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Just look at their thumbs! They are lined with little cuts! Right! So annoying! Comes from pushing little pieces of glass against the grinding wheel. Unlike when we started out in business in 1988, now there is a gadget to solve your every problem. There are lots to solve the cut thumb problem. Above: Thumb Pushers by Inland. Sku 2753tp. Low price and simple and easy to use. Above: Grinder tongs by Morton. Morton is the gadget king of the glass industry. Of course, they would have something. Sku 2779ga04 Above: The most substantial solution is by Glastar. The Griffi Glass Gripper. Sku 2051 Above: The most unusual solution are Finger Gloves. Not really made for this purpose but folks tell us they use them for grinding. Sku fg

The basic thing to remember here is that Lead Came stretches. That really is the base fact in deciding when to use what. Use Foil. 1. Lamp Shades should always be done in foil. All those beautiful Tiffany Studio lamp shades were done with foil. He was the master so just do what he did! If you make a lamp with lead, over time it will collapse unless you reinforce the lead. That just adds to the work and to the weight. 2. Lead is heavy. If weight is an issue, use foil. 3. Items like jewelry boxes should be foiled. It is way easier to deal with the angles with foil. 4. When you have little pieces that will be lost in the lead, use foil. You can even mix. A lead came panel can have a section that is foiled. Most little projects are done with foil. Use Lead. 1. When you are making a project that will be in the weather, use came. Came can be puttied/cemented to make it more weather tight. 2. Geometrical patterns lend themselves nicely to lead came. 3. Really large piece, like Church window are nice with lead came because of the size. The boldness of the came fits the size. To get the bold width with foil would be difficult and probably irregular. Came stays nice and uniform. 4. Even though lead stretches, it takes time. Most Church windows do not need to be releaded for 100 years. When you see that a window is budging at the bottom, you can usually bet that it is old and the lead has expanded and contracted over time and the weight of the glass has been pushing down during this unseen activity. If you used foil on a window that is exposed to weather and weight, you may see stress cracks in the glass.

In addition to there being different types of glass which we talked about in Know Your Glass (part 1) there are also different glass manufacturers. The manufacturers that we stock glass from at Stained Glass Express are: Armstong—Clarity, richness and depth in art glass! It is difficult to know what is going on with Armstrong. They moved their factory to China many years ago and then came back. However, they no longer had a factory. So we heard it was being manufactured by Wissmach and Kokomo. We see no evidence of that and are not sure where it comes from. However, it is totally beautiful. We try to stock 24 different # but are not always successful as the supply is not consistent. Bullseye—Is based on Portland, Oregon. I toured they plant a couple of years ago and it is very impressive. They manufacture “colored glass for art and architecture with worldwide distribution and a strong commitment to research, education and promoting glass art”. They really are leaders in comtemporary kiln-glass. Their colors are rich and beautiful. Kokomo—Kokomo is oldest glass manufacturer. They have been in Kokomo, Indiana for 125 years. They are known worldwide for they hand mixed sheet glass art and colored glass. Even though Tiffany manufactured his own glass he also bought a lot of glass and jewels from Kokomo. Much of Kokomo’s glass was influenced by Mr. Tiffany. One of our favorites. Firebox—We tired our hand at importing. We have 8 beautiful colors that with a great deal of effort we managed to get here. The price is right and the colors are wonderful. Our of the 10 colors we brought in we had the forethought to bring in two reds and one pink. So while reds and pinks prices have really risen, we have some that remains affordable! GNA—GNA stands for German New Antique. Unfortunately the color glass is being eliminated and only the clear will remain. We still have some that is our clearance bin and some mirrored that is in the mirror section. However, when it is gone, it is gone. We will continue to carry the clear. It is very beautiful. Fine lines run through it and nothing cuts better! Spectrum—We stock more spectrum than anything else. We stock stained glass, fusing glass and cabinet glass from Spectrum. It cuts great and they just keep coming out with more and more fun and beautiful products. They give great retailer support. That is where The Score with its info and free patterns come from. I have toured their factory and it is BIG business! Uroboros—I also toured here. I watched each sheet being handmade! They have been in business since 1973. They have a “broad range of beaufiul and indispensable sheet glass styles for discerning glass artists worldwide.” On glass unloading days we live for the uroboros sheets. Each sheet is different and beautiful. Van Gogh—We are not certain if Van Gogh is a manufacturer but it sure is different than anything else. What I have read is that it is a glue chip glass, painted with auto paint. It is unique and beautiful. It is great for Mosaics. Not so great in the light. Wissmach—This is another very old glass manufacturer. They have been manufacturing art glass since 1904. I have toured this plant also. They let us hand pick some glass which they then drop shipped through our distributor. It was a very fun experience. We have a large stock of Wissmach and it is often the pick to match old repairs and church windows. They have also developed a fusible glass with a 90 coe. Youghiogheny—It is just beautiful glass. Each piece is a work of art. It was founded in 1976 and is now “world-renowned for uncompromising quality”. It is another one that we look forward to on glass unloading day. It is always a treat!

