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Soldering Glass

The Secrets to Perfect Lines

To achieve a professional quality in your art work, you need to go beyond functional by making lines smooth and consistent.




Steps by Step Directions

1. Heat your iron to 68 on the temperature controller.
2. Use an abrasive pad to clean your iron tip before you begin and periodically as you work.





3. Lightly apply flux to a section of the stained glass project you are working on.



4. Using 60/40 solder, unroll it to a manageable length, then lightly touch the area to be worked on.
5. When soldering glass, place the solder on the tip of your iron, move both at a slow constant rate following the fluxed copper foil.









6. When you need to end, do not just move the iron vertically off, but rather slide the iron toward the glass.

Common Problems and the Solutions

When the amount of flux is too little, portions of the copper foil will remain visible.

If your lines are lumpy, you need to turn up the heat on your iron. Do this in small increments.

If your glass cracks, your iron was too hot or you held it too long in one spot.

The quality of your lines represents the professionalism of your work. Do not rush it.

While a patina will mask some inconsistencies in your lines, others will still be noticeable and take away from the professional look of your piece.

Don't work out to the perimeter of your stained glass piece, leave approximately 1/4" along the edge. This will allow the zinc came to fit over your glass.

Now add zinc frame

Time to do your Zinc Came Frame.