If the window has a small amount of damage then it may be possible to repair it insitu without the need to remove the stained glass window completely from the frame thus saving money, time and posible damage to the frame or the stained glass.

 

In the example shown this lovely Art Nouveau domestic leaded light had many pieces of glass broken. Even though the shapes of the broken glass were very intricate curves it was possible to repair it insitu. The first thing to do when we are carrying out an insitu repair is to carefully remove all the broken pieces form the lead. This can be a very difficult task when the pieces are narrow and the old lead is hard.

The next step is to smooth back the inside leaf of the lead so the new piece of glass can be inserted into the stained glass window. So now comes the realy difficult part, to cut the new glass pieces. Each piece of glass is cut accurately to shape using matching colour and texture. Once the new glass is inserted into the lead the leads are smoothed flat and sealed using our special black lead putty.

This process can restore even badly damaged stained glass and leaded light windows back to their former glory and our craftsmen are experts at this method of repair.

 

 

 

 

Stained glass windows with damaged painted, stained and kiln fired glass present the most challenging of any repairs facing the stained glass restorer.

The coat of arms shown is in the oldest stained glass window in the Chaple at the historic Smithills Hall in Bolton. During recent restoration of the stained glass we had to paint replacement pieces for this and many other of the anchient windows.

  Stained Glass painting involves several complex painting processes and techniques. The firrst step is to match up the colour and texture of the original glass which is usualy hand made or 'antique' glass. Once the matching glass is obtained or sometimes specialy made, the new piece is cut to shape then it is ready to start the glass painting. The glass paints are very finely ground particals of glass mixed with metalic oxides, cadmium and fluxs to help the paints flow and fuse into the glass when fired. The powdered paint is mixed with water & gum arabic, vinager or oil to a consistancy of indian ink. The first stage of glass painting is to paint on the outlines. These outlines are known as trace lines and painted using a long bristled rigger ox hair brush. The trace lines can then be fired onto the glass at 725 deg C. Once cooled the glass can then be matted to created the shading. Using a similar paint to the traceline paint the stained glass painted piece is painted all over with a thin coating of the dark paint. Whilst it is still wet it is spread out evenly with a large Badger brush. This special brush will spread the paint without picking it up. It can then be left to dry as a flat matt or stippled into a stippled matt. Once the matt is dry it can be worked on with dry brushes to slowly remove the highlights to create the 3D image. This is a pain staking process and cannot be rushed. Once the desired effect is created it is then fired in the kiln as before. The final painting stage is to stain the glass yellow by painting on a solution of silver nitrate onto the areas to be stained on the back of the glass and fired in the kiln at 450 deg C. This final process is where stained glass gets its name because we are actually changing the colour of the glass by a chemical reaction. These traditonal stained glass window painting techniques are practised by the artists at Classical Glass and you can be sure that your valuable stained glass windows will receive the care and attention to detail they deserve.

 

 

 

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