Top Ten Making Stained Glass Tips From a Master Stained Glass Artist

By Joe Collinsworth

Recently I had the chance to speak with a gifted stained glass artist and one thing I was curious to offer other glass art making beginners was what his top 10 stained glass tips were.
Luckily he was much obliged to offer up his insider tips on how to create such amazing stained glass.

So, without further ado, here they are.
The Wizard's Top 10 Stained Glass Tips to Make Amazing Glass Art!
1. Safety: Keep alert at all times. Where your safety glasses, keep a clean atmosphere & keep you work area clean. Make sure you have clean and sharp tools.

2. Only score once when preparing to break glass.

3. Soldering tips: Keep a steady flow of solder to achieve a smooth bead. Keep cleaning the soldering iron tip for the best results.

4. Breaking Glass: Between each cut, clean surface area to prevent the glass from cracking or scratching and getting slivers of glass in your hands. OUCH!!

5. Grinding: Make sure coolant is in the water to save your grinding wheel. Take your time and ease the glass into the wheel & let the grinding wheel do the work.

6. Patina: After soldering, clean the glass with mild soap and water. Dry throughly before putting on the patina color.

7. Learning Stained Glass Creation: We all learn in different ways; professional lessons, videos, books, Internet, and classes are just a few ways to learn this art.

Practice is the key when you're making glass art, and if you try to be perfect, you will never be fully satisfied. So use your artistic talent and remember, nothing is wrong when creating art. Practice teaches the techniques that will work best for you.

8. Picking a Pattern: Pick a pattern you like and really want to see as a finished product. Use your artistic talents & creativity for choices and colors of glass. Have some fun with this part! Books, photos, decorative items, and other things can provide great inspiration.

9. Ventilation: This is very important because of flux fumes and lead poisoning. Keep your work area well ventilated and be sure your hands remain clean. If you have scratches on your hands put on a bandage or gloves for precaution.

10. Tools and Supplies: Randy prefers the pistol grip glass cutter, but pick the tools that will work best for you. The grinder is an expensive tool, but it provides a quicker, easier method to preparing the glass and can save you tons of time, money, and headaches.

BONUS Tip: HAVE FUN! Most important is to have fun working your stained glass. It is truly rewarding and such a great feeling of accomplishment.

On one last note, he said that every professional was once not very good, but after much practice, learning, and continuing to enjoy the process, they became quite good at making stained glass. Just remember that little quote if your first piece or two doesn't turn out the way you want.

Folks this is only a start. There are tons of tips we share with you on our site and hope you'll also share with us.

The beauty of art is that everyone has little tidbits they can share so others can benefit.
Learn the incredible art of stained glass by true masters and discover how making glass art can offer a rewarding, challenging, and exciting experience. Visit us at CreateStainedGlass.com today to learn more.
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