Approx. Material Cost: $20-$50 (Prices will vary depending on glass and came selected)
Experience Required: None
Type of Class: Demonstration and hands-on project
Class Description: Students will be taught the basic copper foil method, including safety, types of glass, patterns, cutting, grinding, foiling, soldering, cleaning, patinas, and framing. NOTE: You may want to bring a snack/lunch for an optional lunch break or you may go out to get lunch.
Safety: Please do not work with solder or lead if you are expecting. Closed toe shoes are preferred. Safety glasses should be worn (will be provided if needed).
Tools & Materials Included: Use of our grinders, saws, glass cutting and soldering tools
Additional Tools & Materials: Glass for your project - cathedral or wispy only, you may want to purchase extra glass – contact store staff for more info if needed.
Came - #5604 3/8" zinc, or # 5612 3/8" copper, 1-6 ft. piece
Optional Tools & Mateirals: #6980A Ez-Pro Stained Glass Start-Up Kit OR #6992 Premium Start-Up Kit OR #69100 Deluxe Stained Glass Took Kit #2404
NOTE: Students need to purchase glass and came before the day of class if possible. We have free patterns for the class. Please ask for one for your glass selection.
Pros : Steena was a very patient instructor answering a myriad of questions and providing hands on how to. It was intense for sure... completing a full project of this size in one day. I took this class as a brush up and learned so many new techniques and tools of the trade. I came prepared with pen and pad and did take notes! I'm proud of the beautiful piece I created. I'm looking forward to my next (shorter) class. Lol!
Cons : There's a level of stress involved in trying to complete a piece in one day. However, for the out of towners... it makes sense. I myself am local and would opt for a two day class or a shorter project next time. I was exhausted by the end of class as were some of my classmates and perhaps our instructor as well. So worth it though for the added skills I obtained.
Other Thoughts : I'm happy to have enough info to confidently work on projects at home. I know I can call the store anytime to ask questions as well. The staff are all most helpful and kind.
Pros : We traveled from Mentor OH to take the class! I learned a lot from Jeanette and the store was awesome! I was like a kid in a candy store! It was worth the drive and would come back. Cannot stress how much Jeanette was helping everyone she very knowledgeable and super professional and fun! Great person! My hubby made a lot of new girlfriends too!! Lol! Gina
Cons : There weren’t any!!!
Other Thoughts : Wishing for a closer store to CLE area!
Pros : Incredibly knowledgeable instructor, great option for people from out of town or who can't commit to a multiple-week class, all of the steps to get started in stained glass in one day! A wealth of information and instruction with immediate feedback from a professional on how you can improve your technique--something you can't get from a book or video!
Cons : Trying to go through all of the steps in your first stained glass project in one day is certainly "intense" (there's a reason most introductory classes span several weeks), so you might feel a little rushed, but if you show up well-rested and ready to learn, you will get so much out of this class.
Other Thoughts : Roy is an outstanding teacher! He has many years of experience and a passion for glass, yet he's approachable and was very supportive of everyone in the class even though we varied in experience and skill level. He showed us how to perform each step of the process as a beginner and what precautions to take to get the best results, but he also demonstrated how an experienced professional would typically do the same step and explained how and why you might eventually adapt your technique over time. Definitely take a multi-week class if you can (so you can spread out the instructions and absorb them more effectively), but that wasn't an option for me. To get so much out of just one day fully met my expectations and was exactly what I needed.
Tips for an all-day class:
1. Pack a lunch (skip the restaurants) and have a quick picnic outside to maximize class time.
2. Plan on coming back another day just to browse the store, especially to pick out glass!
What an experience! Thanks, Ro
Pros : I appreciated the cadence of the exposure and training. The templates were good for a first timer!
Cons : Would have liked to practice soldering before doing it for the first time on the piece I was working on, but I appreciate that it could be wasteful, and the ability to fix first time mistakes is relatively easy - I just didn’t have confidence in that part of the process.
Pros : Roy was a fantastic teacher, with a great sense of humor. I love that you get to complete a project from start to finish in a single (long!) day. Roy stayed late to make sure everyone finished up. It was also great that you didn't have to bring any tools... just purchase the glass you wanted to use for the project. Highly recommend!
Cons : Not a thing.
Other Thoughts : My class had people from near (Lansing) and far (Sweden!), which was really cool.
Pros : we had a class size of 5 so we had plenty of ono on one time with the instructor, being able to pick any glass for my project was fun...l did the sail boat and was able to find many of the pieces in the scrap bin...there was some incredible white ripple for the sails...that I managed to mangle and make mine a 3 sail boat instead of the customary 2.
Cons : very few cons, the class was well planned and the instructor was very patient with all of the beginners.. the only thing?? no cutting oil? at home I oil my wheel before every score, in class...not a drop...I feel I would have had a better chance with that white ripple if I didn't have a dry cutting wheel.
Other Thoughts : looking forward to a more advanced class...
Pros : I liked that this class went over EVERYTHING you'd need to get started. Daisy was a great instructor and led an independent and engaging glass. The panels we made are pretty big, which is nice because many beginning classes send you home with a tiny window hanger for the same price.
Cons : The pattern tracing technique can be pretty challenging for beginners. Many in my class had some BIG gaps to fill with solder. Teaching the resist method may be more helpful and reduce rework later-on when several of us had to re-cut pieces because they didn't fit and would be too small if we tried fixing them with grinding.
We also ran out of time at the end and were rushing to get our pieces framed and apply patina and finishing compound. I felt like we were given too much time to pick our glass. Some people took a very long time and left the rest of the class waiting for the next step.
Pros : Steena was a very good instructor. She was patient and encouraging. This class lived up to its name. I learned a little bit about every step of creating a stain glass project; beginning to end. It was an excellent class for me who knew nothing about stain glass.
Cons :
Other Thoughts : I enjoyed everyone in the class - instructor and classmates.
Pros : We finished a project and got to take it home.
Cons : The instructor used tools that were not in the kits that we bought, and we had to buy more than just the kit.
Other Thoughts : It would have been nice if the instructor had walked around the table giving each of us, individual help, at each step, throughout the class, and then worked on her project, after all students were well underway with the given task. It would also be nice if she had used the same tools that we had in our kits. You can tell she has done this a long time, because steps that seemed common sense to her, we had no idea about. She just assumed we knew what we were doing, and really, several of us, had no clue.
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