More will be written soon about these very pricey, yet very important pieces of equipment......
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So we were using this great flux for a really long time- Novacan's Old Master's Flux. Super effective, great flow, easy to use, yes. BUT. It was eating our fume extractors. Literally eating through the plastic. Apparently the main component in flux, zinc chloride, is corrosive to plastic.  As a result, we had to switch to using a zinc-chloride-free flux. To my research, there are only two available- GlasPro EZ40 flux (from ebay) and Studio Pro Safety Flux, found at Amazon and Hobby Lobby.
The thing you'd need to know, is that the EZ40 is sticky, like sugar syrup. Smokes a lot when heated, so good ventillation is essential for working with it (a fan blowing away from your work, and out a window is ideal.) You have to layer it on frequently while working. BUT, it leaves your solder seams shinier and brighter than I've ever seen with a zinc chloride flux. Studio Pro's flux is more watery, so again, you'd need to just use more of it. Giving yourself the chance to use a product, and figure it out is really key here! Exciting news- Spectrum Glass was purchased by Oceanside Glasstile (OGT) in Carlsbad, CA. They have been a customer of Spectrum for over two decades, and jumped at the chance to take over production. They have decided to move the manufacturing to Tijuana, Mexico in OGT’s state-of-the-art facility. With their long-standing commitment to being an environmentally concerned manufacturer, they will be utilizing the same baghouse emission controls that Spectrum Glass has used for over twenty years. I am am anxious to see Spectrum return! Stay tuned, as the first batches are due to be available in Spring 2017. After 40 years of supplying arguably the most cut-able, and most affordable
stained glass in the industry, Spectrum is saying farewell. Not only does this make me sad, but this shocking fact also scares me. A lot. At BHSS, Spectrum glass makes up 95% of the glass we use because of both of these attributes. In a press release sent to clients in May of 2016, the company says, "“The decision to close our doors has been extraordinarily difficult. We postponed it for as long as possible, and arrived at this conclusion only after immense consideration. However, due to several factors, it’s no longer financially feasible for Spectrum Glass to continue to operate." Their production will end in July. Hopefully soon, Spectrum will figure out a way to delegate the various product lines among other glass manufacturers. The glass companies that I will now have to go to would be Wissmach and Armstrong. Both of these places offer glass on the low end of pricing, while still allowing for good cut-ability. Other companies, like Kokomo, Bullseye and Uroboros are still a bit too high end to be used by our students. Glass companies in general are being hit hard by new EPA regulations, as many places that produce glass have been unintentionally allowing toxic chemicals to enter the soils around the factories. The companies have to switch to more environmentally-sound production techniques in order to continue doing business. Let's hope this wrinkle in our craft industry gets ironed out soon. Pattern Shears should have thin blades. Make sure they are for FOIL, and NOT for LEAD.
Studio Pro Pattern Shears These can be found at Hobby Lobby. Leponitt Foil Pattern Shears Other brands are thinner-bladed, such as Mika, and G.A.I., if you can find them.
60/40 Solder
We've always used 60/40. Buy it from a stained glass retailer or from a craft/hobby shop. BUY SOLID CORE ONLY, NOT “Electronic” or Rosin Core” from hardware stores. It will make your project look yucky. Really yucky. 63/37 is a quick-set type solder. It's a little more expensive, and won't give you time to do a lot of touching-up. Stick with 60/40. Don’t throw away the solder- re-use it, or save the scrap and bring it to a metal recycling place. As of 2017, most 1LB rolls are around $25. Mastercraft 60/40 stained glass solder Studio Pro 60/40 stained glass solder Lead-Free and 50/50 Solder These behave differently. I had a former student come in with a roll of 50/50, to use on a project she was trying to complete in a day. The iron kept sticking, and she got frustrated. We realized that our hot irons, even at 900 degrees, were not hot enough to make the 50/50 bead like the 60/40. As for lead-free, this type would be appropriate for making small jewelry projects. I would use a separate soldering tip for it, though, as lead contaminates other metals, like silver, which is in lead-free solder. For these two solders, use a temperature controlled iron, so you can make the tip hotter: Hakko Adjustable Temp Iron Here's a good write-up on solder types, published by Inland. Flux I recommend Glastar or Old Master’s. Buy only if labeled for stained glass. Novacan Flux 8 oz. Glastar Glasflux 4oz And some cheap flux brushes Patina I use Novacan brand. It's the most common brand around for stained glass. Novacan Black Patina for Lead Novacan Copper Patina for Solder I've always used 3/16" black backed foil. To me, it makes sense. The glass is
roughly 1/8" thick, which leaves about 1/32" (give or take) of wrap-around on each side. Yeah, you've got to be precise. It does take practice, certainly. You'll probably get frustrated sometimes, but the other option is to go up in size to 7/32." You'll have more room for error, but you'll also have thicker solder seams. Which also means, more solder used. And well... solder isn't exactly cheap these days. Most retail chains will charge you from $18 to $25. Less solder, and thinner solder seams not only look nicer, but will save you some cash. Save the 7/32" for when you make a big, heavy panel or a larger lampshade someday. Black-backed foil is great for those who use patina a lot, like we do (we use a lot of opalescent glass, which looks beautiful with blackened seams.) You can get the copper backed foil, but know that the copper color will peek through the glass if you're using anything transparent- cathedral, wispy, clear, etc. Silver-backed