Stained Glass Success: Mastering the copper foil method

1. Module 1: Introduction: Hey, welcome to module One of Stainless success. I'm so excited to have you here. And more than anything, I'm so grateful that you choose to take this journey with me. In discourse, we will cover all the fears, materials, and tools for creating Tiffany St, also known as Per Foil method. By the end of the class, you will know all the basics and have the confidence to go on and create your own beautiful projects. This is a beginner's class. No experience is required. Although I know there will be some returnees and improvers, People who want resources and further guidance at home, no matter what level you are at currently. Now, please approach all of the content in this course with a beginners mindset, even if you think you already know it. There are some concepts and techniques in here that you might see elsewhere. But I can guarantee this is a much deeper dive. If you approach it, beginners mindset, you will learn something. The goal is to go from thinking, well I already know, to saying, well actually, how can I challenge what I already know and try to improve upon what I already know? Because once you have that method, you will be much more aller to noticing the things that you've learned before. And noticing how you can apply these steps in new ways. And that's where the success happens. Don't feel pressure that you have to understand and execute everything perfectly on the first, try grow and explore gradually. And try not to rush into reaching the picture Perfect results and let yourself enjoy the journey as well. All right, that was the intro. I will see you back in. So two back. 2. Module 2: Get ready to create: Welcome to module two of Stain Glass Access. Before jump right into action, I wanted to discuss two important topics around how to navigate inside the course and how to get ready. You can find the prerecorded video modules inside the dashboard. You have access to all of them already, along with the downloadable materials. You can find these materials separately after the video modules, meaning the patterns, the workbook, and the tools and materials guide, plus all of your bonuses. Of course, I will always draw your attention when you need any of the materials as you reach that point in the course. Staying glass is a craft which requires a variety of supplies. That's why the first material I recommend checking out is the Tools and Materials guide. In the guide, I listed all of the essentials and safety items as well, but also a few tools which are good to have but not necessary. Each relevant module contains detailed safety set up and essential tool and material information in separate lessons. I strongly recommend to go on and watch those first if you are a complete beginner, because I share a lot of insight about the quality, what you have to watch out the brand, et cetera. You can find starter kits online and offline, which can be great. Just make sure you purchase intentionally and know your own preferences when it comes to the required items. All these items can seem overwhelming at first glance, but I want to let you know that it's not complicated at all once you break it down. The other topic is the three step process to learn and master any skill stained glass. Success. Following this process, I find it very useful when teaching and learning something new. The three steps are the following. First comes the learning what to do. If you start playing volleyball, for instance, you first have to learn some theory, the rules, positions, scoring. Before going into practice, you need to gain a high level understanding of the skill you are trying to acquire in stain glass success. You will find the relevant theory part in the modules, specifically in module overviews. The next is learning how to do it. Here is where you develop your abilities through practice. This phase is the essence of learning stain glass. It's where you will put most your time and effort. You will find practice patterns coming with the course materials, you have plenty of room to rehearse. The final step is doing it. Here is where you put all your learning and practice into action and performing the skills. Now this is going to be your first stain glass piece. I believe in that knowing the strategies of effective learning will maximize the time and energy you put into stain glass, as well as optimize your work in improving and mastering your craft. All right, that is it for module two. I will see you back here for module three where we are going to deep dive into stain glass patterns. Until then, see you. 3. Module 3: Choose your pattern: Welcome to module three of Stained Glass Access, where we discuss the importance of pattern picking and planning ahead. If you ever painted before, for instance, you're able to add paint or mix more color on the canvas. Generally speaking to adjust along the way, stained glass is a very creative, you have to know in advance how the whole glass will look like and fit together. I like to use this puzzle metaphor because you can imagine, even if one of the puzzle pieces is misplaced or not the exact feet, the project won't come together as a whole. You have two options in terms of patterns. You create your own design or purchase a pre made one. Either way, you want to match your ideas and level to the right design. This is actually a common tripping hazard because I don't want you to go towards difficult constructions right away and then lose motivation if it's not turned out the way you want it to be. Generally speaking, good planning save precious time and materials. In this course, you can choose from four different beautiful patterns. You can download and have a look at them as we go through the module to see as an example what I'm talking about. However, we're not going to touch pattern design on deeper levels. All right, let's get right into it. See you in the next lesson. 4. 3.1 Select the right size: Welcome to module three, lesson one, in which we identify the right size, the copper foil method. What we're learning here is best suitable for decorative pieces. In two D and Fred, you can create hand catchers, indoor displays, window or door panels. In there are boxes and the famous Siphany lamps in it's diverse. The technique is quite rigid, meaning it's naturally has physical limitations to it in terms of size. The maximum measurements are about a few meter length. And the bigger pieces very often reinforced with some framework. For example, metal or wooden frames. The minimum measurements to one little piece of glass can be just a few millimeters. Copper foil Method strength lies in creating finely detailed artwork using small fragments and complex lines, which makes endless possibilities for us to play with. Just a quick note, don't forget that the big church windows are made with different technique, can be also referred as stained glass, but using so called lean canes as binding. The lead canes provide flexibility and stability at the same time what you need in these bigger proportions. I love the term that the copper foil method is the little sister of the leaded cane method as it historically evolved from that. Then what are the ideal measurements for the first few projects? When you choose the project, we would like to avoid the extremes. I do not recommend going too big because the process is more enjoyable and easier when you already have some experience. And then moving towards the greater and more complex designs. This also goes to artworks containing tiny little glass pieces. It's much of a hassle to handle small fragments, although it can be a great way to add details to the project. Ideally, I recommend a pattern which would fit in an four sized paper. It will be easy to work with proportions like this and more handy as well, because you don't need huge space to reserved in your work surface. Check out the patterns available in this course, all fitting in the four sized paper. You won't have problem working with them in terms of size. Okay. This was less than one. See you in the next one. By. 5. 3.2 Set the difficulty: All right, welcome to module three, lesson two of Stainless success. Stainless projects not only have dimension. I collected four factors which affect the difficulty of the work. Complex species need more love and precision. However, an amazing way to add more variety and artistic touch to them. Number one. The first one is what I like to call piece density. The same sheet of glass can be divided into two sections, but you can divide into multiple different sections. The more project is, the more individual pieces you will have to work with. Remember the puzzle metaphor? The more puzzle pieces you have, the game gets more challenging. That's why the classic ephany lamps are admired all over the world. The size and density are just simply insane. Number two, the second point is concaves. Concave means that having an outline or surface that curves inwards. If you have a pattern full of deep concave lines, let me tell you, you will grind a lot because these deeper curves are hard to cut out. You would radar grind here to achieve the desired shape, to make sure you're not breaking the piece, you will learn about the glass cuts later. What are the possible and impossible cuts? On the other hand, having some special arches in your pattern will make it look amazing. So it's a stylistic choice of yours, but more time consuming. Number three, we will go into detail about glass types in the next module. But it's important to keep in mind that different types of glass behave very differently as we work with them. For example, glasses with heavy texture are usually trickial to work with. But I came across completely smooth surface glass that was more fragile, so I had to handle it carefully