What you will learn

Leaded stained glass course program

As with all our courses, in the leaded stained glass course we ask you to first consider what you wish to create, to avoid spending excessive time here in this phase. Once the project has been designed to scale, it will then be enlarged to full size, either freehand or with the help of a printer.

Project and cut lines

Students will learn how to trace cut lines on the design and how to determine the right thickness to leave for the lead strips.

The students become familiar will the shapes that can be cut easily as well as identifying shapes that are more challenging.

Glass cutting and grinding

After a short practice of cutting with common transparent glass, students will explore the variety of colored glass available, both on the market and in our workshop. At this point, they will be able to choose the glasses most suitable for their project and learn the art of freehand cutting, using the glass cutter on a light table and carefully following the lines drawn previously. They will discover the use of different pliers to facilitate cutting, and will refine each piece of glass with the diamond wheel, to obtain precise shapes.

Leading

Once cut, the students will learn how to assemble the individual pieces of glass into their panel using lead strips. They will learn how to effectively handle this material in order to follow the shapes of our glass, and the different types of lead strips that are available on the market. After leading the panel the students will weld the lead joints with a soldering iron.

Cementing

In order to strengthen our stained glass panel and to make it waterproof the students will cement their work with a special putty. Students will learn the recipe we use to make the special putty to cement stained glass, how to apply it on the panel and how to clean it off. At the end the panel will be polished with a soft brush in order to darken the lead and the solder joints.

The final stained glass panel remains the property of the student so they can take their project home with them.

It is the responsibility of the teacher to provide all the necessary tools for the creation of the work and to follow the students for the duration of leaded stained glass course.

At the end of our leaded stained glass course the students will be given a guideline on how to purchase all the material necessary to continue practicing at home.