is always an option, but we use patina so much that black- backed makes more sense for us to buy. Any of these brands are fine. We like Edco. It's cost effective for us. Venture Tape is a little thicker. Still good. Hobby Lobby, if you have one, sells Studio Pro products, so you can get it there (always get a 40% off coupon though, before going in!) Here are my picks: 3/16”: Edco Black-Backed Foil $7 Studio Pro Copper-backed foil $8 (HL) Venture Silver-Backed foil $16 (includes shipping) 7/32”: Edco 7/32" Black-backed foil $11 Studio Pro 7/32" Copper-backed foil $10 For burnishing the foil, you can also get yourself a wooden fid, or you can just use a Sharpie or a wooden pencil. Check out my foiling tutorial HERE Stained Glass Store or Studio If you happen to be lucky enough to have a stained glass supply shop or studio within 100 miles of your home, take advantage! If you aren't so lucky, Hobby Lobby retail store is the only craft store chain that I know of who sells sheet glass. The benefit of going to a stained glass store is obvious- you can talk to the folks in the shop who use it (usually, the owner/artist,) examine the glass yourself and hold it up to the light, and....no shipping! Warm Colors $$$ vs. Cool Colors / Neutrals / Clears $ If you want to keep your glass buying budget-friendly, stay away from warm colors such as red, orange, yellow and pink. These colors use more expensive metals for their coloring (pink uses gold!), so these colors will be sometimes double the price of all the others. Clear textures are really cool-looking, easy to cut, while cool colors and neutrals will be cheaper in the long run. Window Glass Retailer If there's just no glass places nearby, go for window glass shops next. Look them up in the phone book (if you still have one of those.) They may offer architectural window glass- clear glass in a variety of amazing textures and patterns. They may be willing to get rid of some scrap glass to you for cheap or for free. Always offer them payment, just the same. Online If you've just got to shop online, your best bet is to go for "Variety Packs" of Spectrum, Wissmach, Armstrong, or Kokomo. A few places do this, both on their own sites, but also on eBay and on Amazon. Here are a couple of places I know: Spiral Dance Art Glass Variety Pack 6 x 8 Sun and Moon 6 x 8 Variety Pack Spectrum BLUE Stained Glass Pack 8 x 10 Sheets Sun and Moon Stained Glass GREEN Variety Pack 8 x 10 Sheets Stallings Glass Blue Variety Pack There are many other online shops too, just do a search. You'll want to beware, though. Variety packs can surprise you, if you don't see exactly what you're getting. As for what size to get? Depends on how large of a project you're working on. If you're a beginner, go for small 6 x 8 pieces. If you don't mind spending more, buy larger pieces- 8 x 12 or 12 x 12. Glass traveling through the mail takes a beating (I know this firsthand from sending glass the wrong way) so the shipping is going to cost you. Sometimes as much as the piece of glass you're getting. The more you buy at once, the better. Packing several pieces together into one foam-lined box makes more sense than just getting one sheet. When we buy glass, we buy a whole shipping crate of it- somewhere around 60 full sheets at a time (2' x 4'.) Shipping cost around $250, and it's packed like a swaddled baby. But, we get it once a year, and it has to last. It's pretty. No, gorgeous! And....you can't cut it! I mean the pricey, amazing-looking glass brands like Youghiogheny, Uroboros, and Bullseye. WAIT to buy these. Get a lot of practice with less expensive brands first. Maybe project #4 or #5. Then, go to town! You get what you pay for! I prefer Toyo. They will cost $20- 25 for a pencil
grip; $25-35 for a pistol or a Thomas grip. Warning- cheap cutters break. Snap right in half. I learned that the hard way. ;) Toyo Pistol Grip cutter $33 Toyo Acrylic Pencil Grip cutter $27 Toyo Brass Pencil Grip cutter $34 Toyo Thomas Grip cutter $30 Now you'll need some tools for breaking the glass. I suggest these combination pliers. Studio Pro Breaker Grozer Combination Pliers $13 If you have a Hobby Lobby Store, you should be able to get them there. If you want to break mosaic pieces, you'll need a pair of running pliers, or "runners," as they are sometimes called. Studio Pro Running Pliers $13 Also found at Hobby Lobby. You might even check your local home improvement/ hardware store. The Machine Itself
Because our class is essentially a production facility, we use the top of the line models from Inland and from Glastar. I used to recommend an Inland Wizling CG grinder, but the price on them has gone up from less than $100 to closer to $130. New or used they are great. Used, just check eBay. Grinder bits come with new ones. They last 100 hours or so before they need to be changed. However, you can change the bit whenever you feel like it’s not sharp enough (when it's yours you can change them every 10 if you'd like!) They should also come with a plastic wrap-around “splash shield” and a face shield. Buy a putty knife/spatula for scraping out the reservoir as needed. Here are a couple of lower priced ones I found that you might try. Gryphon Gryphette Hobby Grinder $95 (cute, small, for light-to medium duty) Glastar Diamond Star Grinder $150 (good solid grinder for hobbyist) Grinder Bits Click here for the stunning array of choices. In my classes, sadly, we have only enough in our budget to replace them every 6 weeks. We have 6 up and running almost constantly throughout the day. you can buy brand-specific ones, but I have found that most of the grinder bits out there to be a pretty standard size to fit the motor shaft. We usually use 3/4" to accommodate smaller curves. Using 1" is fine too. We have one extra grinder dedicated to having a tiny bit (1/4" or 1/8") Here are my favorites: Aanraku TWOFERS 3/4" 100/120 grit (You get two for somewhere between $23 and $25. Good for us.) Inland 3/4" Speed Grinder Bit (I'll set one of these up every once in a while, and they. Grind. Glass. Fast.) |
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