through the entire process. That's why I always tell students that if you can test out your sheet of glass before you start the actual work, this way you will get to know the material and what to expect, although you might want to use a certain type of glass to that piece, but the texturing won't allow it to happen. Keep this in mind. Finally, I wanted to mention collectively all the extra details you can spice your art up. If you browse on Instagram or Pinterest, for example, you can always come across super fun and creative ideas. A few examples, like you can add wire detail, play with the soldering technique, paint on the glass, layer the glass on each other, and many, many more. It's super fun to create a unique style by combining your favorite details. Some of these techniques can be pretty easy to pick up, Others might be more challenging. But remember, always test out and see how you like it and how it would fit to the certain design. All right, that was less than two. See you in the next module. By. 6. Module 4: All about glass: Welcome to module four of Sin La success, which is finally all about glass. Glass is a material whose history is over 5,000 years in the making. Were using it our everyday lives for various purposes. The glass we are using for stain glass specifically made for this technique. There are hundreds of brilliant colors and styles available. It's probably one of the most exciting part to decide which glasses you would like to use in your projects. We are in the lucky position today that there is a wide variety of glass selection. In this module, we are not only go through the most important characteristics of our glass, you will be able to easily navigate between the ranges, but I also give you my best tips which types of glass works best for specific purposes. We will go through five glass characteristics which are manufacturing, color, opacity, texture, and finish. I bring you lots of examples from my studio and footage from the local glass shop. Let's touch some glass. See you in the next lesson. 7. 4.1 Manufacturing & Color: Welcome to module four, lesson one of Stain Glass Success. This is a glass sheet, also can be referred to as our glass obviously, glass is our number one raw material, what we need. We are not going to deep dive in the manufacturing process as this is not the purpose of this course. But I wanted to mention that there are a few different glass sheet forming methods affecting the look, the uniformity, and the price of the sheets bound cylinder term applied to or glass produced by the historical mouth blown cylinder method. The result is called full antique glass, which is very pristine, good quality, and on the pricier side, meshing mid glass methods. For example, raw methods where they literally rolling out the molten glass typically produce more uniform and easy to cut sheets. There are many different manufacturers who make or glass across the world, each with their own textures and specialties. Glass is a solid like material, but doesn't have the internal crystalrized structure of solids. Primarily consists of silica with small amounts of soda ash and lime, which is calcium oxide. Ordinary sodaline glass appears colorless to the naked eye, then it's thin. Although iron oxide impurities produce a green tint which can be viewed in thick pieces. Glass coloring may be obtained in several ways. A common one is to add powdered metal oxides, sulfides, or other compounds to the molten glass mixture. If you're interested, I link some reading down below, my favorite fun fact about coloring gold, ruby glass made with gold. During the process, the producers adding gold, salt, or colloidal gold into molten glass. It's pretty fancy. A sheet of glass can be monochromatic or multicolored. Monochromatic simply means a single color sheet, while multicolored means two or multiple color glass mixed together. These mixed colors can create astonishing variations. They can be swirling tricky or muttled pattern. These were the first two parameters. Let's move on to the next one. See you in lesson two by. 8. 4.2 Opacity & Texture: Welcome to module four, lesson two of Stained Glass Axis, where we're talking about opacity and texture. Opacity is the amount of light that any given sheet of glass will transmit. The most light a glass can transmit is obviously clear glass. It can be found all around us in our everyday life. Technically speaking, it's not stainless because stained glass means colored glass. But texture clear glass can give us great design choices. For example, this is a clear glass for visma features, an aerolt texture which consists of shallow parallel, nice addition to minimalistic style. For example, clean glass is a great way to include negative spaces and giving an airy look to the project. The next is cathedral glass, or transparent glass. This is the most common one. Cathedral glass is completely translucent. It is often found in medieval European cathedrals, hence the name. These sheets are usually single colored, although not exclusively can be found with various textures. If the aim is maximizing light and flooding your home with dancing colors, this is the one that works best. Be aware not to choose cathedral four door or window panels where you need privacy. Cathedral sheets are great for beginners as they are pretty uniform and easy to cut. Almost all manufacturers make cathedral. If you able to find spectrum, they have a huge range of this type. Definitely try those out. Mac has great streaky transparent or glass as well. Okay. The next type is not transparent glass. This category can range from soft, glowing appearance to transmitting almost no light at all. These ones with the soft glow are called translucent. The ones that you literally can't see through R, opalescent or opal. It can contain one solid color or can mix multiple colors. Usually, opal glass comes in fewer textures than cathedral glass is. Milky glasses are popular for lampshades, boxes, wall art, or indoor panels where you don't want or need the object to be transparent. Como have amazing range here covering single color, opalescent to wispy and three key ones. Last but not least, I wanted to mention mirrors. They can be a very fun reflective addition to your projects. I think we all know that light bounces of the mirror and will show the image of whatever is front of it. But what's really exciting, I only came across with them when I started to work with stained glass. That there is not only the classic aluminum coated mirror, but colored mirrors as well. The colored mirror backing can be combined with metallic finish to create a stunning mirror. All right, the next characteristics is texture. I love to use textured glass textures ranging from subtle to dramatic movement. And create ambience in designs like nothing else. One side of the glass is usually smooth and the other side is textured. There are natural textures, any natural effect created without mechanical influence or embossed roles. It includes for example water glass and Baroque. They both are registered trademark spectrum glasses. The water glass technique rittal, these beautiful waves that resemble a surface of a lake. It's very pretty Baroques. Dramatic textures are creating artistic, almost free verse. Both great for background glasses where you would like movement by allowing visibility. There are roll textures in roll glasses. One of the forming roles is embossed with texture that is imprinted on the glass as the sheet is formed. Here we have examples like hammered granite or muffled. This clear glass is from Smc features, a granite texture which consists of dense, slightly irregular, small ripples. The third category within textures are any other treatments which are not natural or rolled. For example, glue chipping, etching, or sand blasting, for example. Here is a clear glue chips, also known as frost glass because its surface texture is similar to frost on a window glue chip. Glass is great for background and perfect to use in entry was or wherever you want to show off in an elegant way. All right, that was it for lesson to see you in the next one. 9. 4.3 Special Glasses: Welcome to module four lesson free of stainless success, I wanted to include all the special type of glasses in this lesson that you can come across in the glass stores and use up in your future project. They can be great addition for any styles. The first one is descent glass. The ridescence always reminds me of the inside of a pearl shell. The colors change with the angle of light. This is a surface treatment in which a layer of metallic oxide is bonded to the hot glass surface, resulting the effect the film is applied only one side of the glass. And you can see a few color examples on the footage. The next one is called dicroyglass, very similar to descent, but with more brilliant color reflections. It's killed after the metallic oxide is applied. Dichroic are quite expensive and the surface treatments, generally more sensitive, can be scratched. Therefore, it is best used for small highlights in stainlass piece or jewelry. On the stain glass box design, I use a small amount on the head of the snake, just adding a pup of vibrant color. In bevo glass light is reflected and refracted by the beveled angle of the glass, which creates a stunning prismatic effect. They can add depth and elegance to any design. You can even find bevel clusters in the shops which can be used on their own or incorporated into a panel design. They are very pretty. Randles can be great addition to a geometrical project. For instance, the making of handmade randles is highly skilled and due to the manual production process, each piece is entirely unique. They can be found in several sizes and many colors. Lastly, glass nuggets, which are vibrantly colored glass gems, which can be used in many applications and perfect for any project. All right, that past. See you in the next lesson. 