Hake brush

Bamboo handle hake brush

The hake (pronounced hah–kay) brush was developed in the far east.  It has several variations – the original consisted of a group of bamboo brushes bound together in a line.  These are still made and used. Many modern hake brushes have a broad wooden handle with a wide line of hairs.  These brushes are made of very fine, soft hairs - often goat hair is used. 

Flat wooden hake brushes

The flat hake brushes are most often cheaper and in a wider variety of sizes than the bamboo ones.  I prefer the bamboo for the feel in the hand that the broad handle gives.  With the longer hairs, it holds more moisture and delivers even amounts of kiln wash even with long strokes. 

Use

These brushes can hold a lot of moisture and deliver it evenly.  This makes it good for laying  down large areas of even colour in watercolours, and in glass painting. The same characteristic makes it very good for coating shelves with kiln wash.  The brush should be filled liberally with the paint or kiln wash. The brush should be gently shaken to remove any excess. Hold the brush nearly vertical and let the bristles barely touch the surface as you move along in smooth sweeps across the surface.  This allows the kiln wash to be evenly spread with very few brush marks.

Maintenance

One drawback of these brush is that the fine soft hairs are difficult to bind into the ferrule.  This results in the brushes often shedding hairs onto the shelf as it is being coated. A tip I learned from Bullseye is to treat the new hake brush with superglue at the base of the hairs. It does not have to be super glue.  It can be any runny glue, or diluted PVA.  I prefer super glue, even though it is reported to have some sensitivity to moisture. You can work the glue into the centre by using a needle to poke at the hairs to move the glue toward the centre of the bristles.  The glue binds the hairs in addition to the binding at the ferrule, and so keeps the brush from shedding. 

I did this on my bamboo handle hake brush a couple of years ago and it is not yet shedding hairs during applications of kiln wash.

Make sure you clean the bristles immediately after using to avoid any material drying among the hairs and causing them to break when next used.  To clean the brush, you only need running water run through the bristles.  Do not scrub the bristles against anything.  The hairs are delicate.  Set the brush aside horizontally to allow water to drip off and the hairs to dry.  Setting the brush upside down when wet allows water into the bindings of the hairs.  Putting it with the hairs down onto a surface deforms the hairs, making it difficult to straighten them later.

A hake brush is among the most useful tools to put kiln wash onto shelves and moulds because it holds so much moisture.  It does require maintenance to ensure the hairs do not shed and that the delicate hairs are not broken.

What are enamels?

Not all enamels are equal

Enamel paints

This description refers to a paint that air dries (or with minimal heat) to a hard finish (usually gloss). Most commercially available enamel paints are significantly softer than either vitreous enamel or heat cured synthetic resins. The term "enamel paint" generally is used to describe oil-based covering products, usually with a significant gloss finish. Many latex or water-based paints have adopted the term.

Enamel paint has come to mean a "hard surfaced paint" and usually is in reference to paint brands of higher quality, floor coatings of a high gloss finish. Most enamel paints are alkyd resin based. Some enamel paints have been made by adding varnish to oil-based paint. Enamels paint can also refer to nitro-cellulose based paints. Nitro-cellulose enamels are also commonly known as modern lacquers.  These have been largely replaced by synthetic coatings like alkyd, acrylic and vinyl.

More information at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enamel_paint

Enamel paints are used for coating surfaces that are outdoors or otherwise subject to hard wear, or variations in temperature.  A widespread application is in paints for cars. It is also used frequently to decorate or label bottles due to the low curing temperatures of some formulations.

Vitreous enamels 

Vitreous enamels are used in a variety of circumstances.  Metal signs are most frequently enamel coated; they are used in ceramics as over glazes;  and they are used on glass in many circumstances.

Vitreous Enamel is simply a thin layer of glass fused at high temperature on to the surface of a metal or glass. Vitreous Enamel can be defined as a material which is a vitreous solid obtained by smelting or fritting a mixture of inorganic materials.  The word enamel comes from the High German word ‘smelzan’ and from the Old French ‘esmail’.

