Oh you bet....Never, never cut anything but lead....Thanks for your comment

Probably that would work fine.Im gonna say that i just wanted to show another thing

@@shardsglassstudio9298 thank you so much. just found your tutorials helpful.

So the way the zinc intersects, it will require a small piece of zinc with a straight cut to use as your prompt to see the point of intersection. the angled 45 degree cut is ALWAYS angled so that the short part of the angle is going to be the open (glass accepting) side. I hope this helps

@@shardsglassstudio9298thank you very helpful

Thank you.....Im glad you find them helpful

Hahahaha That’s how we think of it!!!

We buy wholesale so i do not have a source for retail. Where do you live?

This is a u channel 5/16"

We offer only private lessons now but yes, we do teach the method of lead came Please call 978 977-0460 if you would like information about private seminars or to schedule a time.

Thanks, Hope you got your piece framed successfully framed

I actually use way more paste flux than is necessary. It’s just a habit, but it does tend to work well, if there’s any oxidation that you need to get through. As far as corrosiveness, it’s probably about the same as a gel. The advantage to the paste is that it stays exactly where you dab it.

@@shardsglassstudio9298 Could you please share a name of your flux? I cannot find it in shops((

@@pipanova The paste flux is called Nokorode....And to kill two birds with one stone and answer another query....Paste flux is the least corrosive and im heavy handed when i apply, but need not be that generous,.

I don’t have a video on that but thank you for the suggestion. Used paste flux to solder lead to zinc and 60 40 virgin solder. All that means is solder that has not been reconstituted. We use victory white metal.

Bahahahahaha...Poof

Glad I could help gary

Thank you, So glad that you found this helpful

Huh! I’ve never heard of that….how come?

@@shardsglassstudio9298 it reduces the chance of the glass breaking due to overheating

Thank you for the comment and suggestion. Yes definitely to washing hands copiously! As you might be able to tell from looking at my hands, they are quite a mess (dry,dry,dry) from so much soap and water....We never wear gloves (Ive tried and get my fingers caught constantly). When soldering its a bad idea to wear gloves, in my opinion. If you drop a blob of hot solder on your hand without gloves, it rolls off and causes nothing more than maybe a small blemish, but if you have gloves on, hot solder can get trapped and cause a much worse burn.

Thanks....Unfortunately we sold out long ago...If /when we print up more I will post it here!

Oh man, Theres alot to that question. Zinc is more of a pain to use in general...cant be bent without a zinc bender, so only good for straight perimeters, has to be cut with a hack saw, doesnt take patina all that great, but will take a black patina to moderate success. Lead is just as good a stiffening agent (unless you are using 1/2" zinc that allows for a steel rebar), can be cut with lead snips or wire cutters in a pinch, can be formed around curves, circles etc...and is just in general easier to work with. Most of our stuff is architectural so one never sees the outside edge as it is usually in a sash. There are so many other factors that you are welcome to ask specifics but if i tried to hit all the scenarios i would fail miserably. Hope this much is helpful.

@@shardsglassstudio9298 wow, Thankyou that is so helpful I'll just stick to lead its easier, Thankyou again for taking so much time to answer my question I really appreciate it 😊

My pleasure.....Have fun!

The paste flux stays "put" because its thick...big advantage. I know there was no external support on this one but there may have been flex bar soldered in between the foiled seams. Flex bar is a braided flat mesh strand that goes on end in between seams and it is extremely maliable so can be bent around all sorts of shapes curves, etc....

@@shardsglassstudio9298 Thankyou so much for all this valuable info appreciated

Im not sure there are any hard and fast rules about sizing zinc. The 1/2" u channel can be reinforced with a 1/8 x 1/4 rebar.....makes for a heavier piece but one with more rigidity. Other than that, id say let aesthetics be your guide. No you dont have to cement the zinc edging but again it lends strength.

