How to make a stained glass window

Stained glass is a traditional craft that has gone virtually unchanged for more than 1000 years. The ancient techniques of glass making, cutting the stained glass to shape, glass painting the individual pieces and joining the separate pieces using H section lead came to form one panel are still practised by the crafts people and artists at the Classical Glass Studio. There are a multitude of skills required to make a stained glass window with the craftsperson being a truly master of all trades.

Step 1 is to design the new stained glass window. This involves talking to the client and trying to find out what they want from the finished stained glass or leaded light window. This could take some time with an initial design being produced then modified after consultation with the client until the final design is approved.  So good communication skills are essential as well as patience and of course an artist hand and a vision for the finished window.

Step 2 is to draw the design to the full size of the finished stained window. This demands excellent drafting skills to scale up the small design drawing to an accurate full size working drawing.

Step 3 is to choose all the different types and colours of glass and to cut all the individual pieces. The coloured glass is hand cut using a simple glass cutter and the edges are finely shaped using special grozing pliers.

Step 4 is to paint any design or design details onto the glass. The glass paint and staines have to be fired in the kiln at 725°c to fuse the glass paint to the surface of the glass.

Step 5 is to join all the pieces of glass together by cutting and bending lengths of H section lead came around each piece. The lead is stretched to harden it before it is used and each intersection is lap-jointed together.

Step 6 is to solder each joint together by applying a gas heated soldering iron to the joints in to lead on both sides.

Step 7 involves cementing the panel using a special liquid black putty. This waterproofs the stained glass window and makes it rigid.

The cement is applied into the gaps between the lead and the glass and cleaned off with the use of a chalk powder. The leads are cleaned then finally polished with carbon black to a fine lustre.

Step 8 It only remains fit the window into place in wooden or stone surround. A stained glass window or leaded light window made or repaired using this technique should last many centuries.

All the hard work is worth while when you see the finished stained glass window.