The Tiffany Flower.

The centre piece is finished. This is different from the other window. 

The design of the flower is the same but in this panel the flower is made with the Tiffany technique.

I tried this before and liked it so much I wanted to try it again.

A few posts ago: the last one of March, I placed a photo of the whole design. Take a look there and you can see where this object is going to be.
There will be a better photo in the next blog entry.

First frame finished !

This week I didn't manage to get any work done worth mentioning on the window but I made time for it this morning and here is the result.

Finally the first frame is finished. This a third of the whole window.

The top of this frame is a lead strip with a steel core to make the window strong.
I noticed in the photo that some lead strips do not go in a straight line. That will all be fixed when the joints are soldered.

Keeping the middle line in the middle :-)

What did I say in my last entry: the rest is a piece of cake???
I was wrong there, as this part has other "obstacles" to get passed.
Never mind, I still enjoy a challenge.

This is how far I am now.

Not bad for a mornings work, well ... 2,5 hours actually.

The problem is keeping the middle right in the middle :-)  which must sound very clear, but sometimes is difficult to achieve.

I thought the lead around the leaf should have an upward line. It turned out good.

Changing the design as I go along is maybe not the way I should work but I did not think of a few things when I choose this design.

Working my way up I find it is so important the way the lead strips are used. You can change the whole look of a panel by making the wrong choice.

For example: (in the photo below ) I intended to make the V shape like it is layed out on the left side: one strip. But making the leaf on the right and letting the leadstrip go all the way up, makes it more fluent I think and I like this better.

There has to be a horizontal line at the top of this section as this will be a leadstrip with a steel core to make the window stable. There will be two lead-steel strips in this window.

This is a view of the whole project.

Bottom part finished.

The bottom part is finished. 

The leadstrips in the middle are cut so now there is a horizontal line in this part of the window too.

I left the ones that go up to the upper two leaves so not to interupt the curve as I like the way the lines of the lead strips curve their way upward.

Except for the two leaves, the next part will be a lot easier.... I hope.

This is difficult !

Finally I  managed to get some work done on my first of a set of 2 identical windows.
Here are some photo's on the progress made so far.

I'm trying to make the lines as flowing as possible. Using the Tiffany technique was an option, but I'll be using that a little further up. 

Basically I'm deciding on things as I go along. Some would say that is not the way to work but ... it's a window to be used in our own home. If it would be for someone else I would have to keep an eye on the original design.

In the brown glass you can see the structure of the 'water glass' very well.

It is important (I think) to keep the lines in which the pattern goes in the same direction in every piece.

Except the leaves, there I try to make the lines go as they would in the leaf.

The diamond shape, which is blood red,  and some other pieces yet to be used , are the only pieces that are not cut from water glass.

I'll be glad when this part is over. I have learned from this and will use that knowledge while making the second window.

Next photo is a close up. For the top half of the diamond shape piece I used one strip of lead and clipped and cut it so I could fold it over the diamond shape. 

Looks much better this way than using 2 different strips.

I tried that in the bathroom door window and liked the result so I thought to try it here too.

I'll be trying to get this whole part up until the first horizontal lines finished today.

The rest looks like a piece of cake ;-)

The beginning.

Always difficult to start a new window I think. Not that I have that much experience, but making a start, trying to decide where the leadstrips go as I find that very important as this can make all the difference how the end result looks.


Here are the first photo's. 

I decided to use for the bottom and sides the brown colour. Not sure about the top. I'll decide when I get there :-)

The type of glass I will mostly use for these windows is so called water glass. 

The next project: the door to the living room.

After the panel for Marianne I have started making the first of two windows for the livingroom door.

To recap here is the design.
The plan is to make two of these windows and place them side by side in the door.

Trying to work out what colours to use I made a very simple light box so I'm able to see how the different colours go together.

This time it was not that difficult to choose because I wanted to use the same design and colour scheme as the other window.

This is the light box: just a shoe box, a plastic lid and a desk lamp.

Marianne's panel

This is a panel I made for my dear friend and colleague Marianne for her 60th birthday.
I designed this myself and that took some effort!
Maybe I should explain a few things?
A big M is prominent with one point in the sun.
The sunbeams shine through the letters which are the first letters of her husband Piet, their daughter Annemarie, son-in-law Jan and their son Daan who is just 1 year old and is the apple of Marianne's eye.
The P and A are in the same sunbeam and both blue for they are father and daughter with blue being Marianne's colour.

I used both techniques: Tiffany for the letters and surrounding pieces, and lead strips to make the letter M.
First time I used them both in the same panel, and very nice to do. It won't be the last time.

The window is placed in the door.

This is the end result.

And it looks great. I'm ever so pleased with it.

Great work by the carpenter to make the window fit perfectly in the door.

Next the door has to be painted so that will look different. Check this blog in a while and I hope you will find new photo's of the completely finished door!

This is it.

Finally, the pasting is done and I have cleaned it up.
It is made to be placed in the bathroom door but here it looks good for the photo.

Applying the paste

Like I said, now its time for the fun bit. The application of the paste: this paste will, once it has dried, hold the glass firmly in the lead strips and is necessary because the window will be placed in a door so the window has to be strong.

It is important you rub the paste between the glass and the lead strips well with a brush.

After you have done that (one side at the time) you press the sides of the lead strips down on to the glass.