The key ingredient of vitreous enamel is finely ground glass frit. Colour in enamel is obtained by the addition of various minerals and metal oxides. 

Vitreous enamel is made by smelting naturally occurring minerals, such as sand, feldspar, borax, soda ash, and sodium fluoride at temperatures between 1200°C and 1350°C  until all the raw materials have dissolved. The molten glass which is formed is either quenched into water or through water-cooled rollers. This rapid cooling prevents crystallisation. The resulting frit is ground in a rotating ball mill either to produce a water-based slurry or a powder.

At the milling stage, other minerals are added to give the properties and colour required of the final enamel. Different enamel colours can be mixed to make a new colour, in the manner of paint. Enamel can be transparent, opaque or opalescent.

More information at: 

https://www.vea.org.uk/what-is-enamel/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitreous_enamel

https://www.iom3.org/vitreous-enamellers-society/vitreous-enamel-information

Metal enamelling

Modern frit for enamelling steel is typically an alkali borosilicate glass with a thermal expansion and glass temperature suitable for coating steel and other metals. Raw materials are smelted together between 1,150 and 1,450°C (2,100 and 2,650°F) into a liquid glass that is directed out of the furnace and thermal shocked with either water or steel rollers into frit. Vitreous enamel is often applied as a powder or paste and then fired at high temperature. This process gives vitreous enamel its unique combination of properties. The smooth glass-like surface is hard; it is scratch, chemical and fire resistant. It is easy to clean and hygienic.  It all started 3500 years ago in Cyprus. Since 1500 BC, enamelling has been a durable, attractive and reliable material.

More information at: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitreous_enamel

https://www.vea.org.uk/what-is-enamel/ 

Enamels in Ceramics

Overglaze decoration, overglaze enamelling or on-glaze decoration are all names for the method of decorating pottery, where the coloured decoration is applied on top of the already fired and glazed surface, and then fixed in a second firing at a relatively low temperature.  The colours fuse on to the glaze, so the decoration becomes durable. This decorative firing is usually done at a lower temperature which allows for a varied and vivid palette of colours, using pigments which will not colour correctly at the high temperature necessary to fire the clay body.

More information at:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overglaze_decoration

Glass Enamels

Glass enamels are produced in the same way as enamels for metals and ceramics.  The frit characteristics are adjusted for various applications and temperatures.  This combination of finely ground frit and metals for colouring are often combined with a binder or carrier medium.  It is similar to vitreous enamel on metal surfaces, but the supporting surface is glass. It is also close to "enamelled" overglaze decoration on pottery, especially on porcelain, and it is thought likely that the technique passed from metal to glass (probably in the Islamic world), and then in the Renaissance from glass to pottery (perhaps in Bohemia or Germany). 

Glass may be enamelled by sprinkling a loose powder on a flat surface, painting or printing a slurry, or painting or stamping a binder and then sprinkling it with powder, which will adhere.  The powdered frit can be in the ceramic on-glaze composition suitable for fusing or casting temperatures, or it can be adjusted for slumping temperatures as in the traditional glass stainers’ enamels. It can produce brilliant and long-lasting colours, and be transparent, translucent or opaque. Generally, the desired colours only appear when the piece is fired, adding to the artist's difficulties.

More information at:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enamelled_glass

The term enamel is applied to a wide variety of coating materials.  The range of usage is indicated, and the manufacture and applications of vitreous enamels is indicated.  The term enamel is not properly applied to finely ground coloured glass in a medium.

Darkening leads

There are several ways to darken the leads in leaded panels. Three are to:

use patina on the leads,

brush with on stove blackening with a soft brush, and

simply brush after cementing.

A certain number of people use black patina to darken the leads after cementing and cleaning the panel.  This certainly gives a black result, but it introduces an acid to the panel. I do not do this, nor do I recommend it.

