Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes?
This page will give you a small insight into some of the work that goes into creating a stained glass sun catcher or ornament. Below is a brief outline of the main stages involved in working with copper foil.
1. Once you have decided on your design the first step is to cut the glass. When cutting glass you actually score it in a smooth flowing motion with constant pressure. You then break along the score line using running pliers (black pliers in photo) or, for more intricate cuts, grozing pliers (black and silver ones).
2. Next you need to grind the edges. There are a couple of reasons you need to do this: it gets rid of any nasty sharp edges so you don't cut yourself when you are foiling and it enables you to get a more accurate fit with your glass if your cutting was a bit off.
3. After cleaning and drying each piece of glass it's time to foil. The edge of the glass needs to go in the middle of the foil tape. Once you have gone around the whole piece, you need to squeeze the foil onto the front and back of the glass. This is called crimping. I tend to do this as I go along.
4. Next you need to burnish the foil with a fid (that white plastic tool). You need to go around the outside edge and the front and back to make sure the foil is properly stuck.
5. The final step of the foiling stage is to tidy up any uneven edges with a craft knife.
6. Once all of your pieces are foiled you are ready to solder. You will need to apply flux so the solder flows. I usually tack the pieces together with a small blob of solder on the joins before soldering the front, back and edges. Finally a jump ring needs to be added for the sun catcher to be hung in a window.
7. Once you have finished soldering you need to clean and dry the piece thoroughly to remove any flux residue. Then you can add the patina.
(You can skip this step if you want silver solder lines).
8. The final two steps are to polish the sun catcher. I use a liquid polish that I apply with a clean soft cloth. Then leave the polish to dry completely (often overnight).
9. Once the polish has dried you need to buff the whole sun catcher to a lovely shine. The polish tends to sit in all the nooks and crannies so I use a toothbrush to get in all those hard to reach places then buff, buff, buff with a clean soft cloth.