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Glass Tips & TricksNewsletters from our past converted to fresh articles about stained glass.
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How To Cut Stained Glass Without A Pattern
To cut a window without using a pattern will save you a good deal of time if the design is fairly simple.
This technique works best when the glass being cut is very translucent. Opaque glass requires a light box and a pattern with very dark lines to be able to use this technique.
Start by laying out the glass on the pattern right on the lines it's to be cut on.
This technique works best when the glass being cut is very translucent. Opaque glass requires a light box and a pattern with very dark lines to be able to use this technique.
Start by laying out the glass on the pattern right on the lines it's to be cut on.
Dip your cutter in oil and then run your cutter over the line where the glass is to be cut, scoring the glass.
In this pattern we had a center line where the cut was to be and two layout lines to insure that the copper foil would be as wide as the client wanted it to be.
In this pattern we had a center line where the cut was to be and two layout lines to insure that the copper foil would be as wide as the client wanted it to be.
Tap the scored glass from underneath, right below the score, to "run" the score.
When working with large sheets of glass, we like to leave the big part on the table and hang onto the piece we're breaking off, so a large piece doesn't have to come crashing down on the table.
When working with large sheets of glass, we like to leave the big part on the table and hang onto the piece we're breaking off, so a large piece doesn't have to come crashing down on the table.
Soon the piece will part from the rest of the glass.
Lay down the glass onto the pattern to insure that things stay where they ought to and score the next piece of glass.
Tap it till it breaks loose of the sheet.
Line things up again and score another piece of the glass.
Keep whittling away until all the glass cuts have been scored.
If there were any different colors of glass, we'd be cutting each of them one at a time, but this pattern is all out of the same color so it's pretty easy to get each piece out of the same sheet of glass, making it the perfect example of when this technique should be used.
Here's the entire panel laid out.
Next, we grind all of the pieces so they are smooth and to add that little bit of extra room between them so they will fit after the foil is applied.
Then, we add the copper foil to the panel just like we do to any other stained glass project.
Finally, the completed panel gets installed into the cabinet it was built for.