Another method of darkening is to apply stove blackening or black oil paint to the panel to make the leads dark.  I recommend that you put very small amounts on a soft brush and then brush over the leads.  It might have to have a little more colour added for a large panel, but that is better than having to clean up large areas of smudged black over the glass, especially with painted glass.

credit: PicClick UK

But...

You can darken lead came without patina or black colour.  You finish the panel with the scrubbing brush to push whiting against the fillet of lead light cement against the leads as normal.  This has the effect of cleaning the glass as well as stiffening the cement at the edge of the cames. Remove the excess whiting as normal.

But, before picking out all the excess cement once the scrubbing brush process is finished, use a soft brush, such as a shoe brush, over the whole panel.  This can be mechanised by using a soft bristled mop in a drill motor on a slow to medium speed.  This will pick up colour from the cement and spread it evenly over the lead and solder joints. It will give a dark grey appearance to the whole of the leading and solder joints as well as polish up the glass. 

The degree of shine will be dependent on the amount of time you wish to spend, but can be a polished to a very dark grey to black colour.  This will last longer than simple black colour brushed onto the leads, as it is bound by the linseed oil in the cement to the surface of the leads. Also, it quickly dries so that not so much black is transferred to your hands as you handle it.

Making lead cames black during the finishing of a leaded panel is as simple as brushing over the cames before picking out all the excess lead light cement.

Consignment

Why sell on consignment?

Biscuit Factory, Newcastle

Benefits

Consignment arrangements can add income additional to your other strategies of online, direct sales, craft fairs, pop-up shops, etc. 

It can develop new customers, and develop growth in both commercial and artistic terms. 

It exposes your work to new and different customers.

It can provide opportunities to partner with another small business (the shop) and benefit from mutual promotion.  

Craft fairs are not a long term means to sell your work.  Fairs are concentrated at certain times of the year.  You cannot attend all of them anyway.

Consignment spreads the income over the seasons.

Down sides

Your stock is tied up in the shop.

Your craft fair and online prices need to be similar to the retail prices at the shop(s) to which you consign work.

Further Action

Consignment can be beneficial to your sales, but it does require preparation and effort. 

You need to investigate shops and prepare for a meeting with the owners. You need to have a written contract even with friends and it should include all the elements and assumptions for the arrangements.

If you decide to pursue consignment arrangements, there are several things you need to consider and prepare.

• Finding suitable shops and stores and assessing them.
• Preparation for meeting the owner.
• Knowing your terms
• Placing and promotion of your work.
• Maintaining the relationship.
• Wholesaling

These aspects of consignment are the subject of postings to come.

Selection of a gallery or shop in which to place your work is a complex interaction of commission levels; the value you place on your time in preparing for and attending craft fairs or putting your work online; the perceived prestige of the shop/gallery; the potential relationship between you and the outlet; and the relationship of the consignment, wholesale and retail prices.

Other posts on consignment:

Are consignment rates fair? 

Consignment

Consignment Agreements

Consignment Rates

Consignment Venues

Consignment Rates

The most common comments about the rates for consignment of pieces to a gallery or gift shop are that they are not fair. They are too high. The gallery is greedy. And so on. How do you judge whether the commission rates are fair?  What are the factors that should be considered?

Time

How much is your time worth?  

Think about the amount of time used to prepare, promote and attend craft fairs, pop up shops, or prepare for and administer online selling. Could you be using that time to make more things, or be with your family?  How much would it improve your quality of life to have to do less selling?

Costs

What are the costs of attending craft fairs?  

    You have to acquire display materials, whether you make or buy them.  You must travel to the event.  You have to be prepared to accept breakage risks from repeated movement of the pieces.  You must pay for the space at the craft fair.

Customer base

Is the shop’s market different than yours at craft fairs or online marketplaces?  

    Shops have a different clientele than craft fairs or online shops.  They spend effort in attracting customers.  They know their clientele and what kind of things will sell to them.  They are aware of the pricing levels needed for their visitors.

