Day 3 Bonding Glass

I did get to squeeze in a little time today and got another glass piece bonded.  

 

Day 2 Bonding Glass

 Yesterday was Day 2 in bonding the color glass pieces on top of the clear bevels.  I was able to work an hour and completed 2 of the green ones.

 

I am hoping to get 1 piece bonded today.  

Interior Door Stained Glass Update

 I completed the last batch of bevels, pieced together more of the panel.  

I have cut the glass for the remaining 7 pieces that need beveling.  After those are completed then I will be able to finish assembling the panel.  

Glassy Bevels!

I was told that I needed a catchy title and this is what I came up with.   

Following are close up images of the 1st stage of the beveling which will be easier to see each bevel.  I am showing these to explain how the bevels that I create are different from anything you have seen.  Typically when you see bevels in glasswork such as in entryways, mirrors, bevel clusters that stained glass artists can purchase, etc.  each bevel is a particular width and remains that width all around the shape.  

Quite a few years ago I was taught how to hand bevel and the width had to be the same all around the shape.  In the mid 1990s I was piecing together a panel with bevels that I had created and the design was flat due to each bevel being the same width all around the shapes and each one next to each other. I wanted more movement and depth to the design so I started playing with the idea of changing the width of the bevel from one side to the other and different widths from opposite sides of the shape.  This created much more movement and depth throughout the design.  This can be seen in many of the images I have throughout this blog as well as in my web sites isaacdsmith.com and stained-glass-creations.com

This additional light play as well as increased depth and movement adds to my purpose to Nourish Your Soul Through a Symphony of Light and Colour!

 

Glass Beveling, Stage 1

 Today I started hand beveling the pieces shown in previous post.  This first stage entails getting the initial angles in the glass, grinding glass away to the width and angle desired.  

Because of grinding glass away there are tons of scratches in the glass which create the cloudy feel.  The next couple of stages will be more of a finesse in smoothing out/taking layers away to get rid of those scratches.  The second stage is smoothing followed by pre polish and finally polish.  

Stained Glass Star is Completed!

 Stained Glass of the Dallas Cowboys star is now completed:

Glass Pieces Beveled, Ready for Bonding

 While the putty is setting for a week, here are the blue pieces being cut and beveled:

Stained Glass Panel Pieced Together and Soldered

 Glass panel is coming together nicely! Top picture shows it all pieced together, 2nd image is after soldering all joints front and back, bottom two are showing the putty which fills in gaps in the came channel which will harden and traditionally was used as a sealer for the elements since these were the existing window up until a certain time period.  The last panel also shows the whiting which helps the putty to dry faster as well as absorbing oils from the putty. Have to let it set for a week before cleaning, in the meantime blue glass pieces cut in the shape of the center of each clear bevel of the star will be beveled and be ready for bonding on top once the panel is cleaned.

Piecing Together Glass Panel

 Began piecing together the glass panel: 

Beveling Shapes

First stage of beveling continues with other shapes:

The last one in the background is the 5 sided shape that is the center of the star.  

New Stained/Beveled Glass Project

 I am working on a stained glass project for a client that I have done 3 other small panels at different times over the last 8 yrs.  I typically don't do these type of designs- sports team logos- but in her case she had a very good reason and I have been happy to help her and create these for her.  This one is the most detailed of all of them and involving hand beveled and bonded glass.  Here is the progress so far:

I have cut out all the clear glass that will be hand beveled. The beveled star will end up having blue pieces beveled and bonded onto the center portion of each piece.  

In the Studio- beveling glass

I had to take a studio picture to submit when I applied for the Clark County Open Studios Tour and thought I would show it here.

This is where I bevel the inside curves of different glass shapes.  I use a flat wheel located in a different area for beveling straight edge and outside curves.