How-To

Looking for some easy holiday projects that you can make with the whole family? Here are a few great ideas courtesy of our friends at Diamond Tech International. There are a few great fusing projects and several simple mosaic ideas as well. Click on "Download the PDF" to print out the step-by-step project guides. Happy Crafting!

Does using a wider foil on my project make it stronger? Your project may be a little bit stronger with a wider foil since a wider solder line will tend to keep a seam from bending or flexing more than a narrower one. However, its not enough of a difference to be a major consideration in choosing a foil width for your project. The more likely reasons for choosing one foil width over another are: as a design feature. You may want wider or narrower solder lines in certain areas of your project. to account for thicker or thinner glass. Youll need to choose an appropriate width of foil to have your solder line remain a consistent width. If you think strength or structure is a problem, some reinforcing other than just a wider foil is going to be necessary. For minor reinforcing, ask your supplier for a reinforcing strip. These thin metal ribbons come on spools and can be used as an unobtrusive structural reinforcement. They are placed between foiled glass pieces before soldering. Running a bead of solder over the reinforcing strip hides it completely. Reprinted with permission from Stained Glass News. All rights reserved. Image pictur

Did you know that you can "sandwich" fabric (or paper) between glass just like you do with pressed flowers? It sure opens up a lot of possibilities for creating one-of-a-kind projects! Here's how: 1 Cut two pieces of thin clear glass (ideally, single strength or thinner) to match your pattern piece. Dull the edges of each piece, if necessary, with a fine grinder bit or scythe stone. 2 Carefully clean the surfaces of these pieces that will be on the inside of the sandwich. Once you have sandwiched the fabric inside the glass, you won't be able to clean the glass again. 3 Cut a piece of fabric to match the glass pieces you cut. 4 To create your sandwich, place the fabric on the bottom piece of glass (clean side up). Add the top piece of glass (clean side down). Now hold your sandwich together with a couple of heavy-duty rubber bands. (This is why you dulled the edges of the glass…sharp edges could cut through rubber bands.) 5 Apply a piece of copper foil to both pieces of glass at the same time, removing the rubberbands as necessary. You will likely need wider than average foil, depending how thin your glass is and how thick your fabric (or pa

I may be the only person this happens to, but why does the foil sticky-back goop squish out onto the glass when I solder? Nice description. The sticky-back goop is the adhesive that holds the copper foil to the glass. The reason that it squishes out is because it is melting from getting too hot. This is a common problem for people just learning to solder. It takes practice to lay a nice bead of solder. Beginners usually need to go back over the bead several times to make it neat. In this case, the entire area that you are soldering is getting heated up which may be causing the adhesive to melt. Try letting the area cool down before you fix up the solder bead. If you are lucky enough to lay a perfect bead of solder on the first try (good for you!), the melting problem may be caused by the temperature of your soldering iron. If you are using a rheostat with your iron, turn it down a little bit. If you arent, maybe you should be. Ask your supplier to help you decide on the best approach for your type of iron. If none of this helps, you may want to try moving your iron along a little more quickly when you solder. Reprinted with permission from Stained Glass News. All

When cutting out a pattern, where do you cut? With the proper scissors, is it on the line or left or right of the line? If, by proper scissors, you mean the three-bladed pattern shears, you want to cut by placing the center blade of the shears right on pattern line. The two outside blades will then cut the pattern on either side of the center blade. This removes a small strip of paper between each of the pattern pieces. You need to make sure youre using the right shears for the method of construction youve decided to use. Foil shears allow for two thicknesses of copper foil. Lead shears have a thicker center blade which allows for the heart of lead came. If you are using regular scissors (that dont have the extra blade) you will need to cut twice, once on each side of the line, for your pattern to be accurate. Reprinted with permission from Stained Glass News. All rights reserved.

This is the perfect time of year to spend some time outside . If you enjoy your garden and outdoor spaces, try making some fun wind chimes with your old wine bottles. Wine bottles are very sturdy, they will last a long time in the elements. The echo of sunlight through the glass is beautiful. You can use a single color of wine bottle in your chimes or mix it up with blue, clear or green. Add beads and some wire or colorful string to dress them up a bit. Try your hand at creating your own garden art and enjoy the music. This video tutorial explains how to make these beautiful wind chimes. Post and video courtesy of Cindy Shepard and Design Originals. For more great bottle art ideas, check out the Bottle Art book.