Decision

Answering these questions about time, costs and customer base will give you an assessment of whether consignment commission rates being offered are fair. 

Other posts on consignment:

Consignment

Consignment Agreements

Consignment Rates

Consignment Venues

Soldering Irons and Rheostats

People often want to have variable temperatures for decorative soldering.

It is recommended to use a rheostat in circumstances where the soldering iron does not have an internal temperature control.

A rheostat is NOT a temperature controller.

Action of a Rheostat
A rheostat actually reduces the power supplied to the iron, thereby making it take longer to heat or re-heat after a period of soldering. Without a rheostat, if an iron is left idle, it will eventually reach its maximum temperature. This is usually too hot for soldering lead, but OK for joining other metals. With a rheostat, if an iron is left idle with the rheostat set to (say) '6', it will still reach its maximum temperature but very much slower than the one without a rheostat.

Action of a Temperature Controlled Iron
Temperature controlled soldering irons attempt to maintain a set temperature. This is controlled by the combination of the microchip in the iron and the tip. So to adjust your temperatures all you need is a few different tips. For example, a number 7 tip lets your iron heat to 700F degrees. For decorative soldering your need tips of lower temperatures, usually a number 6 or 600F degree is enough of a reduction for most decorative stuff. A number 8 tip (800F) will let you work at a higher temperature if you work quickly.

Differences in Soldering Speed
Using an iron without a rheostat, provided you work relatively quickly, you will probably be able to solder all the joints in a small or medium panel without stopping to let the iron 'catch up'. In this case the temperature is controlled by the heating power of the iron balanced by the cooling effect of making the soldered joints.Using an iron with a rheostat, you will need to slow down a little if you are to do that same panel without stopping to let the iron re-heat. In this case the temperature of the iron is controlled by the (reduced) heating power of the iron balanced by the same cooling effect of making the soldered joints.This difference is caused by the fact that a temperature-controlled iron, if it is left idle, it will quickly reach its maximum operating temperature - just as quickly as an un-controlled iron of the same power. When you start soldering, the cooling effect will trigger the temperature controller to provide full power until the operating temperature is reached again.

Advantages of a Temperature Controlled Iron
You can buy an iron (not temperature controlled) and a rheostat but buying tips for the temperature controlled iron is cheaper. The big advantage of the temperature-controlled iron is that you know it will never get too hot for the work you are doing, and that it truly provides that 100 watts (or whatever) power to keep it hot even when you are soldering at top speed.

Soldering irons

General
Historically soldering tips were copper, placed in braziers. One tip at a time was used; when the heat had transferred from the tip to the solder (and depleted the heat reserve) it was placed back in the brazier of charcoal and the next tip was used.

Much later gas irons were in common use. These used a gas jet to heat the soldering bolt/tip. They are very fast, but require significant amounts of experience to properly regulate the temperature.

Currently, electric soldering irons are used; they consist of coil or ceramic heating elements, which retain heat differently, and warm up the mass differently, with internal or external rheostats, and different power ratings - which change how long a bead can be run.

Selection
The soldering iron used must be of a high enough wattage to readily melt the solder and be able to reheat fast enough to maintain the necessary melting temperature. The tip can't be so small it can't maintain the heat and not so big it covers much more area than wanted.

For soldering leaded panels a 100w iron with a 3/8" temperature controlled tip that maintains a constant 370°C (700° F) is suitable.

For copper foil a higher temperature controlled tip is used. This normally runs at 425°C (800°F). Sometimes a tip of ¼” is used where more delicate beads are being run. But there is little difference in the resulting bead - only that the smaller bit takes slightly longer to heat up.

If a lot of soldering is required that has sustained heat requirements, you might consider a 200W iron. These can deliver heat more quickly and evenly than those with lesser wattage.

Trimming the Came on Site

There are a variety of reasons for the panel not fitting the opening easily. These can range from poor measurements through parallel, or trapezoidal openings to irregular perimeters of the openings.

