Make Stained Glass

Are you interested in how to make stained glass? Here we've put together a little tutorial so you can do just that.

1. Begin with 2 copies of your stained glass pattern. One on plain white paper. This will be your build pattern. The other on light card stock. This will be the pattern you cut up as template pieces for cutting your glass.
2. With the card stock pattern pieces, one-at-a-time, lay each piece on the stained glass and trace the pattern onto the glass with a marker.
3. Use your glass cutter to cut out all your glass pieces.
4. With your plain paper pattern, tack it securely with pushpins onto your build board.
5. Grind all your glass pieces to fit in the pattern. Work one piece at a time, fitting them into the lines on your pattern. Secure each piece as you build up your stained glass art piece with push pins so they don't move while you fit in the other pieces.
6. Once you have all your glass in their proper positions on your pattern, you need to begin foiling each piece with copper foil.
7. Wrap each glass piece with copper foil and burnish the edges with your burnishing tool. 
8. Build your glass piece back up on your pattern and secure with push pins.
9. Heat up your soldering iron to the proper temperature. This varies with each iron but usually 68 degrees is normal. My soldering iron has a temperature control on it and I turn the dial to about 12 o'clock.
10. Once your iron is heated, flux your glass pieces with a brush and tack soldier your glass pieces together.
11. Now that your glass piece is secure, you can remove your pushpins.
12. Now apply a solder bead along each copper seam, leaving about 1/4 in to 1/2 in along the outside edges.
13. Solder both the front and back.
14. Clean your stained glass piece with water and flux remover.
15. Apply your zinc channel around your stained glass piece. Be sure to solder all the joints and corners. Clean and polish.

You're done! You have just made your first piece of stained glass art.