How stained glass is made

  • Stained Glass manufacturing
    Stained Glass is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacturing. The glass is produced as a semi liquid, poured out, rolled and cut into sheets or made by mouth blowing a large round glass bubble which is then cut down the middle while hot and laid flat into sheets.
    Glass is made in very few countries and most of the stained glass sheets available in NZ are made in America.

  • Making Stained Glass Windows
    A design is first drawn and then scaled up into a pattern.The glass sheets are cut and ground into pieces by hand to fit the pattern, any painting and kiln firing is done and then the lead came is wrapped around each piece of glass and soldered together at the joins. The assembled window is then puttied, dried and polished ready for installation.

  • Painted Glass
    Highlights, lines, shading and signatures can all be painted onto glass. I paint with the traditional method used for a thousand years [and yes those stained glass windows still look good] of using crushed black glass and then firing in the kiln at about 1300 degrees until it becomes part of the glass surface.  A range of  colours can be produced by using enamels that are used on venetian style glass or pottery and  for bright yellow highlights silver stain is fired onto the glass.

  • Fused Glass: I sometimes melt glass pieces together in excess of 1600 degrees so they become one piece to make an interesting feature for a window or make a bowl or jewellery.

  • Whats the Difference Between Stained Glass and Leadlight?
    Nowdays the terms are interchangeable.

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