Stained Glass: The Sun-catching Craft

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A pair of grozing pliers — tools with little teeth on their rounded jaws, which should be available from your stained glass supplier — will help you to do any glass "nibbling" that might be necessary, and a special glass file will smooth the edges to make the pieces fit the pattern perfectly. Number the shapes with a china marker as you cut them, place a corresponding numeral on the pattern, and set the glass aside.

LEAD AND SOLDER

This is the time to begin to fit your pieces together. But first you'll need a frame to work in. Simply nail two quarter- round wooden molding strips together (at a right angle) to form a corner on your workbench. Or, if you prefer, you can prepare a separate piece of 1/4" or 3/8" plywood — about two feet square — with molding strips along two adjacent sides. Either way, you can brace your glass against this "molding corner" while you're building the window.

The lead that you'll use to hold your stained glass pieces together comes in different sizes and shapes. Ask for six-foot lengths — called "cames" — of 3/16" or 1/4" channeled lead in two shapes: The "H" shape, which has a channel on each side, serves as a common border when two pieces of glass meet . . . while the "U" shape can be used around the outer edges of the entire piece (see Fig. 5).

The metal will be curved — and perhaps twisted — when you buy it, so it's important to stretch the strips before they're sliced into measured pieces. The easiest way to accomplish this is by enlisting a friend's help. Each of you should grab an end of the lead came with a pair of pliers, and pull (brace yourself, and exert a strong, steady tug) ... until the came straightens out and actually stretches an inch or so.

Strips of lead can easily be cut with an inexpensive pair of diagonal cutting pliers (wire cutters) that have been ground or filed to a sharp edge. (Always sever the lead across the open channels to obtain a clean cut. If you close down on the top of the lead, the edges will mash together, crushing the channels ... and the joint will be unusable.)

Now, put your design pattern in the corner of your work board, place two cut lead strips against the square molding corner, and fit your first piece of glass up and into the channels of the lead. To hold this (and subsequent pieces of glass) against the corner, use flat-sided farrier's (horseshoe) nails (they can be purchased at about 50¢ per dozen from a stained glass supplier or local equestrian shop). Tap them into your workbench board with their flat sides against the edge of the glass until you've prepared the next length of lead. Continue to fit the glass pieces into the metal channels ... cutting and bending appropriate strips of lead as you progress, pulling and resetting the nails to hold everything tight, and always building out from the corner in a logical order. Remember, also, to keep matching the glass shapes to the pattern underneath.

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