In the cases of irregular openings, you can trim the edge cames if you have used 12mm (1/2”) or more wide came. The quickest way of trimming cames to fit the opening is to use a rasp or “surform” tool. The open nature of the teeth, allows the lead to fall away. It is much quicker than using a lead knife, and it puts less pressure on the panel.

Reinforcement

Reinforcement is probably the most important design element in stained glass. Without adequate reinforcement, all other effort and results are secondary, because an inadequately reinforced work will not survive, and that is sad.

GuidelinesThere are no all-encompassing reinforcement rules. There are however some basic guidelines:

• Restrict non-reinforced panels to between 2 and 4 perimeter metres (a rectangle of 1 by .5 meters up to a square of 1 meter).
• An abundance of horizontal or vertical lead lines within the leading concept are most likely best served by a vertical reinforcement system.
• A diagonal or bent reinforcement bar dilutes its reinforcement capacity in proportion as it deviates from the straight. Such supports serve to merely stiffen the section.
• Know that most reinforcement systems provide only lateral reinforcement.
• In most architectural situations which adhere to sections of 4 perimeter metres, reinforcement will usually be 12” to 18" apart in vertical accommodations, with an average around 15".
• Placement of reinforcement should be established on the initial scale layout in which the design is to be done. It should not be an addition after the whole is designed. That increases the likelihood that the reinforcement will be an intrusion upon the design.
• Very tall or wide windows should have an armature of some sort. This is commonly "T" bars for the panels to rest upon without transferring their weight to the panel below. Other more complicated armatures can be seen in large windows, such as at Canterbury Cathedral.

With diamond and other quarry lights, reinforcement placement cannot always be equally spaced. In such instances, it is probably best to have the shortest distances between the reinforcement at the base of the section where the weight creates the greatest likelihood of buckling.

Instagram as a place to sell

What it is

Instagram is a place to show work and get followers.  It is a photo and video sharing site owned by Facebook.  It is a place to tell visual stories that lead to direct message conversations that can lead to sales.  But it is not a direct selling site.

Developing a body of followers is a slow process requiring continued commitment.  Audiences tend to focus on the Instagram stories and videos. Talking to camera, showing your workspace, showing and telling about favourite products are some of the things you can do to make stories for Instagram.  Posting these images and videos is way to get feedback on new products by inviting people to react.

Using it

Instagram’s value is largely as a marketing tool.  It is not a place to do frequent or blatant selling.  There is a general lack of response to posts with an overt selling message.  But occasional on-line sales to a group of committed followers seem to work. Beware of the effort and cost of packaging and posting, though.

What to post?

Frequent posting is essential to developing and maintaining your group of followers.  Remember the title - Instagram.  Instant reporting of developments is important.  It develops the connection between what you are doing and your followers.  The things to concentrate on are such things as how the day has gone, stories, new venues and products.  Ask questions of followers to get feedback and conversations developing.

Some use Instagram as their main social media source.  Share anything in your life that you are comfortable with everyone knowing, and of course, how the business is developing.  In all this sharing be yourself, have your own voice.  Your postings need to be when there is news rather than at set times.  Your account becomes livelier and more personal when spontaneous.

Images

Good photographs are essential.  Photos and videos are the essence of Instagram.  Your photos need to have clear captions. The captions need to provide the context for each image. Some suggest that concentration should be on the captions, and then finding a photo to fit.  The captions and hashtags are the ways people find their way to your postings.  You need to think about the terms potential customers may use to find out about your kind of work.  There is no need to overload the images with hashtags.  A few well thought out terms will give better results.  Look at the kind of tags you would use to find items of interest outside your craft. The really important element is an emphasis on providing a story in all the postings.

Sharing

In addition to creating content, reciprocation of likes and comments is important.  This means you need to spend some time on the platform to help develop followers.  Instagram does assist in creating a community of followers and makers, especially if you connect with makers of similar things and exchange supportive chat.