10. 4.4 Glass sources: Welcome to module four, lesson four, or glass is not something you could find in any art and craft store. It's a more specific material. But of course, you will be able to find good sources online and offline to manufacturers, produce and sell large size sheets, then they are distributed to the retail stores. Oftentimes the local retailers cut them into smaller sizes, so called hobby sheets. I will list here the common sizes you can come across. Many places offer individually cut sizes what you can buy. However, it really depends on the spot. Another advantage of glass shopping is that you can interact with hydro glassy people who are interested in the topic and ask questions. First things first, I recommend you to look at the nearest local stained glass shop to your home. Nothing beats rambling around and discovering the selection. This way, you make 100% sure that you would get the glass. You imagine you able to look at the vibrancy, colors and the reflections or vice versa. You're looking for ideas and inspiration for your next project and fell in love with a sheet of glass. Could happen. You live in an area where the local shop doesn't have a great selection or it's too far away in these cases worth to check out other options too. Hobby Lobby can be another offline option. It doesn't come with a huge portfolio, but they have many stores across the USA. This fees generally at the lower price range. Remember to test it out before jumping into a bigger purchase. Many retailers and some manufacturers have online stores on T or ebay. You can also find random selection of stained glass or single sheets. The pro is that you can choose from many, many types. The cone is it's harder to see the real character of the glass. There can be big differences from sheet to sheet, even if we're talking about the same type of glass. My advice is to try to ask for more pictures from the seller to make sure you receive the perfect batch. As glass is pretty heavy, calculate with higher shipping costs than shopping online. The last option is Facebook marketplace or Craigslist. I've never purchased from sites like this before, but I heard that you can make great deals. Might someone near you be selling leftover glass or tools on a good price? So I will definitely keep an eye on them. Okay, this was less than four and see you in the final one by. 11. 4.5 Glass handling & storage: Welcome to module four, lesson five of Stainless Success. I want you to keep in mind the following good practices when you handle and store glass to avoid any safety issues. Less is pretty sturdy, but at the same time it's fragile. So be careful all the time when you work with it, whether you go out for shopping or picking colors at home. Wear blouse to protect you from potential sharp edges and cutting yourself. Transfer the sheets with two hands from one spot to another and don't swing around while doing so. Don't hold a sheet of glass above your head and try to figure out how it looks in the light. You never know if the glass already have a crack in it. Never let glass hang over the edge of a table. When placing down, always set glass down carefully and don't let it slip off your hand. Do not lean on your sheets. You can crack your precious sheets and hurt yourself accidentally. How to store glass. Having stained glass organized helps to locate glass in your creative place easily and quickly. We want to ensure that they stay completely flawless without any breakage. And for the sake of your own safety as well, find the place out of the way where you won't bump into the glass If you don't own many large sheets. A stained glass rack or caddy like this can be a good idea for bigger quantities. You might want to look for a shelf or cabinet with enough dividers where you can put down glass sheets vertically. Important, always store them vertically. Never stack piles of glass horizontally, as the weight of the glass on top can crack the bottom pieces. Make sure that the structure is sturdy enough and nothing can follow from the shelf. Smaller pieces, on the other hand, can be stored in containers and a good idea to separate them by color and label them, you easily find the piece you need. 12. Module 5: Transfer your pattern: Welcome to module five of Stan Glass. Success. Congratulations, you've completed the theory part and you can finally put this knowledge to work. There are four patterns available in this course. As I mentioned before, have a look at them. There are two geometrical ones. One globe with comfortable arches, one with abstract curves. I recommend the first two geometrical pattern. If you are beginner, it's easier to start with straight and simple lines. The other two are designed to practice the curves and the bands. Every arch work of real improve and polish your skills. Whichever pattern you choose, it will definitely benefit your stainless journey. I'm going to go with geometrical number two. I show you each step through this pattern. If you have the chosen one, select out the artless you want to use as well. I'm going to use a little bit of everything. I have monochromatic and vispic cathedral sheet and opal one. And I'm also going to use the clear texture glass stripes. I selected a greenish, bluish color palette. Transferring your pattern to glass is a simple step in the whole process, but I wanted to show you two options to see which one fits you better. Either way, you will need two copies of the same pattern. You will keep one copy as the guide and cut the other one into pieces. Besides basic stationary items, you can use a special share which called Foil pattern shares. This is for the internal, ie. As the share remove a thin as of paper that compensates for the thickness of the foil between the pieces. You can cut the external lines with regular scissors as the width of the cut doesn't matter on the perimeter. For smaller patterns, it's not essential to use foil pattern shares. You will be fine without it. But if you're planning to do more complex and bigger creations, this trick will make more precise fitting. All right, see you in the next lesson by. 13. 5.1 Pattern transfer: Welcome to module five, less than one of stained glass success. Let's talk about the template placements on the glass. You have the beautiful glass sheets that you've selected for the project and the cut patterns. Now let's place them on the glass. We have to figure out the best way to fit every piece on the sheet we intend to cut from. Place them as far away as you feel comfortable with. This will make more sense after learning glass cutting. As you getting more experienced, you can reduce the spacing, which is good because you will save more glass. And minimizing waste depending on which side of the glass you want. As the front facing part of your project, you might have to trace your pattern piece backwards for cutting purposes. For example, I have the texture glass that I can only cut on the smooth side. I'm going to place them backwards accordingly. Pay attention to the grain of the glass. It's not an issue with uniform cathedral glass, for example. But if you use various sheets, you want the consistent direction of the grain, unless the final work will look scattered. You can mark the patterns with little arrows. This way you will know which way to orient them on the glass. There are two basic methods for transferring your patterns. Test out which method you prefer by using the practice patterns which you can download from the materials. I recommend using cheap clear glass or cathedral glass for testing and practice. Okay, The first one I like to call the marker method. Place the cut template on the glass and trace around it with a marker. Important to use waterproof marker, It will prevent your marks from washing away while grinding for lighter color glasses. Use black for darker colors. Use silver or white waterproof markers If you don't want to create two copies of the pattern. You can also use large wrapping paper, which you can easily see through. You can create your cut template on your own by tracing the guide copy. My Proteb is to use laminating plastic paper instead of wrapping paper. Plastic is more durable and you only need to make it once and then you can reuse them if you intend to recreate the same project. Again, I'm going to go with marker method. Personally, I find this one more convenient. The second method is the gluing method. As the name suggests, this simply means that you glue the cut pattern down to the glass. You can use traditional glue. Stick with the print, scan or wrapping paper. Wipe the glass truly with glass cleaner and dry completely before gluing, finish the pattern transfer for your selected project. All right, great job. See you in the next module. 