Heres how to safely connect your torch to the work table. 1. Collect the hardware. Youll need an L-bracket, one or two large adjustable hose clamps (big enough to fit around the Map gas tank) and a C-clamp (if you dont want to screw into your work surface). 2. Attach the L bracket . Screw the bracket directly into the table on the surface. If you prefer not to screw directly into the table, you can use a C-clamp to secure the bracket. Make sure it is tight enough to keep the bracket from slipping. 3. Secure the tank with hose clamps. Place both large adjustable hose clamps behind the vertical leg of the L-bracket before screwing the L-bracket to the table front. Place the MAPP gas into the hose clamps and turn the screws until the clamps are snug around the MAPP gas cylinder. Using two clamps will prevent the MAPP gas tank from tipping. Reprinted with permission from Stained Glass News. All Rights Reserved.

When I found Cindy Jenkins book Making Glass Beads back in 1998, I was immediately hooked on the idea of making glass beads. Id never seen handmade glass beads nor had I ever seen anyone make one. I was absolutely fascinated and I still am! Back then, the information was tough to find, but its much more popular now. I hope the following information will ease you into the fun world of making your own glass beads. Glass beadmaking is probably one of the easiest mediums to get started in when it comes to the tools and equipment you will need. Lets start by looking at the basic equipment: Torch A good beginning torch is the Hot Head Torch which was made specifically for beadmaking. It burns hot and clean and runs off of a small MAPP gas tank (see description below). Work Surface Find an old table or desk. Youll want to cover the work area with a nonflammable surface. You can use a cookie sheet, a sheet of stainless steel, or a ceramic or marble tile to top your work area. Connector for Torch To connect the torch to the work surface, you will need an L bracket and two large adjustable hose clamps (to fit the diameter of the Mapp gas tank and connect the tank to

Delphi artist and veteran class instructor Julie Hann shares with us her latest Halloween project. This clever spider web bowl was created in the kiln using basic supplies and a bit of imagination. The free step-by-step project guide, first published in Fired Arts & Crafts Magazine, will show you how to make your own spooky spider web bowl. It also includes fusing schedules and a suggested supply list. Many of these products are available at DelphiGlass.com. Buy Supplies from Delphi now, or download the free project guide below. Download Free Project Guide Viewing these downloadable file requires the use of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader or a similar program. If you do not have the reader on your system, you may download Adobe from their website. This project was reprinted with permission from Fired Arts and Crafts Magazine . For more great projects like these, subscribe to FAC!

Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention , and sometimes invention comes when you have nothing to lose. Early in my career, I had three metal-clay-and-fused-glass pendants fail in a single day. The glass cabochons simply shattered and fell away from the silver after the pieces were fired because I had neglected to cut an expansion hole underneath the cabochons. Augghh! Lesson learned. But now I was left with three ugly pieces of silver, each with small pieces of glass permanently fused into bizarre locations on the surfacea loss I could not afford. Weeks later, after tryingunsuccessfully to remove the glass, I decided to try fusing glass in patterns onto the surface of the pendants. The results were surprising, and the Stained Glass process was born This technique begins with any fired metal clay with a flat surface. Small shards of fusible glass are then attached to the silver. After cooling, Metal Clay Syringe Type is applied around the glass surface to encase the glass, and the pendant is fired again. The resulting pendant can even be placed in a tumbler without damaging the glass! However, if the glass is not encased with syringe work, the two dissimilar mater

Can you please tell me the correct way to mitre the lead for diamonds? Diamonds can be tricky. This diagram shows the way we would go about cutting the lead for a diamond. We find the easiest way to decide where to mitre the lead is by drawing lines on the diamond connecting the opposite points. Then, put a piece of lead on the glass and extend that line onto the lead. Now remove the lead and cut it where you marked. Replace it on the glass, lining it up where it belongs and mark the other end of that piece of lead. Cut it, replace it, and continue until all of the pieces of lead are cut. Reprinted with permission from Stained Glass News . All rights reserved.