Time commitment

There are suggestions that 80% of your time on Instagram should be building your brand, and partaking in the community. The rest of the time you can tell about new products, promotions, and answering questions that will help people in deciding on the purchase.  But, generating sales is difficult by use of only Instagram.

Location of Outlets

Galleries use Instagram too.  But it is mostly about raising awareness of their businesses, so sales on Instagram are incidental to them.  They use it to let people know about news of the gallery and artists, their interests, and promote their exhibitions.  For them it is about publicity. 

Their secondary use is by browsing and getting a sense of potential exhibiting artists as persons and what their expertise and audience may be.  This means that getting galleries as followers can be a way to maintain contact with galleries and get invitations to participate in events.

How Can Glass Enthusiasts use Instagram?

It may seem the emphasis of this post is on full time craft artists, but these things are applicable to any craftsperson who wants their work to be more widely known and purchased.

Anyone who is going to craft fairs needs to do a lot more than turn up with product.  Many times, I hear of people lamenting the poor attendance at an event.  Or, the concern that people don’t seem interested in buying your work.

The organiser of the craft event can do only a limited amount of promotion.  Their promotion will be largely general and untargeted.  Your promotion will be much more targeted, because it will be directed at your followers – an already interested audience.  If you can get your followers to attend the event, or spread knowledge of your attendance at an event, you have a greater chance of having a good event.

In summary, Instagram can be an element in building an audience for your glass work.  This can increase attendance of interested people at the events you are involved in, if you put effort into getting followers who appreciate your work.

Pricing, 1 - Establishing the Cost

Pricing your work is necessary to get a fair return for your effort and to make an income.

Establishing the Cost

The first step is to calculate the amount it costs to run your business. Prepare a summary of annual outgoings including:

• Studio/workspace (or as a proportion of the house that you use for a home studio)
• Administration costs
• Equipment & loans
• Packaging
• Marketing materials
• Advertising
• Incidental expenses
• Income tax & social security payments
• Insurance for public liability, materials, equipment, and employment
• Depreciation (cost to replace things you are reliant on). The amount or proportion varies according to jurisdiction.

You will need to make some guesses about the amounts and that is OK. The value you put on some of the things above may be “zero”, but still need to be considered. All these are considered to be the overheads of your activity.


2. Step two is to calculate the time available to make your work over a year. If you are full time, start with 365 days and then subtract the weekends (104), holidays (say 10), administration time, and allow a contingency for sickness, etc.(say 10). That leaves you 241 days, less the administration time.  When you first start in business you are likely to spend 40% of your time on administration, but you should get more efficient and this time will reduce to around 30%.  So, even when fully up and running you will have about 169 days out of the 365 to spend on producing work - at best.  This means that you will have about 46% of the available time spent on production.

If you are working part time you need to do the calculations on the basis of the number of days you have available and do the subtractions and calculations as for a full time basis.  You may find your overheads are proportionally higher than fulll time, as these costs continue accrue whether you are in the studio or not.

Then do the calculation:

Overheads & personal salary (you do want to pay yourself - I insist!) divided by days available to work.

This enables you to fix a price for your time and gives you a daily rate from which you can calculate an hourly rate.


3. Step three is to estimate how long it takes you to do anything - preparation time, research, selling, marketing, packaging etc.

Add together the cost of materials and charge for the time it takes to make the item at the hourly rate you have calculated. This enables you to calculate a price for the item. Then look at how much the market will pay for your type of work.

Even if you know the market will not stand the full price, you should still do the calculations to find out the price that you should be trying to achieve.  If the price is unrealistic, you need to look at simplifying the item, or to consider different items.

All these calculations need regular reviewing.



More information is available 
Establishing the costs
Creating a pricing structure
Terms and conditions of sales
Customer relations


Payment

Tucking Lead Came

It is most usual in many countries to butt lead cames against one another. In continental Europe the tucking of cames is more common. In this process, which has the advantages of speed and accuracy, the came is first fitted to the glass and then cut at the edge of the glass.