14. Module 6: The perfect cut: All right, welcome to module six of sin less success. This one is a particularly exciting module because you will start to see your design coming together and able to please the colored glass puzzle pieces next to each other, the glass or break your design, not to put on extra pressure or anything. Because remember, it's all a learning process. The more you practice, the better you get at it. Personally, it's one of my favorite part. Once you acquire the technique, you will get into the flow and just cut the glass for hours. It's so satisfying. In short, cutting glass means dividing a sheet of glass. Glass cutter, which is a specific tool for that cutting the desired size and shape is the first step to form stain glass piece. From my experience, many people will assume that cutting glass must be something super complicated and you would need an industrial machine to do it. To the contrary, it's a small hand tool with a handle and a carbide steel cutter head. I will cover the different types in the next lesson before jumping straight to the cutting. I would like to share what we are going to do exactly in stained glass. Word cutting glass doesn't mean plastic cutting like it would be scissor and paper. In case of glass cutting, however, we want to make a score, meaning rolling the wheel along the surface of the glass, it creates a tiny dent or crack in the glass. On this board, you see a cross sectional view about a sheet of glass and glass cutter. Right where they touch is created crack. The purpose is to control the direction of the crack moving along quickly on the surface by generating at the right time and in the right place, a surface tension that is greater than the tensile strength of the matter. This wave. We are able to control the breakage of the glass where we want it to be. Don't worry. Let's put this into practice and everything going to make sense if you're a bit confused now. All right, I see you back in the next lesson. By. 15. 6.1 Tools & Setup: All right, welcome to module six, lesson one, in which we identify the essential tools for glass cutting. First things first, you need a glass cut, as we started to discuss in the previous lesson. If you look them up online, you will come across a few different types. There are self flabricating one and non self flabricating cutters. For beginners, I would definitely opt for a self flabricating one. Meaning the cutter is self filing when pressure applied. It's more comfortable and quicker as you don't need to dip the cutter head into oil all the time while cutting. This means that you also need cutter oil. The oil is specifically developed for cutters. Don't try to fill them up with other kind of oils. Okay. To prevent leaking, use only a few drops of oil in your cutter before each use. Okay? Grip styles is an important consideration when selecting a glass cutter, as different grip styles provide different levels of comfort and control. The most widely known ones are pencil grip, pistol grip, and saddle grip cutter. My personal favorite is the pistol grip one. It provides great leverage allowing you to score glass with less hand fatigue if your hands are not strong. This type of cuter makes it easier for you to apply consistent pressure. You will also find pencil cutters in almost any stain glass shop. It's a great tool itself for starting the score because of its shaping. When purchasing glass cutter, I wouldn't spare on a good quality one. So that you can get the best results possible. Look for ones with Carbide steel Wheel because they outlast conventional steel wheel. I like the brand, Tojo or Toyo. They make great quality cutters. You will also need a breaking player, which will act as your second hand. A cutting square for straight cuts. Okay about safety and set up. You must wear eye protection and gloves and also wear closed toe shoes and long pants when cutting. Remember to keep first aid kit nearby, but if you're being careful and following the good practices, you won't get any scratches. You need a sturdy table as well, because we cut glass while standing up. Make sure you don't have to hunch down too much, Have good lighting while working multiple sources if needed. What work surface do you need? Ideally, the work surface is completely flat and semi soft. You can work on a fiberboard or table of cardboard on it or thin carpet val grid, specifically designed for cutting, allowing little glass shards falling into the holes. The point is to make sure the sheet won't slide around and the surface can absorb part of the applied pressure. All right. That was it. See you in the next lesson. Bye. 16. 6.2 Free handed cuts: All right, welcome to module six, lesson two, in which lesson we go through the cutting technique. Get your glass with the transferred practice patterns, both number one and number two, and all of your tools as well. Let's start with three handed cuts. All kind of cuts based on a three step method. Namely, making a score line, tapping the glass and separating. I show how it looks like in action first and then we break it down step by step. The first step is making the score line. Get your choice of glass cutter filled up with cutter oil. I'm going to use my pistol grip cutter, but I will show the pencil grip holding as well. Hold the cutter vertically to the glass. Start about a tiny in from the edge and push the cutter away from you so that you can see the line ahead of you all times. Don't tet left to right, just keep it straight and maintain steady pressure as you score. What I find the most helpful is to keep your other hand stump behind the cutter head for support. It helps tremendously to stay in line as precise as possible. Use your body weight and don't apply too much tension on your fingers and wrist. Use an even amount of pressure along the whole score from one edge to another. You can stop in the meanwhile, but don't lift up the wheel. Just continue with your score. If you hear the distinctive zipper sound, it means you're doing it right. This score should look like a piece of hair on the glass going from one edge to another if it looks like salt or you might even crack the glass you've pressed too hard. If you have texture glass, always cut on the smoother side. When using a pencil grip glass cutter, place your middle and index fingers on the front, similar to holding a pen. Your finger should be positioned just above the cutting wheel. For more control, you can place your free hand there as well. Same as with the pistol grip cutter. Okay, Step two is tapping now with the cutters metal knob. Carefully tap along the length of the score line from underneath like this. If it's transparent glass, you can actually see the split inside of the glass like a shiny rupture. You can also listen to the tone of the tapping, then the score is ready to break. The sound of the tapping becomes blunter. You will get used to hearing it after a while. The last step is separating the glass. It can happen that the glass already divided just by tapping. Don't be surprised, it's completely normal. If not, we need to separate it by hand or breaking pliers. Just be careful that never hold up your glass too high because the glass can break as falling down on the workstation or on the floor. The thumb brick is the simplest method to break the glass along the score line. Place your thumbs on top, parallel to the line, and your fist under for support. We are using fist strength and a pulling apart motion like this. The thumb brick works best for the straight cuts. You can also use a tool called running players, which are not essential, but these players are great for breaking long relatively straight cuts. However, not the best for challenging curves. That's why I wouldn't say it's a must have tool, because you're able to use your hands for every type of cuts. But if you're going to work a lot in the future, running players can be easy on your hands. Keep your workstation completely clean. By sweeping the shards of every couple of cuts. The glass charts can cause your glass sheets to scratch or even break due to the pressure points they create. When you reach the curvy lines on your practice piece, the most important is to follow the line with your whole body, not just with your hands. This enables you to apply steady pressure. You can break along the same way. Just pay attention tapping gently on the back of the glass, directly under every curve. My protip is to break the smaller piece With your stronger hand. Don't be afraid to turn around the sheet. For this reason, practice as many free handed cuts as you need. And you can draw on more lines. Build up your skills and confidence before jumping to your final project. All right, see you in the next lesson by. 17. 6.3 Special cuts: All right, welcome to module six, lesson three. We went through the basic cutting technique in the previous lesson. Now we are going to use it in every other scenario that can occur within the cuttings. If you want perfectly straight lines, you need to use a straight edge. I like to use a cutting square for this purpose. It's a lightweight, strong plastic and comes in a few sizes. The raised leap here allows you to locate the edge of the glass easily for the right angled cut. We always score a way when free handed. However, score towards ourselves. When using straight edge, push your cutter continuously into the edge of the cutting square by scoring towards yourself the perfect straight cut. Let's move on to the shapes and get practice pattern number two. The thing is we can't start cutting in the middle of the sheet. We have to set the shapes free. I'm going to start with the square shape and use the cutting square. I drew an example cutting order on the glass. I score here first and break second score. Break all around every side. In action, it looks like this. Good job on your first shape. The best way to cut a circle, in my opinion, is the following method. Cut a square shape around the circle and then score along each quarter line of the circle the breaking player via handy. Now they are like having an extra pair of hand and functioning as both for running the score and for removing smaller glass pieces from wherever your hands cannot do the job. Always hold the players with the flat side of the joes on tap around the brake. You sometimes hear the ticking sound as well. And then gently pull down and apart. Just a note, there is a tool called circle cutter, but I think circles are great shapes to practice your cutting and grinding skills in the beginning stage. Okay, great job. The last tricky type is the concave or inside lines. Most of the time you can't break concave lines using one single cut. That's why it's called an impassable cut. We have to cut away little by little. Working up to the final line, we're removing smaller pieces one at a time. And using breaking players to make the break. And remove the axis glass with gentle wiggling motion. These are the hardest cuts to make. Don't worry. You will inevitably shutter a few pieces and still am I. By practicing lots of shapes and lines, you will get a better understanding what cuts are possible and impossible to do. Practice as many as you need and then cut out your chosen pattern. See you in the next module. By. 18. Module 7: It’s grinding time: Vac to module seven of stained glass success. Now you have all your pieces cut out. You can see that the pieces aren't flawless. Still have some irregular and excess glass on them and not fit exactly to the gin pattern. The aim of grinding is to perfect each piece of glass to be a pile to the original pattern. If the piece isn't pre, won't fit well, grinding can be the time consuming part. That's why cutting precision is significant because you need to take away any access and irregular bumps. Take your time with this step. It's all about slow movements and patience. All right? The theory is pretty short and simple with this one. Let's move right into the next lesson. See you there. 