So many pliers—so many uses! Your first plier should be a breaker/grozer. Double duty! Their primary function is to grasp the glass securely on one side of a score when breaking it apart. Both jaws have serrated teeth to assist in their second duty, grozing. Second pair you should buy is probably a running plier. This plier is designed to apply pressure under a score causing the break to follow (run) along the score line. Metal ones have the advantage of being adjustable for the thickness of the glass you are working with. Plastic also available. Breakers. These have straight jaws and are designed to grasps the glass to assist in breaking long thin pieces of glass. The wide jaws meet only at the tip and not serrated. The Safety Break. Morton is a very clever company who make very clever tools. One is the safety break system. The small one is a two-part method that begins the start of the break anywhere along the score. It permits several glass breaking options to the user and comes with full instructions. You must have a grid surface to use it. I used this when my children were young and wanted to cut glass. Morton also has the M-80 Safety Break. It is powerful, safe and easy. The M-80 is helpful with textured or rippled glass.

Lampworking is also called flame working or torch working or bead making. All those words make sense to the process except Lampworking which is the official name of the process. So, I looked it up. It is called lampworking because way back when this process started they did it by oil-fueled lamps while blowing air into the flame through a pipe. So there you go! This type of glasswork is where a torch is primarily used to melt the glass. Once it is molten, it is formed by shaping with tools and hand movements. Lampworking is different from glassblowing in that glassblowing uses a furnace called a glory hole as the primary heat source. The methods today use torches that burn propane or natural gas for the fuel. It is mixed with air or pure oxygen as the oxidizer. MAPP gas in portable canisters can be used.

Jewels are made of stained glass pressed into many different shapes. They are convex and can be smooth, but most are multi-faceted. They have a lot of sparkle. They vary in price by color and shape. Sets are available for some of the lamps patterns that are built on molds. Normal sizes go from 18mm to 50mm. Prices range from a dollar something for a small clear to hundreds of dollars for a lamp set. Nuggets are blobs of glass that are also very decorative. They are not as regular shaped as a jewel. They are round but might not be perfectly round. Their size also varies. Generally they are available in three sizes, small, medium and large. However, the smalls might not all be the same size etc. The sizes for small go from 5/16” to 5/8”. Medium go up to 13/16” and large are approx. 1”. They are way more inexpensive than a jewel. Prices range from 4 cents to 30cents approx.. Gems are mostly like the medium size nuggets. They have more interest. They might be iridized, frosted, cats eyed, or swirled. They sell for about 30 cents. Pebbles are mostly like small nuggets but are fusible. They are generally a little over $10 for a ½ lb.

Probably the most important tool decision you make is your glass cutter. There are a lot to choose from. There are two things to consider. What the wheel is made of and which shape is most comfortable for you. The heads will be either steel or carbide. Carbide is more expensive but far outlasts steel. Most of the steel cutters are what people call “ throw aways”. That is because they do not have replacement wheels. When they get dull you just throw them away. The steel wheels come in different sizes and different angles. Some are better for soft glass and others for hard glass. The size and angle determine this. You can purchase a steel wheel cutter (at this writing) for less than $10. The carbide cutters are way more expensive. Some can be in the $40 range. Many are self-lubricating which is very convenient. The most common shapes are pencil and pistol. There is also the saddle and then some more unique ones. There are also specialty cutters. There is the Score 1 Cutter that looks like a sewing machine and scores by running the glass through it. There are circle cutters that cut score with either a single head cutter or with a wheel turret. There are circle cutters specifically for small circles. Some circle cutters double as a strip cutter. There is even one that doubles as an oval cutter. There are also a series of cutter aides put out by Morton and Cutters Mate. These are things like jig systems and tools to help break after you have scored.

Uroborus 60541. Cobalt blue with sky blue! Beautiful. We have lights made from it also. I'll get a picture with those in it next week.

Uroboros 60541 cobalt blue with sky blue, cobalt blue rondells and cobalt blue dalle glass smashed up! Artist is Jane Burke. Note glass counter top. Spandral glass! Beautiful.

This heart is a Switchable. It can be a night light, a suncatcher, a plant stake, or as shown. Your sweetheart would love it!

The tough economy of 2011 and 2012 caused some glass manufacturing to cease. The GNA (german new antique) factory has now been closed for some time. At first it was thought that it would be retooled and reopened. That has not happened. The distributors are now beginning to run out of some of the numbers and we thinking that 2013 will see most of the numbers run out. This also includes the beautiful mirrored gna that many use in mosaics. We are also going to lose Glue Chip this year. We will continue to be able to get clear but the colored is going to disappear. Again, the distributors have already run out of some numbers so 2013 looks bleak for a continued strong stock. Wasser is also disappearing. This is a less commonly used glass, but some have made beautiful fused jewelry and plates with it. It is a thin 90 coe glass. This one is disappearing very fast. We have already moved this glass out of our "stock" bins and moved it to the clearance bins. We will continue to order as long as it is available but we cannot guarantee the stock. If you use this glass for projects you make over and over, now is the time to stock up. We will replace the gna with some spectrum artique and stock a few more bullseye thins to replace wasser. There is nothing like the colored glue chip so we will have a great time picking so some new glass to go into those empty bins.