The first step is to cut the came to the appropriate angle to meet the lead to which it is to be joined. However before presenting the cut came to the joint, one end is lightly tapped with a small hammer to slightly curve the end of the came. This allows it to slip inside the leaves of the came to which it will be soldered.










The came is then shaped to the glass as normal. However, rather than removing the came for the next cut, the came is cut to the length of the glass, often using the glass as a guide. This end is then supported on the lead knife and tapped with the hammer to curve the end, ready for tucking into the next piece of came. Care is required so that you don’t crush the came and break the glass, nor miss the came and hit the glass or your fingers. With practice, there are few accidents.

Diagramatically, the tucked lead looks like this:

Tucking lead provides very accurate joints with no gaps for solder to fall through. Some argue it provides a stronger panel as the hearts of the jointed cames almost meet. The main immediate gain is quicker soldering.

Breaking Tapering Pieces

Breaking thin pieces of glass can be tricky, but there are a few things you can do to help direct the break the way you want it to go.

Relieving scores made alongside curved and tapering pieces make the breaking more certain. A relieving score is one that is in addition to the primary score. This additional score will allow you to break the thin or tapering piece from the larger sheet safely, and then go on to break out the delicate piece.

The object is to always be breaking away less glass than is retained. The use of two breaking/grozing pliers, one on each side of the narrow pieces gives more even pressure than fingers or cut running pliers with wide jaws.

When breaking tapering pieces of glass you should normally grasp the thin end in fingers or pliers and run the score toward the  thick end and ease the run of the score. When the score opens an initial distance, turn the glass end for end and run the score back to the opened one. 

Breaking glass with your fists

No, this is not about punching the glass – a dangerous approach. But it is a two-fisted approach to holding glass to break it.

For scores with significant, but not necessarily equal, amounts of glass on each side of the score this is a quick simple approach to breaking glass. After scoring, raise one edge of the glass and put your fingers under the glass on each side of the score. Curl you fingers into your palm, and put your thumbs on top of the glass. Turn your wrists outward and the glass will break cleanly.

With practice, the initial part of a curved score can be run by applying light pressure. Then you can turn the glass around and run the score from the other end to the opened score. This avoids lots of tapping and gives clean edges to the cut glass. It is just as simple as using cut running pliers and avoids the flare often associated with using cut running pliers.

This technique works best with glass that has at least 50mm each side of the score and on gently curved lines. For tight curves and narrow strips other methods need to be used.

The Action of Fluxes

All common untreated metals and metal alloys (including solders) are subject to an environmental attack in which their bare surfaces become covered with a non-metallic film, commonly referred to as tarnish. This tarnish layer consists of oxides, sulfides, carbonates, or other corrosion products and is an effective insulating barrier that will prevent any direct contact with the clean metal surface which lies beneath. When metal parts are joined together by soldering, a metallic continuity is established as a result of the interface between the solder and the surfaces of the two metals. As long as the tarnish layer remains, the solder and metal interface cannot take place, because without being able to make direct contact it is impossible to effectively wet the metals surface with solder.

The surface tarnishes that form on metal are generally not soluble in (and cannot be removed by) most conventional cleaning solvents. They must, therefore be acted upon chemically [or mechanically] in order to be removed. The required chemical reaction is most often accomplished by the use of soldering fluxes. These soldering fluxes will displace the atmospheric gas layer on the metal’s surface and upon heating will chemically react to remove the tarnish layer from the fluxed metals and maintain the clean metal surface throughout the soldering process.

Chemical reactions
The chemical reaction that is required will usually be one of two basic types. It can be a reaction where the tarnish and flux combine forming a third compound that is soluble in either the flux or its carrier.