19. 7.1 Tools & Setup: Welcome to module seven, lesson one, but do you need four grinding? The answer is a beautiful grinder. The grinder is basically a t sender specifically made for sending glass. It's usually the most expensive item among all the tools you need for stained glass. But even the most basic grinders are le, I have mine about four, five years now and it's running without any malfunction. All of them work on the same principle. The rotating diamond Rio bit grinds the glass while water functioning as cooler and dust minimizer. You heard it right, we have to grind glass. T you will also need a sponge touching the grinder bit as it spins it might be built in or place a snip of sponge next to the bit yourself. But please always follow the machines instruction manual for further guidance. Make sure that the grinder bit is free to spin and function properly and that the water tank is full. There are different size and glandular grinder bits. Besides the normal one, I also have a small quarter in size bit. It's helpful with very sharp curves and tiny glass pieces. The grid can be fine, regular, and course. Normally, you will use the regular grid for mirror, iridescent glass or thin glass. It's better to use the fine grid. You will almost never need the course grid though it's eating away the glass too aggressively. You can also buy additional grinder shield if your grinder doesn't have one to protect you from the mass. Grinding can be pretty massive. It's great to have a dedicated spot. I have a tool suggestion, which is not essential, but I like to use a grinding mate like this one. It's giving better control if you don't have strong fingers or if you have long nails. It's very useful about safety equipment. I'm going to repeat my stuff here again and again, but eye protection is a must use. Water proof safety gloves or rubber finger protectors. Dust mask is favorable to protect you from the emerging dust. If you have a bigger project in the future, it will take more time to grind. Noise canceling ear buds can be useful as well. That was all the tools you need for grinding. See you in the next lesson. By. 20. 7.2 Grinding: Welcome to module seven, lesson two. All right. I'm going to demonstrate the grinding with the cut practice shapes. Get your grinder ready, switch it on, and put on all necessary safety equipment. I like to place laminating plastic paper on the top of the guide copy to prevent it from getting sold. As we will use the guide copy to check the grinding, let's start with the square. Although all sides are pretty straight, I want you to grind all four of them. Anyways, grinding not only functioning as perfecting the shapes, but to prepare them for foiling as well. Check the edge of your glass. You can see how shiny it is now by smoothing it, creating a mat surface to which the foil can stick. You can either use your hands or the grinding made option one is to lay the glass piece on the grinder as holding it with both hands. Apply moderate pressure and push the piece to the grinder bit. If you push too hard, the bit take away too much glass. If you're not applying enough pressure, the glass can slip from your hand. Check the shape accuracy with the guide. Copy and perfect your shape. Use paper towels or a cloth if needed to wipe down the excess water from the piece. Great job. Let's move on to option two. Get the circle this time and place it inside the grinders made. Jaws don't hold it too tight because you can crack the piece. The technique is the same with the grinder made as well. You just holding the piece a little higher, grind exactly until the marker line is gone or to the edge of the paper template. If you use the gluing method, use slow movements. You want the edges to be smooth, dull, and uniform. It's always better to undergrind than over grind, because you can always take off more glass, but you can't put the glass back. So you might have to recut the pieces, grind all the practice shapes. And then when you're ready, start your project as well. The best way to start the project is from one spot and fit every other piece next to it. For example, bottom to top or top to bottom. You also need a way to keep the pieces in place and not moving around. You can use pins, tacks, or nails to secure the pieces, or four square shaped projects. You can use wooden frames or straight edge. I forget my pins on the footage, but make sure you have your project locked down. It will give better results. Constantly check for good fit. As you can see, I go back and forth all the time. If you have some gaps, it's completely normal. You will get better and better with practice. Although if you have gaps bigger than a quarter inch, I recommend to recut the problem pieces. Once the fit is perfect, let pieces dry completely. If your number is washed away, you can rewrite them with marker. All right, that module seven. See you in the next one by. 21. Module 8: The foiling fun: All right, welcome to module eight of stainless success, where we are going to build the so called skeleton of the project. However, copper foil is hidden to the eyes. It's the backbone of the finished stainless space. The name of the method, what is copper foyan method, reflects the importance of this step. Louis Tiffany is credited with its development at the end of the 18th century. Foil and color play an important role in the Finnish. Look, what are we talking about here? Glass and solder doesn't stick together on its own. We need something what bonds them? That's going to be the copper foil. You will wrap your pieces of glass via this thing, narrow strips of adhesive backed copper foil, which provides a surface to which solder can adhere. Once wrapped solder is applied, keeping the glass pieces together. Just a note, soldering will be the next step after foiling. We will discuss that in the next module in detail. The good thing is, once you get the groove of foiling, you can do it pretty automatically. For example, I like to watch my favorite shows, Why foiling? It's a fun and relaxing step at the same time. Two important things I want you to be aware of before jumping right into foiling. Firstly, after grinding and cleaning, the glass pieces can be still wet or having glue and glass dust residue. Make sure you start with completely clean and dry pieces unless the foil won't stick well to the glass. Secondly, schedule your foil and sold time within a few days so that the copper doesn't have time to oxidize, which can make the soldering more difficult. It's especially important with bigger and more complex species which could take more time to foil. All right, that was the lesson. See you back in the next one by. 22. 8.1 Tools & Setup: Welcome to module eight, less than one. Let's look on what essentials are needed for foiling. You need just a couple of tools in order to foil your pieces. You may have some in your home already. You will first need a flat work surface. It can be anything until it's comfortable and you can fit the individual pieces on it. Also, grab a pair of sharp scissors. I like to use a smaller scissor like this as it feels more handy. You will need a hobby cutting knife like this one as well. Okay, now on to the more specific products. The real star of the show is copper foil. As I mentioned in the previous lesson, copper foil is a thin layer of copper backed bead. And adhesive copper foil comes in these little roles and variety of widths. The reason for different widths is that you might want different thickness in your soldering lines for aesthetic reasons or glass thickness can also vary. But I would say most of the time you will use three millimeter thick art glass. I listed the most common foia sizes here. Might seems like small differences, right? But thin foiling creates lighter, more elegant look, while thicker lines visually more robust. But gives bader holding to the finished piece. I recommend using 7302 foil for practice now. And starting out, copper foil comes in three backing colors, silver, copper, and black. Why is that? When you're using transparent or cathedral glass, for example, this backing color will show through the edges of the bonded glass. With non transparent glass, it's not an issue. You can use any backing color of your choice. Choose the foil based on the color of your future soldering seams. Choose copper backed foil. If you're using copper patina, choose silver backed foil. If you are leaving your solder silver over four mirrors and choose black backed foil, if you are using black patina, no worries. It will all coming together in the later lessons. When we reach the finishing modules, I also like to mix and mess sometimes, or you might find yourself lacking one backing more than the address. Feel free to find your style and play with it. You will also need something to smooth down your foiled pieces, secure every edge and corner. You can purchase a plastic or wood stick called burnisher or feed. To be honest, I use a simple Sharpie like this for this step. It works just as good with foiling. We won't get covered in any dust no more. But I prefer using disposable or latex gloves. It will prevent the natural oils from your hands to transfer to the glass and foil. It's weakening the ahesion. You can practice with clean hands at first, it's easier to fill the right technique, just try to avoid touching the edge of the glass and the adhesive side of the foil as much as possible. Great, now we have everything for foiling. See you in the next lesson. By 23. 