Tag Archives: ring saw

2.1-Cartoon

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I think that the most effective way to illustrate how I combine faceted and foiled glass is to go through the process of constructing a panel. I am assuming throughout this site that the audience has some and possibly extensive experience in working with foiled glass so I will focus primarily on the management of faceted glass. For anyone unfamiliar with the processes involved in the construction of a foiled panel there are extensive educational materials available on the web but I suggest that Art of Stained Glass and Plenty of Patterns would be two worthwhile sites to begin your exploration.

The first step, as in almost all stained glass projects, is to settle on a design from which a cartoon is made. The cartoon will then serve as the template for the remainder of the process. At the same time the design is being finalized it is necessary to select the glass to be included in the project, some issues to be considered are discussed in the post on Color and Choice of dalle.

I have several suggestions regarding your initial project:

1. Start with a fairly small panel ( +/- 18″ X 15″ or less ) since it will require less work, it is easier to manipulate the smaller pieces and it will take less time until you see the results of your effort.

2. I would use the faceted glass quite sparingly since I have found that it, in the finished work, often appears to be more massive and prominent than you might expect from simply looking at the cartoon. I therefore suggest that you have the faceted glass occupy not more than 10 to 12% of the surface area of the panel. Once you become more comfortable with it, you can certainly increase the percent used in your work.

3. I would start with a fairly simple design using not more that 4 or 5 pieces of faceted glass mostly for the reasons noted in suggestion #1.

 

This is the cartoon for the panel of an amaryllis flower ( 11″ X 13 5/8″ ) that I will construct which is composed of 6 pieces of faceted glass so numbered in the cartoon. The orange at the base of three of the petals relates to a color change in the glass that I will use to help create a three dimensional effect, discussed in the post on the 3 D effect.

If you plan to incorporate faceted glass into large panels it is important to consider the need for reinforcement. If reinforcement, discussed in the post on Final assembly, is deemed appropriate its placement should be considered when planning the lead lines.

I try to employ as few lead lines as possible. When feasible, I use a traditional glass cutter for most of my work, the use of which I will not explore in detail in this this section since there is extensive educational material available on the web, two useful sites are noted earlier in this post. I would like to mention that it is important to always check the freshly cut edge of the glass for small ledges which can be very sharp. They more commonly occur when working with some of the harder more difficult to cut art sheet glass. An example of such a ledge is shown in the following photograph.

These ledges are easily removed by running a Scythe stone along the edge. It is an inexpensive sharpening stone 10″ X 1 1/4″ X 1″ available in many hardware and glass supply stores.

One technique that I have found to be quite helpful in reducing the number of lead lines is to use a ring saw ( Gemini Taurus 3 ) to cut some sections of the sheet glass ( the area around petals #2 and #4 in the cartoon). If the apex of the petal is shaped as a curve in the background glass, ( as shown ) rather than the acute angle of the petal tip, the glass is less likely to crack and it is also easier to apply the copper foil. A curve rather than a acute angle will cause the lead line in this area to be a bit wider but it is barely noticeable against the faceted glass and a small price to pay to eliminate a distracting lead line. Some more skilled that I with a traditional glass cutter may may be able to accomplish this but I find a ring saw and a grinder to be indispensable. The image below shows a cut made by the ring saw in the background glass to allow for the placement of petal #4.

This process is also illustrated in the following video:

3.2-Tools for faceting

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As described in the preparation of the dalle I cut the individual pieces using a 10 inch water cooled tile saw. The faceting is done on an anvil which I constructed using a hardwood base on which two pieces of polycarbonate are glued as is the back plate. The working surface is 7 5/8″ X 2″ and the back piece is 1 1/4″ high. There is nothing specific about this size it just happens to be the width of the vice that my father gave to me to hold the anvil in place. I have covered the surfaces with duct tape which makes it less slippery. You can use almost any hard surface but it must perfectly flat or the uneven distribution of the force of the chisel on the glass may cause the glass to fracture.

