Cutting Circles

Circles can be scored freehand or with a circle cutter.

First, score the circle, making sure that you start and stop the score line at the same point.  The direction should be anticlockwise to avoid loosening the locking nut on the length bar.

Turn the glass over onto a piece of corrugated cardboard, or other surface with some give, with the score line face down. With your thumbs, press along the score line until you see the score line "run" progressively and completely around the circle. This prevents the relief scores you are going to make from running through the circle.

Turn the glass back over to the side on which you scored it. Score several lines perpendicular to the circle to the corners of the piece of glass.

Gently open these scores by tapping with the ball of your cutter, or with your hands, pliers, or other tools. The pieces should fall cleanly from the circle leaving you with no rough or jagged edges.

Measuring for size

Cutting small circles

Various methods

Revised 26.4.24

Fids

Fids are multi-purpose tools either manufactured (such as the All Nova tool) or made by the user. These can be used to open came, to dress the flanges, to push the glass, clean the cement from the edges of the lead came, and to do multiple things that would otherwise hurt your fingers. 

They are traditionally made from wood and you can whittle one from a piece of hardwood in a few minutes, so you can have a number for various purposes. 

Kebab sticks are good for tight curves and points, but you should use picks with large diameter handles to avoid carpal tunnel problems and reduce the tiring effort of grasping a very small diameter stick.

Colour combinations

You will need to decide which colours combine well, whether they are toning, harmonious or complimentary. By getting to grips with the rules of colour, you can give your work a professional look.

Primary colours
Primary colours are three key colours - Red, Blue and Yellow. They cannot be made from any other colour.

Secondary colours
If you mix equal amounts of the primary colours, you get the Secondary colours - Purple, Green and Orange.
Red + Yellow = Orange; Red + Blue = Purple; Blue + Yellow = Green

Tertiary colours
If you mix a primary with a secondary colour, in a ratio of 2:1, you get a Tertiary colour. Red-Orange, Blue-Green etc.

Cool versus hot
Look at a colour wheel and you will see on one side of the colours are 'warm' or 'hot' and the opposite ones are 'cool' or 'cold'. This is useful when you want to create a mood in a particular room or need to make your space cosier or lighter.

Neutrals
Neutrals are one of the easiest groups of colours, or non-colours to work with. They don't appear on the colour wheel and include Black, Grey, White and sometimes Brown and Beige. They all go together and can be layered and mixed and matched. No neutral colour will try to dominate over another.

Except for the blue, these are examples of neutral colours

Accent colours
An accent colour is a colour used in quite small quantities to lift or to add punch to a colour scheme. An accent colour should be in a complimentary colour. It works best if it's a bright, vibrant colour. Accent colours are perfect if you're scared of using strong colour - simply add a splash of an accent colour. Keep most of your piece in shades and variations of one single harmonious colour. Then pick out just a few objects in an accent colour.

Clashing colours
To use clashing colours is thought to be a no-no in formal settings. But in more informal or vibrant settings they can look fantastic, if they are used carefully. If they are of equal tonal strength, you can mix them together. Don't stop at two, you could try three or four. But if one is paler or weaker than the rest it will get lost in the overall scheme.

revised 23.12.24

Leading-Up Boards

It is often best to have a separate board to place on top of your bench to do the leading. This means that you can move the project if it has to be delayed while having to do something else.

Start with a work board that is thick enough to be relatively rigid, but is easy to put nails into. Plywood is a good, but relatively expensive board. MDF is heavy and difficult to nail, so avoid it.

You can either have two permanent battens about 19mm (3/4") thick strips of wood attached at right angles to each other in one corner, or you can attach them to the board as required. The permanent placement means you do not have to check the accuracy of the right angle each time you use it, but it does not allow easy adjustment for smaller or larger pieces than the battens will accommodate. The temporary solution requires checking the right angle each time you use it, but it allows you to place the battens over the cartoon at the appropriate distance from the battens without cutting the cartoon or multiple checks of the accurate placement of the cartoon.

The battens should be attached to the "base" board about 60mm (2 1/2") from the edge to have a little work area to cut leads, etc. They need to be a little longer than the dimensions of the pattern you are assembling.

If you are putting the battens on top of the cartoon, you can use the cut lines to align your battens. Cut two short pieces of the came you are using for the edge. Centre their hearts on the cut line and butt the battens against them. Nail or screw the batten in place. Repeat for the other side.

If you are using permanently fixed battens, place the cartoon, which has been trimmed to the outside lead line on two sides, against the wood strips. Use some horseshoe nails or tape to hold the pattern in place. Check to ensure the correct distance has been maintained between the battens and the cut lines on the cartoon. Adjust as necessary.

Now everything is ready for leading.

revised 26.4.24

In Situ Leaded Glass Repairs

Here you are, just beginning leading and some one asks you to repair their leaded glass window. But they don't want you to take the window out of the frame. They want you to do it in situ. There are some general guidelines on how to go about it:

• Gently remove the cement from under the came leaves. You can use most any kind of stiff blade. You don't have to get it all out at once. Just work round the whole piece of glass.
• With a sharp lead knife, cut diagonally into the solder joint until you are almost halfway through.
• With a stiff blade gradually work the leaf of the came upwards. A stiff oyster-type knife (properly called a stopping knife) works really well. Apply the pressure to the leaf of the lead came.  Try to avoid levering against the glass.

• Continue to gently lift the leaves of the came until they stand vertical almost back to the heart. This obviously is much easier on thicker came than thinner. I try to avoid in situ repairs on any less than 6mm came, and even that is difficult. It is also more difficult to do with half round came than with flat came.
• With grozing pliers gently lift the solder joints. Be careful of the surrounding glass, so that you don't have to replace more glass.
• If you haven't already now is the time to tape the broken glass together.
• Work out the cement between the came and the glass. This should provide you enough space to work the glass out.
• In some cases the glass won't come out in one - taped together - piece. Now is the time to take a rubbing of the opening so you know exactly where the leaves of the lead came are. It provides a pattern piece.  Smash the glass out. Wear safety glasses and gloves.
• If the glass has come out in one taped piece, use it as a pattern. You can trace round it with a felt tip pen and cut inside the lines. Alternatively, put it under the new glass and cut, using the edges as the cutting lines. You can also make a paper pattern from the glass.
• Insert the replacement glass into the opening. Most likely it will not fit in some places. See if the lead came leaves can be opened a little more. Also mark where the glass is too large. You can groze the glass, or if you are near a grinder, grind off the "high" spot.
• Remove the glass one last time, and spread a film of putty on the outside came leaf.  Use a very little, because you can't get outside to remove the excess.
• Clean the glass and handle it so that no finger prints are left on the outside.
• Now that the glass is in the opening, begin to gently smooth the came leaves toward the glass with your stopping/oyster knife. Start by only gently changing the angle of the leaf. Any large movement of the leaf will greatly deform it and might split it.
• If the solder joints are still standing up, take your stopping knife and gently tap the end of it with a hammer. The stopping knife should be parallel to the glass. Any hard hitting will tear the solder joint from the lead. (If you were doing this on a bench rather than on a vertical window, you could heat the solder joint and re-solder without all the tapping.)
• Push stiff black lead light cement under the leaves of the came from both sides if possible. Clean off excess. Polish with a soft brush.

If there are lots of broken pieces next to each other, repair one at a time, as each piece of glass supports the other. Alternatively, take the whole panel/window out and do it on the bench.

revised 26.4.24