The excess paste will come out and you can remove that later.
When all sides are pressed down you can clean the window with some cloth.
Then turn the window. You will see that in some places the paste has been pressed through to the other side.
Now repeat the brushing in of the paste and pressing the lead strips.
Clean this side and check the other side and it's finished. The paste has to harden and then this part is finished.

Next and last thing to do before we place the window in the door, is apply a chemical called 'patina' which makes the lead strips very dark, almost black.

Here are some photo's of the application of  the paste.

A view through the window

Ok, the soldering is done. Now before the fun bit which is applying of the paste, here are a few photo's of how the window looks now.

The soldering

Monique has seen the window and has given me a few usefull tips. On the work yet to be done on this window but also on design of the other window.
It was scary at first to start soldering but gradually you get the feel of the melting of the tin and apart from a few minor accidents it went well I think.
Here are some pictures.
The face protection is against the fumes that come from the hot tin mixed with soldering fat :-)

A new project.

Waiting for Monique to give her opinion on the bathroom window, I am going to make a start on the 2 windows that are supposed to go in the door to the living room.
The design is somewhat the same as the finished window but the size is different and so the design will look different.
I have learned much from making the bathroom window and will try to use that knowledge and not make the same mistakes again.
I promise :-)

Here is a photo of the drawing before I had started cutting the pieces out.

Finished assembling.

Very pleased with this result. It was quite a challenge to trim the topside, especially when I trimmed a little bit too much of one of the pieces.
But I think it looks good and I have learned so much from making this.

Next thing I want to do is show the window to Monique who taught me this art and it would be great if she would give me some tips before I start soldering.

Not finished yet!

Almost finished.

Almost finished!

I have set all the pieces of glass in the lead and it looks realy good. I'm very pleased with the result.

Just the topside has to be trimmed. That's for this evening. Not now because the weather is to nice to stay indoors.

The design was supposed to be 50 cm ..... and in the end it's 50,8 cm.

That is really something to think about working on other projects.

I started working on this window at the bottom right hand corner. Here is a photo of the bottom left hand corner:

The bottom trimmed.

I'm so glad we didn't let the carpenter make that hole in the door yet !

Because of the 3 pieces of glass on the left being to small/short someting had to be done and I chose to trim the bottom pieces so the whole design is now about 4 mm shorter in height. The other option: cutting a whole new piece was not a good option because it would cost another piece of glass which I will need for the other windows in the door to the livingroom.

The colours in this photo I have tried to make them look as much as they will look when there is a light behind it.

It would be great to have a workbench with backlights.

Back in business.

The lead arrived yesterday and I couldn't wait to start working on the window again.

The part above the flower proved to be somewhat difficult because of the many curves and joints but in the end it worked out well.

Another problem is that some of the pieces that are left do not fit now. Maybe because gradually the glass and lead together shift the design a bit and because I have cut all the pieces beforehand they match the design but don't fit quit as good as I would like them to.

I have been trying to get the three yellow pieces on the left to fit, and they do, but.... the height is not right.

Now I can do 2 things: 1 is cut a new piece - one of the three - and make it so that they fit the design from top to bottom.

Or: let it be and make the top and bottom border straight when all the pieces are set in the lead.

Have to let this simmer for a bit.

Fresh outlook on it tomorrow maybe. I hope so.

Out of lead.

That is not so smart of me.

There I was thinking I could work on the window with the lead profiles I have left and finish it this week: these profiles are of the wrong size!

So, first order some and I'll be back in a few days to continue.

Lesson learned: always check your stock....

The Flower.

Good progress today. The flower looks pretty and it was not half as difficult as I expected it to be. The right side where I started to work, was much more difficult.

Perhaps because I had to get used to working with the glass.

Half way there and will try to finish this week.

Up to date.

The green leaves are each in one strip completely.

Looks good if I say so myself !

You can see the steel lead curve.

This is how far I got with setting the glass in the lead in a week and I'm pleased about it.

Have I said it is to be placed in a door?

Very clever of us :-) to make the window first and then ask a carpenter to make the space in the door big enough for the window to be placed in.

Can't go wrong there...

Using the lead.

Started to set the glass in the lead.

This is proving to be difficult because of the curves and difficult corners.

Also chosing where the welding joints will be is important mostly to make it look good.

In this picture the green leaves are set in pieces of lead.

In the next post you can see I have changed that and it looks much better.

How does this look then?

This is better I think.

It will look even better with the glass in the lead of course.

With designing you always have to make sure you can place pieces of steel lead strips from one side to another to strengthen the window.

Because you can not bend this like normal leadstrips I had to make sure it was straight or slightly curved.

Here the steel lead will be the two verical curves left and right of the flower.

Also the strips surrounding the window will be of steel lead.

Is this the one?

This is the window how it was supposed to look. All the pieces cut out (rough but fitted) and trying to get used to it.

But somehow it looked a bit plane, dull even.

So I changed some parts and the results you can see in my next post.

My work space.

Here is a view on my workspace.

It's a spare room upstairs, not big, big enough for the time being, but there are also other things in there which are in the way.

Unfortunately we are among those people who have difficulties throwing things out.

Do you notice the very important ingredient for well being while working on ... well ... almost anything: a nice cup of coffee!

Also a photo of my grinding machine. Works great and with the safety screen and the goggles I wear it is safe and that is important because I don't want to get any of the glass flinters in my eyes.