 

The faceting is done using a small hammer and three hexagonal carbide tipped chisels ( 1/2″ – 3/8″ – 1/4″ ) which are widely available on the internet ( they come 6 inches long but I find that they are easier to use if they are shortened to 4 inches ). The hammer pictured below has a carbide tip and is specifically made for glass or tile work but any small hammer will be fine for use with the chisels.

 

After the initial faceting is completed I perform the rough shaping of the piece using a 10 inch water cooled ring saw. The use of the ring saw ( Gemini Revolution XT ) has markedly simplified the work involved since it allows curved cuts to be performed which has significantly reduced the grinding that was necessary to obtain the final shape of the glass.

 

I do the final shaping using the bench grinder and the table grinder imaged below..

 

 

 The bench grinder is used when I wish to remove significant amounts of glass but it tends to leave a curved surface on the ground edge so I usually finish the grinding with the table grinder which leaves a flat 90 degree edge which facilitates the foiling and fitting of the glass. I also use this tool when I wish to remove small amount of glass during final assembly of the panel. I also think that it would be prudent use GFCI outlets for all of the water cooled equipment.

3.3-Faceting a dalle

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Faceting and shaping various sized pieces of a dalle is one of the unique aspects of my work. While the necessary skills are not difficult to perform, they will require some practice.  I hope that following information and the Youtube video will prove to be a useful for illustrating the process.

As you will see I only facet one side of the glass. There are two reasons for this: the first is that I have compared glass that was faceted on one side with comparable pieces faceted on both sides and I was unable too discern any difference. The second reason is that it is much easier to foil and solder ( or epoxy ) the faceted pieces to each other and to the sheet glass if there are two adjacent flat surfaces on the back of each piece.

Another point worth noting that may help facilitate the faceting of the glass is that the dalles come from the factory with smooth and often irregular edges which make the edge more difficult to facet since the smooth surface may cause the chisel to slip and also the glass seems a bit harder. The smooth irregular edges of a dalle are visible in the image of a dalle in the post on Choice of dalle and also in the following image.

The dalle becomes easier to facet and to foil if a very thin strip of glass is removed from the edges of the block of glass using the 10 inch tile saw which creates a flat roughened surface pictured below.

Another question that often arises is which surface of the glass should be faceted, the top smooth surface or the bottom rough ( textured ) surface? I generally remove the rough ( textured ) surface since the irregularities present on the back may be visible through the faceted surface in light colored or clear glass dalles.  Before making the decision always check the location of the pigment in the glass ( discussed in the post on Choice of dalle  ) to be sure that you do not remove it with your faceting.

YouTube video of the faceting process:

 

I would also like you to be aware that it is possible to make long narrow pieces of faceted glass. The piece illustrated below is 12″ long and 5/8″ wide at one end tapering to a point at the other end. Long pieces are sometimes required for a design as illustrated in several of my bamboo panels #1 & #3 .

 

The technique for faceting long narrow strips of glass is demonstrated in the following video:

 

 

 

 

 

3.4-Final shaping

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The following image shows the flower after the petals have been faceted and cut to approximate shape using the ring saw as shown in the video in the previous post on faceting.

 

It is important in most areas of a panel to facet adjacent pieces close to the same thickness since significant differences will alter the lead lines and may interfere with the flow of the design. The following image illustrates a significant difference between two adjoining petals which, using a 1/4 inch chisel, can be minimized as shown in the video in the post on faceting.

 

In the next image the pieces are now close to their final shape and thickness after being subjected to  a combination of grinding, sawing and gentle faceting and are ready to be foiled and placed into the panel.

 

When working on a pattern where there are multiple pieces of faceted glass in a single element, such as a flower or pumpkin, I foil one piece at a time and then fit, foil and solder the adjacent parts sequentially since the foil may alter the shape enough to require further shaping of adjacent pieces. If the panel has the faceted glass dispersed throughout the panel ( example ) I assemble it as is the usual practice in construction a foiled panel on the cartoon.