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The stained glass window.


ProDave

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A job we have put off again and again. but must get around to soon.

 

The half landing window, nicely depicted here as it has been for several years, boarded up with a sheet of OSB and a slab of rockwool.

fusion_3.thumb.jpg.991472a3027ca6ed52890086f7ec23e7.jpg

 

So the first thing is to create a cardboard cut out and start planning what we want.

 

First question.  It is easy to measure the visible size of the window pane.  How much extra should we allow on each side to give the overall glass size, allowing for the spacer bars at the edges.

 

The plan is we will make, or have made, a stainded glass pane, that will then be put together as the middle of a triple glazed pane by a glass company.

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IMO you need to make/have made the window frame and then get the glass made to fit that. No chance of anyone getting it wrong ?. I would have liked a similar window but we have a conservatory outside, our “upper  level” window makes the hallway a bit dark.

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All I can find searching, is the glass size should be about 5mm less than the "tight size"

 

But that seems the wrong way to approach it.

 

With a triple glazed window, there is the joining strip all around the edge (probably the wrong name) that joins the pains together.  I want the inner edge of that joining strip to line up with the visible size of the windows, just as all the glass units that came with my windows are.

 

So surely the overall window size will be the visible size plus the width of the joining strip at each side, with a check that the overall size is less than the tight size.  So I guess the question comes down to is there a standard size for the joining strip?

 

It will probably be 18 or 20mm gap between panes.

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20 minutes ago, ProDave said:

With a triple glazed window, there is the joining strip all around the edge (probably the wrong name) that joins the pains together.  I want the inner edge of that joining strip to line up with the visible size of the windows, just as all the glass units that came with my windows are.

Unless I misunderstand you it seems as though spacers are 6.5mm high for most widths.

https://www.thermosealgroup.com/products/spacer-bars/b7681

 

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If your other windows are from the same company can't you just measure the width of the glazing beads inside. Alternatively measure the overall width inside including glazing beads, less the visible area outside, then knock off 8mm to allow for the glass packers, and you have your answer.

Edited by RichS
typo
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All the other windows are fitted and sealed and I am not taking them apart to measure the glass size.

 

I will try talking to the glass company in the week and see what they say,  There are two of them here, one I tried before and were not terribly helpful so I will try the other one and see if they are better to deal with.

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18 minutes ago, MikeSharp01 said:

I would download a section drawing, I think you have Rationel windows, they will show you exactly. 

Interesting. Yes they are Rationel, but we bought this one without glass when the mad idea of the stained glass was hatched.  Do you have a link to that drawing?

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Okay found this for my window https://www.rationel.co.uk/media/1657781/new-auraplus-tgu-window-fixed-.pdf

 

It does not give me a dimension for what I want, but doing what all engineers will tell you not to, scaling from the drawing,  looks like my glass needs to be 12mm larger on each side than the visible size.  That ties nicely with the spacer dimensions above, and is less than I would have expected.

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I’ll look up the Fife guy I made some stained glass with at his workshop but from looking at other commissions he had on the go it’s more complex than you may think...

The big ones like yours need steel rods to support the stained glass. These are incorporated into the design and the leaded beads are soldered onto the bar and tied with wire to support the leaded glass.

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13 minutes ago, Tennentslager said:

I’ll look up the Fife guy I made some stained glass with at his workshop but from looking at other commissions he had on the go it’s more complex than you may think...

The big ones like yours need steel rods to support the stained glass. These are incorporated into the design and the leaded beads are soldered onto the bar and tied with wire to support the leaded glass.

Useful information.

 

We are thinking of having a go ourselves.  To make it more manegable, as it is a tall thin window, it will be split into three scenes, one above the other which can be tackled individually as three separate roughly 600mm square panes then joined together.

 

One thing we have found in our initial searching, is we can't find a UK supplier of the H profile lead to join the glass together.

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Keny Drew

http://www.eastneukglass.com/commissions/4593413321

I know you like ’good value’ @ProDave but reckon a commission this size will be ££££

If you do a full weekend workshop you can learn the basics and then maybe make your window in three squarish sections.

Its all about what you want...simple coloured glass is fairly easy but if you want painted insert add more time and expense.

On my second trip I made a combination of leaded glass with a fused glass insert, this is layers of glass laid on top of each other ( keeping the edge a single layer to it fits into the leaded beading) and then melting it overnight so it becomes one piece. A mixture of colours, glass rods for straight lines (like glass spaghetti) and ground glass in various mixtures for texture.

It looked fantastic but this is a craft that takes time. 
Keny is a friend of a friend but one of the nicest most helpful guys you’ll meet. Give him a call or book a course with the missus. There are a few specialist tools/machines that won’t be worth buying for one (or 3) windows. For instance the wet tray grounding machine that allows you to smooth the edges of cut glass, it also lets you cut  U shapes that are near impossible to do by hand. 
Another one is the stretching thing that is miraculous...put the H shaped lead in it and give it a good tug and the bead transforms into a super straight and taught strip ideal for forming.

Finally, I’d be disappointed with an angular stained glass as a feature and once you have seen glass painting (think of the church ones you have seen) or fusing you will definitely need a furnace or use of one.

 

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There is one nearer to us that runs such a course so we might enquire there.

 

The plan is for something quite basic, simple designs with a lot of plain glass to see through as well as coloured glass.  We know the principles.  At the moment where to source materials (glass and the H profile lead) is the main issues.

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2 hours ago, ProDave said:

It does not give me a dimension for what I want, but doing what all engineers will tell you not to, scaling from the drawing,  looks like my glass needs to be 12mm larger on each side than the visible size.  That ties nicely with the spacer dimensions above, and is less than I would have expected.

I downloaded the .dwg auraplus and I got 10.5 mm from Autocad. 

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