8.2 Foiling: Back up to module eight, lesson two. I show you an up close look. In this lesson, you might also find magnifying or reading glasses quite full during the process. Make sure you have good lighting and have oiler tools by your side. Okay, grab your role. If it's brand new, remove the protective strip. Pull a few inches length of oil, it makes easier to work with it. Firstly, gently peel back your copper tape to expose the adhesive and grab one of your glass pieces. This is a piece from the project, as I wanted to show you the importance of starting location. But for practicing, you can start with the shapes you already cut and grinded. Don't start the foil on any edge that will form the outside edge of the entire finished stainless project. Other than that, it doesn't matter where you start. Now, press the foil onto the middle of the glass edge, making sure it's super centered. The overhang is even on both sides. I like to use my index finger to press along and guide the piece. Stay as centered as you can. And watch out for irregular glass and textures, You might need to adjust the course of the foil to compensate. Don't foil the edges of the foil over onto the top and bottom faces of the glass. Just yet only wrap the foil around the glass edge. If you notice going off center, I recommend radiar res sticking or completely pulling off the tape and starting over because you cannot fix this later. When you go all the way around, overlap about three, five millimeter and cut the foil. You can also tear the foil by hand, but I think cutting creates a more even result. Pay particular attention at the overlap to make sure the two ends of the foil are perfectly lined up. Okay, Now press the tape down around the entire piece using your fingers. The upper tape should sit flat on both sides of your piece and work your foil up slowly in challenging curves to avoid foil splitting. Right now you will notice that the foil piece has some wrinkles. That's when the burnisher of your choice comes in handy. I use my Sharpie to burnish the foil, firmly rub all around the outside edges of the piece first, then the front side, and then the backside. If you have a corner, simply tack one layer beneath the other. I want you to look through the finished piece for any issues and mistakes. There is no such thing as perfection of course, but by being patient and precise, it's greatly impact your stainless projects look and longevity. For this reason, I collected the three common foiling issues. What to do if some of these scenarios happen to you? First case, your foil is still not sticking. My Protip is that don't keep your rolls under 20 degrees. In my experience, it affects the foils flexibility and stickiness. Let the foyer sit in room temperature for a few hours before using it. Double check. If your glass piece is completely clean, you might still have residue from grinding oil from the glass cutter or your hands. What you can do is give a quick wash again or wipe the edges with rubbing alcohol. It will usually solve the sticking problem. At the same time, check whether you have nice and even piece edges. After the grinding, the foil will not stick well to the ungrinded edges. Simply go back and give your problematic piece a little touch up on the grinder if needed. When nothing happens, it can happen sometimes, that you purchased old or tarnished copper foil. In this case, the only solution is to throw it out. Sadly, when the adhesive dried out or the foil exposed to too much humidity, you cannot reverse the process. Make sure to always store your foil rolls in airtight plastic bags at home. As I reach the texture glass, you can see that the width of the foil is too thin. I had to switch to a wider size protein. It's a good idea to keep not just one size copper foil at home all times. Second case the foil is splitting, it would look something like this. This usually happens on inside curves. You won't be able to solder across the exposed glass. In this case, you are going to use a small piece of copper foil and tap a patch over it. Then use the hobby knife to cut off the axis, just like this third case is uneven or overlapping tape. Similarly to the previous case, you're going to use the hobby knife to perfect any misplaced or uneven appearance. Use the knife to cut off the excess for better match. If you need to make to match correction, it might be better to pull off the tape and start over. But for minor corrections, the knife method works perfectly. Now, nothing left. Just repeat this process for all of your pieces until they are all covered in shiny and smooth copper foil. Once all your pieces are foiled, you are going to place them back into your pattern and make sure they fit nicely together. All right, you did a great job. See you in the next lesson. By 24. Module 9: Smooth soldering: All right, welcome to module nine of Stainless Success Smooth Soldering. You might saw one of your relatives or friends doing soldering in the past. I remember my dad doing it and it was simply mind blowing to me how he was able to control the liquid metal. It's a very special skill that we're going to learn in this module. Basically become metal beds, it's pretty bad. In my opinion. Soldering means that sold a type of soft metal applied to the copper foil matrix to hold your project together. Without soldering, the project would be just pieces of glass next to each other. Remember that solder cannot bond with glass. That's why we strive for neat and precise foiling in the previous module. It's not the copper foil adhesive, but keeps the project together because the adhesive loses its stickiness upon being heated. It is the sold what binds together everything. At the end, there's going to be heat, fumes and liquid metal. We want to be cool, calm, and collected. We would want to keep the safety precautions and have a good set up to ensure trouble free and successful creation. Soldering is something you cannot rush. Be super patient with it and be yourself as well. All right, let's mess some solder. See you in the next lesson. 25. 9.1 Tools: Welcome to module nine, lesson one. Let's look on what essentials are needed for soldering. Starting with the most important one, solder. Solder is a metal blend which is 60% thin and 40% lead. It usually comes in spools or sticks like this. I want you to pay attention not to use any old spool you found in the garage because you must know the exact composition and purpose of the solder. For most artworks stick to the 60 40 bland because it stays in the liquid stage longer, giving you more time to produce smooth soldering sams. There is 50 50 solder as well, which is better suited for decorative soldering. We're not going to use it in this course. You can come across lead free solder, which is a bit more difficult to work with as you need higher temperature to melt it. But it must use for works that will have direct skin contact, such as jewelry. Okay, the other important tool you will need for soldering is soldering iron. Basically, it's a device that provides heat that met the solder. You can find a few types and brands online and offline, but I would like to emphasize the importance of quality. This could really make or break your project. My top two recommended ones are the Lar 100 and the Haku Epic Soldering Iron. I will use the Lar one for demonstration. It's ideal for beginners and professionals as well. It has a built in temperature controller and quickly reaches and maintains the proper temperature. Every soldering iron has exchangeable tip. This is the tip here. There are a few sizes you can find for basic soldering. The three pair 8 " 700 degree tip will be perfect for finer, smaller project. A smaller tip would be more beneficial with the weller one. If you want to reach higher or lower temperatures, you should change the tip accordingly. With the heck one, you can have full heat control. It's easily adjustable for any projects, you will find them both in the tools and materials guide. A soldering iron stand is also needed, which usually have a spot that holds the tip cleaner, which can be a sponge soaked in water or breast wool. Nevertheless, please always follow the manufacturer's instructions about how to clean the iron tip correctly. Next, you will need flux. And brush flux is an acid that cleans the copper foil of oxidation and impurities. It's helping the copper foil and the solder stick together, allows the solder to flow smoothly. Flux comes in liquid paste or gel form. And I recently discovered oil, which I really love, but I believe the liquid is the most commonly used. It easily spreads on the project and cleans up quickly. You will want to use an old brush. Will do the job, or Q tips to apply the flux. The final thing on our list is the work surface. You will need something that big enough to fit your project. Don't catches on fire easily, although not completely heat resistant. A sturdy wood board can work, and you might already have one at home. If you want to protect the work surface from hot soldering tip and the solder splashes. There is a specific soldering mat you can order. I found that a silicon sheet like this can work for this purpose as well. Okay, this was less than one. See you in the next one, Bye. 26. 