Author: nellyglass

I just completed a fascinating project and one I can’t believe I haven’t done before now…although I’ve often thought about it. A small 6″x9″ sun catcher of “The Dark Side of the Moon”®. You can read all about it here and you can also find the page under the “Sun Catchers” menu.

It’s Christmas Eve and I just finished my nellyglass studio sign project. What a wonderful journey I had through this project not only building the art piece but also blogging every step along the way.

The anticipation builds and builds as I work along many hours until that final moment when I hang it and get to step back and see it for the first time as it was meant to be displayed… in this case, lit from behind. This is the moment I can feel anything from amazed and delighted beyond my expectations to suddenly disappointed that something didn’t work quite as I had envisioned. Usually, I feel the entire range of emotions with every project. This one was the same. Emotions were fully engaged as I proudly hung my sign over my studio space in the basement. If I had to use one word, it felt real.

Now it’s time to set the glass aside to celebrate the birth of Christ with loved ones, exchange presents, be merrily foolish, and enjoy a grand gathering of several families to feast and rejoice. Blessed, are we not?

Thanks for coming on the journey with me through the various steps in the making of this special piece of art. Hope you learned something new and enjoyed the experience.
Nelly

Total time for this project: 43 hours

Immediately after the soldering is all finished, I spray the entire panel with Kwik Clean and rub it into every nook and cranny with a tooth brush. Then wipe off with clean dry rags (no water used for rinsing as it can react with the cleaner and turn white). Sometimes I repeat the cleaning process if heavy flux needs extra scrubbing but not this time. It cleaned up really easily.

Immediately following cleaning and drying is polishing for both sides. Special stained glass polish is rubbed all over the panel into every nook and cranny and allowed to dry. Once dry, it is buffed off with clean dry rags and out of every nook and cranny with q-tips; (quite time consuming with this project due to the many deep curves and points.

Total time cleaning and polishing : 2 hrs.

Next: Step 11 Installation

This step is just as often done before soldering especially in small panels like this. Nevertheless, to me it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Regardless of when it’s done, a frame has to be cut. Zinc came comes in many sizes. This time I used a 5/16″ and cut all corners to 45° with my hack saw and mitre box.

Once cut, the frame is super easy to assemble with the panel previously soldered and ready. The came has a chanel on one side that fits over the edge of the glass. That’s why it was important not to solder the edges earlier. With frame in place and held tightly with pin I flux and solder each corner and join every solder line between each border piece (38 in total) to the frame. This many connections helps to strengthen everything. It is time consuming, though, doing the same thing to both sides (78 connections total). Finally I add hanging rings.

Total time framing: 2 hrs.

Next: Steps 9&10 Cleaning & Polishing

For this step, I assembled the panel directly on the pattern on a slab of drywall. That’s so I can pin down framing jig strips along the edges. They help to keep everything straight and parallel.

Once the first side is tack soldered together (avoiding all outer edges that will go into frame later), I take off the framing jig and flip over the panel and solder the backside (avoiding all outer edges). The backside is soldered better than just rough tacking. The beads are built up and kept smooth since I will see the backside all the time when I’m working at the bench).

Backside soldering done, I flip the panel back to front and solder to a smooth finish.

I soldered the entire panel first and then framed it after. (Sometimes I frame first and then solder… but not this time).

My soldering iron is a good one and keeps good heat at the tip during long runs. I like that it has a coil iron holder for when I need my hands elsewhere and that it has a temperature control dial so I can set it where I need it.

I tried to be careful and fussy and can feel my development progressing and am very pleased with the results. However, that super clean smooth solder bead with not one single ripple is still a work in progress for this student.

Total time soldering: 4 hrs.

Next: Step 8 Framing

Normally I’ll have a panel reassembled before foiling unless space is an issue (as in this case). It’s quite a long panel and to have it assembled for foiling would mean using a 3 foot glass table base for the pattern and glass. My foiling space is preferably near the TV in the family room where, at the moment, the Christmas tree is taking precedence. Solution: foil the panel unassembled. Since each piece is unique and only goes in one place, assembly is easy. So, for foiling purposes, I’ll save space by bunching all the individual pieces together in small containers and just foiling away, enjoying Netflix Christmas movies, until all pieces are done. Then I can reassemble on the studio table for step 7.

Foiling has to be my favorite steps in the process…I just love the slow careful finger work… its so relaxing… so long as my eyes and fingers continue to behave, I could foil forever. This project has some very deep curves including one drilled hole in the letter “g” which slows the process down but also extends the enjoyment time (happy face).

Total time foiling: 10 hrs total
Letters and border @3 hrs.
Background @ 7 hrs.

