Autumn Equinox and Bonding Glass

Today is the Autumn Equinox and it was the perfect day to start bonding the beveled color glass pieces onto the clear bevels of the large glass panel I had been working on a few months ago.  I am finally at a good point with all that has been happening to start this part of the project.

 My goal is to bond 1 - 2 pieces on the days in which I work 12 hr nights and then on my days off I will do more.  I plan on installing this door panel by mid October.  This is a tedious process and will take considerable time.  The 2 red/orange color pieces took 45 minutes.  The outcome is definitely worth the effort.  

Low Light Effects on the Glass

 I was in the garage with only certain areas lit up and glanced at the glass on the table, the bevels caught my eye.  Interesting the different lighting creating different effects with the glass even while on the worktable.

Fabrication Progress- Interior Door Glass

 Here is the progress so far on the Interior Door glass panel:

I am now at a point where I need to create more beveled pieces to continue the process. This will take quite awhile to complete as there are more of them than the first set of bevels that were completed earlier.

Glassy Bevels Update

 The following are images of this current group of bevels that are beginning step 3, pre polish. 

The shape on the right with 2 written on it is at the 2nd stage, #3 on the left shows completion of pre polish step. 

Completed with pre polish step.

Glass Panel Cleaned/Bevel Pieces Bonded

Completed cleaning the panel and the blue beveled pieces bonded on top of the clear beveled sections in the star.

 After completing the above sections I applied a patina on the solder joints so that they will blend in with the came instead of remaining silver:

Different Stages of Beveling

 Clear bevels completed after 4 stages, roughing, smoothing, pre polish and polish:

First image shows the smoothing and pre polish stages, the bottom image shows polished stage.

The next step was to cut the 4 corner blue pieces and bevel a couple of edges to transition with the adjacent clear bevels and to tie in with the triangular shapes in the star.

Beveling Started

Began beveling the rectangles, this is the roughing or first stage: 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=823TMbZoNDE    This is a link for my video demonstration of hand beveling glass.  

Restoring/Repairing 1980s Beveled Glass Panels

I have been working on 9 beveled glass panels that go into coffee table and a couple of end tables.  These were made in the early 1980s and solder joints have been cracking and the came separating on different panels, no glass was broken thankfully.  The came is zinc so is pretty durable, one thing the fabricator did not do was apply stained glass cement/putty which would have made the panels more durable.  

 I was able to re solder all cracked and separated solder joints as well as apply the putty.  The above image shows 3 panels that go into an end table, the center one is all cleaned up, the other 2 in process of cleaning.    The coffee table panels were larger and have been completed, one of which was separating which I was able to repair.  

Nice to be able to repair older panels and allow them to last many more years.  

Stained Glass Yard Banner Completed

 Following are images of the completed Stained Glass Yard Banner.  I really like how it turned out!

Stained Glass Yard Banner - bonding glass bevels

 

This process was involving bonding the color bevels onto the clear bevels.  Next step is to drill holes in outside came, secure glass onto banner frame.  

Stained Glass Yard Banner in Process 2

 Bevels completed and finishing up the assembly of the panel.  After this is soldering all the joints where the came meets up with each other and then puttying.  During the drying/hardening phase of the window putty I will be beveling color pieces that will be bonded on top of the clear bevels.

Stained Glass Yard Banner in Process

 Hand beveling the outside curves and straight edge.  Inside curves will be done next. 

Bonding Green Beveled Glass- Northern Lights Window

 Bonding the green triangles that have been beveled onto the clear beveled triangles throughout the design.

The picture with the exacto knife shows how the UV adhesive oozes out and once it is hardened I cut it and clean up area.  The UV lamp is then placed back down for another 3 minutes to fully cure the adhesive. It is a painstaking process but the end results are quite stunning.

Beveling Final Pieces for Northern Lights project

Beveling the green colors that will be bonded on top of the clear bevels throughout the design.  Next is cleaning the panel then bonding these triangles.
 

Installation of Hummingbird Stained Glass

Installation of the Hummingbird panel was a couple days ago on the 12th.  I am very pleased as well as the client with how it turned out.  
The following is before and after pictures of the window as well as a couple of detail images.

Effects of Beveling Colored Glass

I am currently working on a glass panel where I am beveling clear glass and then beveling a color piece the shape of the center of the clear bevel and bonding them together.  Beveling color pieces produces some fun results that I want to share with you. 
When beveling colored glass, certain layers of the color is removed which changes the look of the color, lightening it and it also plays with the light more and adds more depth to the piece.  Depending on the type of glass there may be different colors dispersed through the glass or a different color on one layer of the glass sheet.  When beveling this type of glass I find the different colors are revealed or removed on certain layers which gives a very interesting look.  Some color depending on where in the layers it is at will appear in different parts of the bevel.
I am using a blown glass that is a shade of blue with a layer of white opal. When I beveled it the white layer is removed in the bevel revealing the blue underneath the white.

I have enjoyed this process throughout the many years of doing this and it always is a joy to see different results from different types of glass.  In all of the following examples, observe how color in the beveled edged changes, in some cases it becomes lighter, in others different colors that are in different layers of the glass are revealed.

This produces much more interest, light play and depth do the glass.