Working with Glass

Some of you have asked for more pictures of my stained glass projects so I'll go into a little more detail.

After accidentally breaking the kitchen cabinet glass and learning to make stain glass panels, I explored the movement of glass and even though the substance itself is not yielding, there is a way to make it move – hinges.  I soldered hinges to two separate pieces of stained glass, attached a weight (more stained glass) with fishing line, and added 4 hooks to the top of the wings in order to attach them to a small board. I made 4 flying pieces, but this is the only one that survived. (Warning: the fishing line must be of substantial strength to hold the heavy glass otherwise you have a big mess on the floor, and you’d think I’d learn after one episode, but no. It took 3 before I believed.) Now, I feel confident in pulling the weight and watching the wings take flight.

In doing all that stained glass work, I had small pieces of glass that I was unable to use with came (the lead between the glass). So….I started making glass mosaics in order not to waste those little tidbits.

First: I made a backsplash for the stove, using mirrors as well as glass. The base is plywood, the glue is Elmer’s and the grout is white. I did have to plan where the studs were, drill holes in the plywood first and glue steel washers over the holes so I could use screws later for securing the backsplash.

 

Then I tackled the back door, since I was redoing the laundry room. I used a lot of those little glass tidbits on it. Again, the base is plywood, the glue is Elmer’s and the grout is white. I framed the plywood before starting the mosaic and planned for the studs as well, using the washers.

 

Next, I decided to explore glass on glass. The base is a thick piece of glass used for shelving, the glue is Elmer’s, and the grout is sand-colored. I framed the pieces before I grouted them. So far, I’ve done 2 of these. They are 24-inch squares.

 

The next piece is a bit odd as I happened to be taking a welding class and needed a project. Since there is a goldmine of old farming equipment not too far from my backdoor, I decided to use what I could find. I also used a lot of band-aids on this project as well, since making glass round takes more effort than straight edges. ***If you can’t tell – it’s a lamp. :)

 

My next challenge is making a stained glass piece to fit this glass ball a dear friend brought back from Hawaii. Stay tuned for the finished piece, but it will be awhile as I am getting a workshop built onto my garage and it doesn’t look as if it will be finished anytime soon.