Next: Step 7 Soldering

Now that the entire panel is fitting snugly, the next task is to wash every piece to get off all the grinder dust which can be stubborn like dried paste. Unless the edges of the glass are super clean, the copper foil won’t stick and that would be a big problem.

Happily, this is a short quick step in the process and a delightful one at that as you see the glass sparkle after a fresh washing.

I like to wash and dry the entire panel in sequential order to make it quicker to reassemble before foiling and to prevent mixing up pieces that are nearly identical. However, with this project, each piece is unique from all the others (126 pieces total) so there’s no risk of mixing up pieces and therefore no need to reassemble the panel until after foiling. Nevertheless, I wash in sequence.

Total hours for washing = 1 hour.

Next: Step 6 Foiling

Before I can cut and fit the background pieces, I have to have the letters ground smooth and fitting in their place (then I can fit the background pieces accurately around the letters). So time to grind! 🙂
Three hours today and a little last evening had the letters fitting in place. Grinding is very much a “stand in one place and pay attention to what your fingers are doing” step (my fingernails are often mangled from getting too close). It’s also very therapeutic. The whir of the spinning motor and the hiss of the glass against the diamond bit drowns out most other sounds and allows your mind to go numb. I honestly can’t tell you what I think about during the grind but I completely enjoy the task so it must be something good.

Step 3 and 4 are often completed sequentially and in their entirety where all the cutting is done first and then all the grinding. Just as often, however, I go back and forth between steps 3 and 4 developing the parrern as individual pieces or larger sections are cut and ground right away… as in this case.

Enough for one day. We’re heading out to deliver and put up a Christmas tree for a dear old friend of ours in the city. She loves Christmas so much and we love seeing her giggle like a child when the lights are turned on. That always brings out the Christmas spirit.
Tomorrow, it’s back to step 3 again to cut out the background and then step 4 to grind it to fit.

Grinding time for this project: letters and border @ 3 hours and background @ 7 hours = 10 hrs total.

Next: Step 5 Washing

A very happy 4 hours spent cutting glass in my studio this morning. While Monica and our daughter, Sarah, baked Christmas cookies in the kitchen, I started on the rough cut of the letters for my “nellyglass studio” sign. The work felt important, positive and uplifting… who wouldn’t enjoy that? Part of the fun was choosing which colors for which letters to produce a harmonious but unpredictable flow of color across the piece. I love the artistry of free imagination. So many possibilities! And I love the sound of scratching glass with the carbide cutter and then the “snap” as you break the glass along the score line.

The cutting is not done yet. I’ve still got the background and the rest of the border to do. However, that’s for another day… right now it’s feet up to play with photos and record the journey so far… and maybe enjoy a Christmas cookie (or two). I’ll continue to add photos as the process continues.

Total tracing and cutting time for this project (letters and background)= 7 hours.

Next: Step 4 Grinding

Up at 5:00 am picking through my inventory of project scraps to select 16 different colors for the studio sign. So many possibilities and most of them right choices… it’s a challenge to not continuously second guess yourself (which I can’t help doing a bit). By 7am, decisions were made and it’s on to step 3.
p.s. there’s always room for decision alterations early on in the process and I made a couple after this photo was taken.

Total time for glass selection = 2 hours.

Next: Step 3 Cutting

I have been having a ball in my studio. Since retiring in September, I’ve completed 5 projects and am ready to start #6 (a Christmas gift for someone close…shhh).

Included in these projects are my first two official nellyglass commissions…a 5 ft window transom for a friend and a set of miniature village houses for another friend.

What excellent practice I’m getting. I can see my technique improving steadily and that was my goal for the first year of retirement. This is perfect and I am blessed. Happy December everyone.

This was truly a great Sunday. First off, I played with stained glass in my shop for a couple of hours…how great a start is that! Next, as Monica is planning her Christmas decorations and in need of supplies, she and I went for a drive on the hunt for pine cones, birch twigs and fir boughs and just so happened along the way to enjoy visiting one of New Brunswick’s beautiful waterfalls, Welsford Falls. Spectacular.

In the afternoon Monica multi-tasked an incredible salmon, baked potato and veggies dinner as she surfed potential future adventures  while I played with stained glass in my basement for a couple more hours. I’m on a little Christmas project…perhaps a gift for my wife (sneak peek below).

Ahhh Sunday, you treat us well. Thank you and see you next week.

Happily finished the mermaid panel project this weekend.

Still need to paint on her face and find hanging chain so not quite done yet but close enough to be able to post and share.

You can read the full story of her making and watch the slide show of pics from start to finish on the Mermaid page under Panels. I will add more pics when her face is finally added.

Seeing all that stained glass in Ireland and Scotland filled me with more than enough inspiration to keep me going. Next I’m going to learn how to fix broken glass panels (I have three to do…sounds like an interesting project).