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Glass Tips & TricksNewsletters from our past converted to fresh articles about stained glass.
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Getting A New Glass Order
You might be surprised to learn that many people wonder how we make our glass. I guess they think about how painters buy paint and spread it on a palette and figure that stained glass artists must do the same. We explain to them that each piece of glass is cut from a sheet of colored glass and that the word "Stained Glass" is a carry over from earlier years when most glass was mostly clear glass that had glass paint spread on it much like paint and the color was then fired onto the glass.
So in keeping with the idea of celebrating all great things, both large and small, I thought it would be instructive to show how we get our glass delivered.
So in keeping with the idea of celebrating all great things, both large and small, I thought it would be instructive to show how we get our glass delivered.
Here's Jeanne waiting for the big moment. You can see we've moved our glass trailer out of the way and we have a straight shot up the driveway.
I watch as the driver gets the pallet jack under the load up in the truck.
He hands me a box of metal that came with the order.
We need a lift gate to come on the truck since we have no way to get a pallet off a truck. Sometimes they forget to send the right truck and we have to wait for another day when the load can come back with a lift gate.
He spins the pallate around and pulls it off the ramp.
He spins the pallate around and pulls it off the ramp.
I stand by in case he gets struck on a bump so I can help push.
Once the pallet is in place, I start to cut strapping and plastic so we can get to the glass.
It's as fun as it looks!
It's as fun as it looks!
I cut the packing list off of the lid and then use a crowbar to get into the crate.
Next, I remove some boxes of supplies that came with the order. You can see that I've moved an open trash can next to the pallet so I can toss the packing trash away easily.
Each sheet of glass is removed separately and I carry them over so I can stand them on a piece of wood on the concrete floor to protect the glass. Then I can attach the pre-printed labels that I have ready for the order.
Here's a label, it has the date we ordered it, the manufacturer's number and the name we call the glass by. Our students help us come up with some of the names. This piece really looks like "Raspberry Swirl."
The glass looks so great, it's fun to unload each piece!
Here's one that was sent broken, it was even marked at the corner break. We usually get one or two pieces that have some defect in a case of glass. That's a small amount of damage.
And here it is, a real reason to celebrate, new glass added to our racks, ready to become more works of art.