 100 degrees or less) that is unbroken by a solder line. Please note - I modified the following photograph on photoshop to show an example of what to AVOID, because glass generally breaks in a straight line, and anyone who features an interior angle that is not broken by a solder line has most likely cut the piece on a bandsaw.

You cannot cut this kind of angle by hand. I don’t own a bandsaw because I was taught by old time glass guys who insisted if one of them couldn’t cut the piece by hand, then it was liable to break in the window at the same place it kept breaking on them in the studio.

Here’s what the piece ought to look like:

I hope that this has been helpful. One of my professional goals about stained glass is to educate people about it, and de-mystify it for them. I’ve spoken to several church committees over the years about the condition of their stained glass windows, and from that I’ve learned that if it can be broken down into plain terms, people are much less likely to hire a stained glass studio that will contract unnecessary work. I feel that the basics have a huge crossover application into the gift and hobby market as well, as the size of the piece may change but the simple rules of physics when dealing with glass, lead and copper foil remain the same.

Stumble it!

Feb

6

Making Fusible Glass Curly-Qs

Filed Under Glass 101 | 1 Comment
February 6th, 2008 by LeahPellegrini

curlies These coils are made of Bullseye glass, coe90 and completely fusible. The first time I ever saw them was in a box of creations at the Bullseye factory from their vitrograph kiln. I went home to my studio and made some for myself! You don’t need a special vitrograph kiln to make these, just a torch and some glass!

What do you do with these? Personally I cut them up into o-rings and fuse them onto plate to make perfect circles. I’ve also used them as whole coils, fusing them down to use the beautiful pattern they create on the glass.

Want to know how to make these glass curly-qs?! They are fun to make and even more great to use! Heres a quick video that shows you how I do it:

http://leahglass.blogspot.com/2008/02/making-glass-coils.html

Stumble it!

Jan

17

Use that glass scrap!

Filed Under Member News, Glass 101 | Leave a Comment
January 17th, 2008 by willowglass

I was recently asked by someone what they could do with all their glass scrap. One great use is scoring leftover end pieces into strips and using a murrini mold like the one pictured. The sample I have shown used 5 thin strips of Bullseye 90COE glass stacked and full fused in the mold. Now all I have to do is cut the cane into slices to use in my designs. So use that glass scrap!

Stumble it!

Jun

28

Tools of The Trade~

Filed Under Glass 101 | 1 Comment
June 28th, 2007 by mattskiss99

Tools for poking and shaping, straightening, tucking, twisting and pulling. These are my absolute favorite tools. They are on my bench all of the time.

Mashers and squashers~ Shaping by hand with the gentle inner curve of the squeeze tool is one of my favorite techniques.

“All the better to see you with my dear” Pretty purple didymium glasses filter out the bright orange soda flare that occurs when soft glass is melting in the torch. They protect my eyesight and make it easier to see what I am doing in the flame.

Stumble it!

Jun

13

Filed Under Glass 101 | 1 Comment
June 13th, 2007 by

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May

10

Stained Glass: the Copper Foil Technique

Feb

6

Making Fusible Glass Curly-Qs

Jan

17

Use that glass scrap!

Jun

28

Tools of The Trade~

Jun

13