I took a leaded stained glass workshop over the weekend and I’m so happy with my finished piece! There were several steps that were similar to the copper foil process, so I felt comfortable with choosing my glass, laying out the design, cutting the glass pieces, the glass grinding, and the soldering process. The frame of the piece is called lead caming and the interior pieces are “H” shaped and the exterior pieces are “U” shaped. The lead allows for a very uniform look and it was somewhat flexible and a fairly easy material to work with. Once the interior and exterior caming pieces were cut and placed, we only soldered at the joints. With the copper foiling technique, soldering is done more extensively. After soldering, we applied a cement and chalk mixture on both sides of the piece. We cleaned our pieces with scrub brushes and toothpicks to ensure that the cement mixture was not on the actual glass, only under the lead. We were then instructed to allow the cement to cure for 48 hours and then windex and hang your piece! I love my vibrant colors so much!
