Leadlight basics

[ozwinner]

Welcome back viewer.

Leadlight isnt all that hard to do, if I can do it, so can you..

Tools needed.
Glass, of course, it comes in a wide range of styles and colours.
Lead came, this holds the glass together.
A pattern, from a book or make a design of your own.
A good electric soldering iron, around 80 watts.
Silver Solder, usually in stick form, try to get 60/40 ish solder.
Horse shoe nails, available from your leadlight supplier
Glass cutter, I paid about $30 for mine about 10 years ago and it has an oil reservoir to aid cutting, the better the cutter the easier it will cut.
Glass pencil, no its not made of glass.
Glass cutters pliers.
Lead knife.
Soldering flux.
Putty.
Linseed oil.
Plaster of Paris.
Black oxide.

A good glass cutter is one of the main things to look out for, it is an invaluable tool, so getting a good one is vital to good (easy) leadlight.

You have to work out the size and design of you leadlight so as to suit the project in hand.

Leadlight books are good because they have patterns and give you an idea as to glass colour too.

Set you pattern onto a flat surface with drawing pins (chipboard is good) that can be nailed into.

The pattern needs to be set into a frame the same size as your finished project will be, dont forget to allow for a border of lead came.

I was told to stretch the lead came prior to use.

Lay the lead came on the outside edge of the pattern, this will be the border of the leadlight.
Keep the came in place with the horse shoe nails, nail then in with the flat side to the came, the tapered side will wedge the came tight to the frame.
Horse nails are always nailed in so the flat side is against the work and the taper tightens it all up when driven in.

Start your glass cutting in a corner of the project.
Lay your piece of glass over the pattern and draw the outline of the shape with the glass pencil.

Cut the glass with the cutter.
You probably will have to practice cutting on some scrap first.
The cut should be one clean action, this will aid in a clean snap along the cut line.

There is an electric shaper available that can be of use if you are cutting intricate shapes that are hard to archive with a glass cutter alone, it uses a diamond cutter bit and water. (I havent got one but can see the potential for one)

Lay the cut glass on the pattern and slip it into the came over the same pattern as it was cut from, cut some more came and slip this over the newly cut glass making sure it is pushed all the way onto the glass. (a thin stick will aid in this).

The pattern is repeated as before until it is all done.

I dont have any pics of WIP as I havent done it for a while, but I will post some pics of my projects.

Al

[Jim Carroll]

A Kristal grinder is also an invaluable tool for grinding those bits that did not cut on the lines and also for cleaning up those rough/ sharp edges.

[ozwinner]

I was getting there Jim

Al

[Jim Carroll]

Sorry, Please proceed with the lesson.

[ozwinner]

When you have completed the leadlight its time to solder it up.

Make sure your soldering iron gets hot enough before you start to solder.
Brush some soldering flux on all the joints, available from plumbing suppliers.
Place the iron against the came joints.

The solder should flow when the came gets hot enough, not when you put the solder against the iron.

When all the joints on one side have been soldered carefully turn the work over and solder the other side.

When everything is soldered up its time to putty the work.
Mix some putty with some linseed oil to thin it slightly.
Get a stiff brush and liberally smear all the work with the thinned putty making sure you force it into all the joints.

Once you have puttied one side, carefully turn the work over and do the same to the other side.

Let the work sit for a day or two.
Dont worry about the putty smears, this will be take care of soon.

When the putty has gone off a little, get a mixture of plaster of Paris and brickies black oxide, about 50/50.
The mixture is scrubbed vigorously onto the glass with a stiff nylon brush.

This mixture will be forced into the joints making the putty joints go off, it will also polish the glass and make the came look aged as it blackens it.

Easy.

Al

[Lignum]

These tutorials are best with photos to show us how you actualy do it. Got any?

[ozwinner]

These tutorials are best with photos to show us how you actualy do it. Got any?

I havent, but I could fake some.

Ill see what I can do.

Al

[ozwinner]

As promised here are some pics that will help in explaining it all.

1&2.. Is a pic of a piece of melamine that the leadlight will be built on, its better on a separate board as it can be put away when not being worked on.
It also shows the pattern drawn on a piece of paper.

3. Shows laying out the border came and a few tools.

Al

[ozwinner]

More..

1. Is a progress shot showing putting the glass into the came and using the horse shoe nails to keep all tight.

2. More progress.

3. Same again.

It took me about an hour to get this far, keep the designs simple to start with.

I drew blood on the first tiny green square too, something Ive never done with leadlight before.


Al

[joe greiner]

Much clearer how the nails are used and re-positioned. Thanks, Al.

Joe

[ozwinner]

Well here it is, a quick and bodgy leadlight just for illustration purposes.

I spent another half hour this arvo to complete it (I had to go to our soon to be closed shop to get more clear glass ), so all up about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete.

I still have to solder it and finish it off, but I have no solder flux as I havent done leadlight for over 15 years.

One thing I remembered when doing this small A4 sized project is, all glass has a good and bad side, the good side is the smoother side and is far easier to cut.

Also, all glass is not equal, the small green squares in the corner were an absolute pain to cut as the glass seemed hardened.

Owwh yeah, dont even try to cut hardened glass as you will be wasting your time, unless of course you use an angle grinder with a diamond wheel..

The long thin piece of glass (3mm) in the pic is what you should be able to cut with a good glass cutter, so it pays to get a good one.

Leadlight is real easy to do, I learnt it by just watching a leadlighter for an hour or so.

Hey if I can do it so can you.

Al

[ozwinner]

I think I need a new soldering iron!!!

Here is how not to solder the joints.
The soldering iron is an 80 watter but hasnt been used for ages and it didnt get the joints hot enough for a good solder flow.
The solder just sits there all cold and lonely.

I kept the soldering iron on the joint in the close up pic for over 5 minutes and the solder just wouldnt flow.

I blamed the new brand of flux I bought (not the one in the picture), so I went and bought a different brand, all to no avail.

Al

[savage]

Thanks Al, a very informative thread, I will copy it and save it in my file for future use as I have a few projects that will need leadlighting and this will significantly reduce the cost. A greenie to you for your time and effort in sharing this knowledge with us.

[savage]

It says that I must give others some greenies before I can give to you again, rest assured I will give you one when I can, again thanks for the information.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

You didn't have it stored next to your glue, Al?

But yeah, sounds like the soldering iron is due for retirement.