An example of this type of reaction takes place between water-white rosin and copper oxides. Water-white rosin, when used as a flux is usually in an isopropyl alcohol carrier and consists mainly of abietic acid and other isomeric diterpene acids that are soluble in several organic solvents. When applied to an oxidized copper surface and heated, the copper oxides will combine with the abietic acid forming a copper abiet (which mixes easily with the un-reacted rosin) leaving a clean metallic surface for solder wetting. The hot molten solder displaces the rosin flux and the copper abiet, which can then be removed by conventional cleaning methods.

Another type of reaction is one that causes the tarnish film, or oxidized layer to return to its original metallic state restoring the metals clean surface.

An example of this type of reaction takes place when soldering under a blanket of heated hydrogen. At elevated temperatures (the temperature that is required for the intended reaction to take place is unique to each type of base metal) the hydrogen removes the oxides from the surface, forming water and restoring the metallic surface, which the solder will then wet. There are several other variations and combinations that are based on these two types of reactions.

Acids commonly in fluxes

Flux as a temporary protective coating
Once the desired chemical reaction has taken place (lifting or dissolving the tarnish layer) the fluxing agent must provide a protective coating on the cleaned metal surface until it is displaced by the molten solder. This is due to the elevated temperatures required for soldering causing the increased likelihood that the metal’s surface may rapidly re-oxidize if not properly coated. Any compound that can be used to create one of the required types of chemical reactions, under the operating conditions necessary for soldering, might be considered for use as a fluxing material. However, most organic and inorganic compounds will not hold up under the high temperature conditions that are required for proper soldering. That is why one of the more important considerations is a compound's thermal stability, or its ability to withstand the high temperatures that are required for soldering without burning, breaking down, or evaporating.

When evaluating all of the requirements necessary for a compound to be considered as a fluxing agent, it is important to consider the various soldering methods, techniques and processes available and the wide range of materials and temperatures they may require. A certain flux may perform well on a specific surface using one method of soldering and yet not be at all suitable for that same surface using a different soldering method. When in doubt it never hurts to check with the flux, or solder manufacturer for recommendations.

Courtesy of American Beauty Tools


See also:
Flux, an introduction
Fluxes, a description
The Purpose of flux
The action of fluxes
Soldering fluxes

Flux

Flux is a material that provides a “wetting” action between the metal (lead or copper in our case) and the solder.


There are various types of flux. Some are of more use in some circumstances than others. Among them are:

Tallow
This normally comes in a candle-like stick. It is made from rendered animal fat. Although this may put some vegetarians off, it is one of the best fluxes for leaded glass work and will work for copper foil, but is not generally preferred.  It is relatively natural, does not contain chemicals, and does not require re-application if left for a while. Over generous application does not produce any problems during the soldering. It just leaves more solidified tallow to clean after soldering. The cleaning normally requires a mild abrasive such as a brass or fibreglass brush to get the cooled tallow off the piece.

 




Oleic acid and other safety fluxes
Many of the safety fluxes are made of oleic acid (sometimes called stearin oil). These fluxes do not produce chemical fumes in the soldering process. They are easy to clean up with detergents and warm water. Safety fluxes require re-application if left to dry, as they are only effective while wet. Putting too much on leads to boiling off the liquid, making holes in the solder joint or line.

An example only.  There are many water soluble paste fluxes available

Chemical Paste fluxes
These fluxes come in a variety of compositions. You need to be careful about choosing, as some are very difficult to clean off the glass or solder line or joint. They do produce chemical fumes, so a fume mask is advisable while using this kind of flux. The paste does not require re-application if left, so the whole piece can be fluxed at once.

Acid fluxes
Acid fluxes such as the kind that is in the core of plumbers solder are intended to clean the joint at the same time as acting as the wetting agent. These are not recommended for stained glass work as they can affect the glass surfaces, especially irridised glass. They do produce fumes that require the user to have on a fume mask while soldering. The ease of cleaning relates to the particular composition of the flux, so testing samples is required before application.

See also:
Flux, an introduction
Fluxes, a description
The Purpose of flux
The action of fluxes
Soldering fluxes