9.2 Safety & Setup: Welcome to module nine, lesson two. I wanted to create a separate safety and set up lesson for you because here is where you need to be the most careful. But I don't want to scare you away. I never had any issues or accidents. As I always kept the following good practices. You're going to work with intense heat, liquid flux, and molten solder. And I want to make sure you are as safe and comfortable as possible. Generally speaking, never eat, drink, or smoke in the room you working, especially when soldering, any flux is toxic. Keep it safely, stored away from kids and pets. First things first, either you are going to work standing up or sitting down. Always wear close shoes, long pants, and even long sleeve shirts. Not like this. Eye protection is a must as usual. As we discussed before, solder contains lead, which is a toxic metal. The main goal is to avoid direct contact with it, especially with injured skin wear gloves at times when soldering and touching the solder. I like to use a sturdier glove for protection as hot solder and flux flushes and the aesthetic flux hurt. If it's get into your skin, you can find lid removal, soap and lid of wipes. Use them every time you finished working with solder and scribe yourself very well. Next thing is finding a good working spot. Flux, create fumes during soldering. And the goal is to avoid inhaling them and create a well ventilated space. You can work outside or buy an open window and a fan. You can use a smoke absorber as well or the next level solution is a hood and house system. It's used in professional studios. Do the best ventilation you can. I strongly recommend a reusable respirator mask which helps protect against the fumes and dust particles. I check my lead levels every year to make sure I have low levels and everything is healthy and fine. Your health care provider may order this test if you have known exposure to heavy metals. I link an informative page for more info, but please consult your doctor. This is not a professional advice by any means. All right, that was it. See you in the next lesson. 27. 9.3 Soldering: Baccome to module nine, lesson three. Prepare everything before starting and put on the personal protection equipment as intended. I'm switching on the smoke absorber and plug in the soldering iron so it can heat up. Until we discuss the technique and do the flexing, we have to secure the project in the initial step of the. So you can use pins or a thin wood piece snail down for straight projects. Take into consideration your work surface is material, it might be too hard to push a pin in it. I did the taping method, namely, tape each piece together from the back side of the project. First things first, flexing, I like to pour a bit of flax into a bottom heavy container. The amount of time I spilled out whole bottles of flax is insane. It's always a good idea to only use the amount you need at the moment. Use the brush and apply a small amount of flux to the copper foil on the front face. If the project is small, I prefer to cover the entire project. If it's a larger one, I will flux as I go, only adding flux to the area that I will be soldering first so it doesn't dry up. If the acidic flux remains on the upper for a longer period of time, it will cause corrosion that will limit the flow of the solder. Don't use too much either because it will make the solder splatter and bubble. It takes a bit of practice to find just the right amount. Take your soldering iron in your dominant hand. Be careful to only hold the plastic grip. All metal parts are extremely hot and will remain so for a while after turning it off. Always place the iron in the stand when not holding it. And so seven 9 " of solder from the pool or grab your sticks and hold it in your non dominant hand. Your soldering iron is hot enough when the solder melts quickly and easily, but you don't want the iron to smoke or the solder to get so hot that won't stay in a bead. The good temperature is around 700 degrees. Start with the practice patterns and I'm going to demonstrate everything with the final project. I like to start with tax soldering, meaning that I apply small depths of solder to the intersections and the pieces on the edge to attach each one of it in the right position before running the full solder bead. After taking everything together, you can remove the tapes or pins. They not in your way anymore, but you can keep them on the outside parts if you feel it's giving more stability. If you notice that the iron tip is getting dirtier, use your wet sponge or breast wool for cleaning, which ensures that the iron maintains consistent temperature. Always keep your tip clean and shiny as if coated with a thin layer of fresh solder. Do the cleaning every time you see the accumulation of burnt particles. Now we are going to solder the front first by creating clean continuous solder line, which called running the bead hold the iron at about a 45 degree angle to the glass. We melt the solder on the flat side of the iron. The larger surface area on the tip of your iron mess the solder the fastest. Start at the edge and touch the solder to your iron and pull them along at slow and steady pace. Draw the iron along the copper foil line like this. You want to be feeding the solder to the iron so the iron can melt it. As you move it, you can notice a small pool in front of the tip. That means you are keeping the right pace. Solder will flow along the copper foil, not out over the glass. Don't worry, it's okay if the iron accidentally touches the glass. Aesthetically, we would like to achieve raised beads with rounded top, almost like a nice half bubble. Don't pick up the iron all the time as you go, The solder won't melt evenly with the temperature changes. But watch out not to keep contact for extended amounts of time either because the solder will melt through the gaps of your pieces too much. You can correct this later, but simply causing more work. Having reached an intersection, choose any direction and continue in the same way for a few more inches. Now return to the intersection and pull the solder bead out in a new direction as long as the solder is in liquid form and still t you can create smooth connections without getting lampy solder seams. What to do if the solder line is lumpy flat or just still have a funky spot? The most important is to wait a few minutes for the area to cool down. If you would go back right away, you're risking a possible heat crack better to be patient. And you can solder other areas until the problematic area. Turning cooler when the whole line is affected, go over the beat again and feed more solder to fix smaller imperfections. Touch the soldering iron to the spot and melt into the line until the solder evens out. Remove the iron from the solder by sweeping gently sideways. Don't forget to add a bit of flux. If you feel your solder is not behaving properly, we will solder the edges at the end. It's okay if the perimeter not perfect just yet. One common issue I see is that you still have some bigger gaps which you can't fill with solder easily. My favorite trick is to add bits of coil solder, placing them in the gap, and then soldering over them. Watch out for overheating though. Now let the piece cool down. Let's run a bit on the back side of the project. Never touch it with bare hands. It can be steel hat. Carefully flip it to the other side. Why support the whole piece? We want to repeat the whole process on the back side, just the way we did it on the front. Probably you will need less flux and less solder because a bit already leaked through the gaps from the front side. If Tom solder pulls in one line or intersection, simply melt it off and draw it further without feeding more solder. Or roll it off the edge. Check on each side if you need to do more fixing and let your piece cool down again. We finishing off with adding wire loops and add soldering. We want to be very sneaky with the wire loops. They need to be strong but not pull off. The more sensitive and thinner edge foiling, we will use pre thin copper wire soldered into the interior solder seams. And not just a simple jumping cut, about three, four inch piece of wire for the loop. Choose two symmetric solder lines where you can hang your project. You want to take away a bit of solder from those lines, from both faces, about half an inch. Now I recommend using players for handling the wire because it will heat up quickly, flex both the line and wire, and run a bad of solder over the wire. Like this. The wire should become hidden within the solder bead. Wait for the solder to cool and harden before releasing the pliers. Turn the project over. Take a pencil, hold it against the edge of the project, and bend the wire towards the tab to form the loop. Trim any excess wire with the wire cuttle and align the wire with the unsoldered part of the seam. Press down the remaining wire part with Pers solder and allow it to cool. The edges are especially sensitive. We need to strengthen and protect them. Edge soldering is a finishing method that's good for any project with a complex silhouette like a sun catcher. That's why I'm presenting this one. It's also the finishing method which requires extra tools and supplies. It's very beginner friendly. What we are going to do here is essentially beating the edge to first, I'd like to apply a thin coat of solder all the way around. Then we need to master the art of gravity and heat. The edges will heat up quickly