Tools of the Trade
No matter what glass item we want to make, we need more than just the glass to create something magical, useful or adorable. Shown here are some tools of the glass trade. There are both the outside tools that live in the outdoor shop and are only used there, and the inside tools that can be used outside, but can also move inside when the weather outside is frightful.
The first photo is taken in the shop with several tools on the grinder. The grinder figures into almost every creation and handles everything from smoothing out curves to straightening a line that did not break cleanly. The blue tool on the far left is called a Grinder’s Mate and firmly holds the glass as you press it against the grinder head. Next to that is the glass cutter that has a pistol grip for a firm hold to make a clean score. Next are the black handled grozer pliers that are used to nibble away at small areas and help shape the glass. On the far right are the red handled running pliers that are placed on the glass lined up exactly on the glass score line and then squeezed to make the fracture in the glass ‘run’ from one end of the glass to the other and break cleanly. The final tool is a grinder bit sitting behind the running pliers. These come in many sizes to allow for different types of grinding.
Not shown is the cutting table, the assortment of glass, marking tools, and an assortment of patterns. But let’s move inside.
The picture on the right shows some of the inside tools used for stained glass. Starting at the top is a bottle of flux, with the brush right below it. Flux must be brushed on foiled pieces to get the solder to stick to creation. On the right is the soldering iron, which has a temperature control. Moving down, on the second tile is the holder for the copper foil. Each piece of glass that is part of a stained glass creation must either be completely wrapped in copper foil, or placed in the channel of came (as with stained glass windows). Solder will attach to the came, but not to copper foil. So, the foil needs to be brushed with flux to accept the solder. The pink topped roll on the left is a roll of solder. The small container of push pins is used to firmly secure each piece of glass to the next so that it can be soldered.
Stay tuned, and this process will be explained more in a subsequent blog! Many new items are under construction for 2022 using these tools. Some of these new creations will be showing up in blogs next month.
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