Good luck! It’s not that hard when you have a few good tricks up your sleeve

We stretch with a stanton stretcher which is put out by Glastar. They are no longer in business but if you can find one on line or at your local stained glass supplier, BUY IT! Other than that, you can get a spring loaded lead vise (pretty much at any glass supplier and pull the lead by hand, one end in the vise and hold onto the opposite end with a pair of grozing pliers. It takes a fair amount of upper body strength and an average, depending on the lead size and profile is about a 6" stretch. If you can, stretch over a table so that once it is straight you can lie it down to keep it straight till you cut it into lengths. If you can help it don't cut it smaller before the stretch because that will take away your leverage and it will be much harder to get the "slack" out of the lead. Hope this helps

Glad to hear that the techniques look helpful .....Proof is in the pudding as they say (right? Is that what they say) so let me know how all these tricks work for you putting iron to foil. Very Best, Kai

@@shardsglassstudio9298 Hey Kai, yeah it was a big improvement. I still need to practice but it was so much better. Thanks a lot

The zinc and lead both come from wholesale sources, but i believe any retail supplier would have them. Hope this helps

Oh good idea, re: hanging hooks….next time for sure

I haven’t tried a small chop saw….let me know how it goes

So we make our own hangers by twisting wire around a small cylinder (metal exacto works great). We then hang in two spots and try to pick an area where the hanger "tail" is being soldered into a seem...We never hang just from the zinc framing. We also advise clients to hang pieces "museum style" (straight up to 2 hooks spaced the same as the hangers on the piece, eliminates bending and pulling on the hangers)

Nice ....Most of our stuff that is artificially lit is done in a full installed frame method. Meaning it is installed into an opening that can be lit, usually by bouncing light off of a white shiny background, but full disclosure, ive never done anything that is free hanging and lit artificially. Sorry not much help for your situation. Good luck with it!

Ahhhh yes....Antiques can be a real beast. If the came is super tiny, like hobby came, try putting a tiny bevel on your glass by holding it at a severe angle, do a small grind all around, flip and do the same on the other side. Sometimes just taking off a bit and making the edge more tapered will facilitate holding the came on the edge.

Ahhhh, good point. As each iron is calibrated differently it is hard to suggest a temperature setting. Many irons do not use actual Fahrenheit #s but use more of a 1-5 setting. Therefore it is necessary to experiment. But, to your point (a good one) the front of a piece will always be soldered at a higher temperature than the back of a piece. This is because when soldering the back, the front is already "sealed" and therefore requires a lower temp so as to not leak through the finished front, and allow flux to heat and evaporate some in order to mitigate sputtering

We use the Hakko Iron with a built in reostat. This iron has been reengineered a bit , but the FX-601 goes up to 1005 degrees. If you are looking at electronic irons they wont go up high enough.

So... what is stained glass construction then?

@cox6353 Stained glass... Clear glass the has a design added to it using mineral stains that are heat fused onto the glass surface (please note that coloured glass is a glass where the colour is not just on the surface). The glass is then held in place using lead came and solder ( sol der. There is no such thing as a silent L. The word americans say is sodder, which is something completely different......)

Thats great Theresa, Hope it worked out

So glad it was helpful

Hi Melissa, the first thing I would ask is what kind of solder are you using? There are different grades of solder. Some are virginal., Which means they have not been reconstituted old lead. Those would work the best and not leave black spots. The other culprit can be your flux. The job of flux is to clean the copper foil before soldering. If the flux is old and not doing the job, then the result is black spots in your solder. Hope this helps

I use a cheap little chop saw from Harbor Freight. Makes 0-45 degrees.

Nice job Ralph Esposito.....Always a feather in the cap when students remember you and your instruction fondly

Without looking at your piece, I cant tell you definitively where the issue may be, but i can make a couple of guesses. First, when you have a straight line, or near straight line in a piece it wants to "fold" or bend in that area. One way to mitigate that is to run strong line or wire around the perimeter. (for future be aware that straight lines through are weak spots in any design). Second, make sure your piece is bead soldered both front and back. The bead is what creates the metal infrastructure to lend the piece support. Even if you have patina'd you can still go back into the soldering and add more. Hope this helps