because there is not much surface area. Pick up just a bit of solder, you have enough but it's not dripping down the patients. We are going to apply short depths of solder along the edge, with each depth melting smoothly into the previous one. If you try to grab too much solder, it won't cling to your iron and will pull on your work surface. If you don't grab enough, you will have nothing to met on your piece. Build up the biding little by little, all the way around, and always keep your piece leveled. Don't panic. Solder drips down to the finished surfaces of your project. Solder doesn't stick to glass, you can easily scrape them off with the drips cool down. Remember, protective globes will be especially necessary now, we don't want the melted solder on our hands. After soldering the edges, you may find uneven spots between the edge bead and the ends of the solder lines on the faces. Retouch these areas by B, the iron to melt the solder together, strive for beautiful and smooth soldering beads everywhere. There is no right or wrong way of soldering. As long as you have smooth and even soldering seams, I'm sure you will come up with your own most efficient ways as you learn and grow. The amazing thing about solder is that you can always go back and make fixes once it's cooled down. Probably your project just as messy as mine. The next finishing module will bring everything together. See you soon by. 28. Module 10: Clean & patina & polish: All right, welcome to module ten. The final metamorphosis happens in this module. The project will become all shiny and beautiful because right now it's probably a little bit of a mess. The important thing is that we need to protect our piece from oxidation and external factors. If we would only clean and pad right, the solder lines very soon become hazy and coated with white film. That is the oxidation. I want to show the insane difference between a untreated piece and a treated one. You see the white coat all over the soldering lines, no sparkle at all. We will implement a few step process to ensure our piece can be a lasting beauty. After proper cleaning, you have the option to add color to the solder lines naturally. The color of solder is metallic silver with a liquid chemical, we can create copper and black colored lines as well. When deciding what you choose, I want you to consider mainly two things. What the color scheme and what style is your project. I think to dark colored glass. The lighter lines, like silver and copper, feed better, vice versa. The lighter colored piece go well with black solder lines. Because of the contrast about stylistic choices, there is no right or wrong choice really. Generally speaking, copper gives vintage and oil school filing to the piece. Silver, more clean and industrial look, while black can offer high contrast when to clean and finish off your project. In my opinion, the perfect timing is right after soldering, the solder lines are and not oxidized too much yet, and you can finish a smaller sun catcher within maximum half an hour. You can do the cleaning and polish days later as well. But then you need to pay extra attention to remove the oxidation and spend more time on the piece. All right, this was the module over. You see you in the next lesson. 29. 10.1 Tools & Setup: Welcome to module ten, lesson one. We will go the same way as usual, I will list all the essential tools and supplies for this lesson and include the safety precautions as well. In case of tools, you will need a few things. I think you probably already have them at home. You will need paper towels, microfiber cloth or any oil drug is completely fine. Q tips and cleaning brush or oil tooth brush. You will also need some tool which is mildly abresive. You have two options here. Fine steel wool or magic eraser sponge. I will show both of them in action. Have a flat work surface and I like to put a few sheets of newspaper under the project to protect the work surface. The chemicals you will use can stain anything they touch. All right, next to supplies, there is a high chance you will need distilled water or filtered water. Water contains minerals which negatively affect the chemicals we use. You won't reach the extra sparkly final product. I strongly advise to purchase a gallon of distilled water. It's pretty inexpensive. The next supply is cleaning agent. This can be a regular dish stop or glass cleaner, but there are special flux cleaners available as well. These are ideal for large projects that won't fit in the sink and you just simply apply it on and wipe them away without rinsing. Next thing you will need if you want to have copper or black soldering applies is patina. Patina is a liquid chemical that reacts with solder to change it appearance. Not all patinas will work on solder. Check the label and the item carefully when purchasing. Patina is a nasty corrosive stuff. It can cause skin irritation. Lung irritation is bad for your health. Please always wear regular gloves, eye protection, and apply it in a well ventilated place. Keep kids and pets away while your patina container is open. And store it locked away when you not using it. You will also need polish that gives that extra sparkle to copper foil pieces, making them catch the eye and stand out a little bit more Polish, also called stained glass finishing compound, contains both a light abresive to clean and polish the surfaces and cano bo wax to coat and seal down shortly. Polish, protects and polishes your glass art. There are a few different brands and types that can work personally, I use a regular Carvox, which contains car noble box because it's hard to find stained glass finishing compound in my area and it works just as well. Polish isn't a nasty stuff but I like to use gloves to protect my skin just in case. And you will probably touch the sol door lines by polishing. So I like to keep my disposable gloves on during the whole process. Okay. This was less than one. See you in the next one. 30. 10.2 Finishing: Welcome to module ten, lesson two. You are almost there. This is the last technical lesson I would like to show you The most convenient way I figured out during the last few years to create the most sparkling results. It's a foolproof method, but there can be always such circumstances you come across that you need to alter the steps a bit. As usual, my recommendation is to test out before applying the steps on a final project. All right, I prepared a worm, tap water in a big plastic container to show you the cleaning process. But at home, use the sink. Just make sure to put down something like an anti slip mat to prevent breakage and the scratching the sink the piece. And add a generous amount of cleaning agent. As I said in the previous lesson, you can buy flux remover for this. But oil purpose cleaner works just as well. Now you want to clean as thoroughly as you can to wash off all the flux. And gang use a dedicated brush or oil tooth brush and get into all the crevices where the solder meets the glass front side and back pat dry with a paper table or dedicated rug. Now the piece may seem like it's nice and clean, but in order to reach lasting shine, we have to remove even the thought of oxidation from the soldering lines. Take the steel wool or the damp magic eraser sponge, which both of them are great for abrasion. The steel wool is a bit messy to use, but it can even pick off the applied oil patina or remove any stubborn dirt. You might see that the steel wool leaving little metal threads behind. And you have to make sure you sweep or rinse them off profoundly after you've finished. That's why I prefer using the magic eraser. It's super easy either way. Don't miss out any spots, especially the edges. Okay. The third step is rinsing with distilled water or filtered water. This is a simple but important step after rasing paddry and allow the piece to dry completely. I always prefer to use paper towels because I can make sure I don't contaminate the surfaces I've cleaned. The next step is in force if you're going to apply patina. If you want to have silver solder lines, just keep to step five. I'm going to go with copper patina today, but black patina would work just as the same. You can pour a small amount of patina into a small bowl, but never dip the applicator into the patina battle. It can ruin the entire battle. Rub the patina along all of your solder lines. As you can see it, transforming the silvery solder to a brand new hue. Continue until you have bright even color vipe excess patina with paper towel if needed. Don't leave the patino on for too long der move on to the next step right away. If you think your project looks beautiful now, just wait until you polish it up. No matter how clean your project might be, don't skip this tap as the finishing compound, or polish is the cherry on top. Most polishes are applied by spraying or smearing the stuff all over your project. Check the manufacturer's instruction for the recommended method. I use microfiber cloth and apply a thin layer of polish front back and the size. Then let it dry for at least ten to 15 minutes. You know it's dry when you can see a white film all over the piece. Now have the clean side of the clothes and start to buff. Really just get in there until you see the soldering lines and glass became shiny. Don't be afraid to apply a bit of pressure. Hold your piece up to the light to find any remaining dirty spots. I like to be precise, you can still see some residue in the corners. And texture glass can be especially tricky to polish properly. You can go in with a Q tip and clean up every corner. All right, that was the last step. Now you can attach your choice of hanging. It can be a chain leader or ribbon. You're done. Congratulations. Enjoy your beautiful piece and hang it in a sunny spot to get the full effect by.