Anyways since it's not common knowledge that you can get into doing stained glass really easily nowadays i thought I'd go ahead and put together a quick and dirty explanation on it. Prices are given in USD and are based on how much they cost at my localish stained glass shop in jul 2022 but all items can be gotten at larger craft stores or online.
Hobby Lobby has an extensive stained glass section usually. They also have coupons and don't put barcodes on their merchandise so they don't always track their stock super well. do with that last bit of information what you will
skip to the bottom of you just want to see steps
Mandatory Tools, buy these once and never again (unless they break or somethin):
Glass cutters: Pencil grip if you're confident in your hand strength, Pistol grip if you have joint issues (most of the folk i know irl that are into stained glass are arthritic and swear by the pistol grips, do with that tinfo what you will)
Pliers: You'll need 2 types, grozzier pliers and curved jaw pliers. these are not the same as the pliers you use in most other applications. you can usually get both bundled with a glass cutter for less than 30$
Soldering Iron: Get one that comes with a soldering station and a flat chisel shaped tip. Weller is the industry standard. 40 bucks.
semi optional: a wet grinder: not 100 percent necessary but it makes life a hundred times easier and lets you do more complicated shapes with less skill than you would need otherwise, so I'm putting it here. It's vital that it's a wet grinder because aerosolized glass dust is bad for your everything. 90$. if you don't get a wet grinder you will just need some 400 grit or higher waterproof sandpaper. Wet sand your pieces. Do not dry sand.
Glass: comes in two main types, Translucent/Cathedral, and Opaque. From there there are Many variations including waterglass and iridescent glass. Prices range from 8$ a square foot up to a couple hundred for handmade artisan stuff, but most seem to be between 10$ and 20$ 1 square foot of glass goes further than you think it will
Solder: Must Be Acid Free. Solder with an acid core is really common because that's what's used in every other application. it will not work for stained glass. Solder comes in 4 main types but there's plenty of others out there: lead free, 60/40, 70/30, and 50/50. Get 60/40 to start out unless the lead scares you, then get lead free. (the lead content in solder is not dangerous so long as you aren't regularly licking the final product/using it for food. The fumes can cause migraines tho so ventilation is a good idea) 26$ per pound, goes a long way
Flux: any solder flux will do, 4$ lasts forever
glass cutting oil: it's what it says on the tin, use this with the glass cutter to make it work. 10$ per bottle lasts forever.
copper foil tape: used to make the solder stick to the glass. comes in may sizes, just grab one that's thicker than your glass and Feels right. what width you use is entirely personal preference on anything that's not too big. 7$
Homasote/compressed cellulose fiber board/ cork/ ceiling tiles/ drywall/ plywood: You're going to need something to solder and pin your glass pieces on, any of these will do. All of them are reusable but you will probably need to cut them down to more comfortably fit your project which is why I'm putting them here instead of the buy them once category. 69¢ for the cieling tiles to like 50$ for a sheet of homasote get whatever is easiest/cheapest. or solder on a heat proof surface you already have.
tarnish/patina: the solder will naturally turn black overtime but it won't look pretty while doing it. you either need to clean it regularly or just accept that it will tarnish and do the work for it. Tarnish commonly comes in black and bronze. don't let these get on your skin. it won't hurt but prolonged and repeat exposure is a cancer and chemical burn risk. 11$
~100$. everything besides the glass and solder will last a couple dozen projects at minimum, most will last Mucho longer.
Nick's Grinder's Mate. it's a special made item for stained glass grinding but if you don't like your hands getting wet or have issues with your hands it makes the process So Much Easier.
Metal or glass head sewing pins. they're used to help hold your glass in place while soldering many people don't use them at all.
plastic waffle grid: it catches the tiny little glass shards that flake off while cutting. It just makes clean up much much Much easier and reduces the amount of shards that end up on the floor and in your feet (please wear shoes while cutting glass, i don't, but you should.)
Eye protection, you don't need anything super extreme but yeah glass shards bad.
gardening gloves with thick palm and finger protection to reduce cuts and handle pieces during soldering.
bandaids, glass cuts don't usually hurt but they do bleed. think paper cut in terms of severity.
additional bits you probably already have:
scissors, paper, sharpie or dry erase markers, glue sticks
find or draw up a pattern
make 2 copies of it, one to use as reference one to cut up and glue to your glass as a pattern. Alternatively you can trace your pattern onto the glass if you'd rather not use the paper
number the pieces on both the glass and the pattern to avoid having to do a broken glass jigsaw puzzle.
use the pliers to break along your score lines
wet sand the sharp edges or grind to final shape
(if you're starting with a pre cut kit which are apparently becoming more common, skip to here) clean the pieces to remove grunge so the tape will stick
wrap edges in copper tape,
burnish them to smooth out the foil, i just use the handle on my scissors
arange the pieces in their final shape, pin them if desired.
coat the copper tape in flux and tack the joints together with solder.
run a bead of solder along the lines.
flip the piece and repeat 10 and 11
ooh and ah over your final piece.
Full Written Instructions Here
YouTube channels for English instructions and demonstration (if you have non English recommendations please let me know so I can add them):
SunBearGlassCraft / ALEX GREENFIELD
Stained Glass For Dummies PDF
