"Desert Walls" Stained Glass

9. Before you get to a curve, stretch over the foil with your fingertip, and then pinch down the curve with your fingertip. This avoids any ripping when you pinch down. Pinch the foil along the remaining sides of glass with your fingers using your thumbnail to flatten out the corners.

10. Burnish the foil with gentle pressure with a fid tool. Burnish the foil on both sides of the glass as well as along the edge.

11. Place the foiled glass on a soldering surface such as a drywall board and be sure the frame is square. Wear latex gloves for the remaining steps.

13. Touch the solder with the tip of the soldering iron. If it melts immediately you are ready to begin. Melt the solder on the corners of the frame first to secure the outer edges. Solder the inside design elements.

15. Flip the piece over and repeat for the back of the design. Also solder the inside of the piece where there is open space (figure I). Don’t forget the edges. Make sure all the foil is covered with solder.

16. Place the two smaller decorative nuggets that were foiled and burnished according to your selected pattern.

18. Add the larger nugget to the back of the copper and attach it with solder at least halfway around.

19. Cut two more inches of copper and use needle nose pliers to create a ring with a bit of a tail.

21. Turn the design so the front is facing you and apply a smooth finishing bead of solder along the existing solder lines. To do so, lower the soldering iron temperature to about 800-degrees. This will allow the solder to hold its shape and create a smooth finishing bead. Move the iron slowly. The trick is not to move too fast so that you are not letting the solder fully melt and not to move so slowly that the solder is melting through to the other side of the design.

22. Add a finishing bead of solder on the back of the piece as described for the front.

23. Wash the piece with 0000 steel wool and dish soap. Use steel wool to clean the solder lines and to remove all the flux. This will enable the patina to adhere to the metal and the steel wool will not scratch the glass. Be careful not to scrub back any of the foil.

24. Brush on the patina. Patina will burn your skin a bit, so rinse it off well and wear an old shirt or apron. When the piece is covered with patina, rinse off to stop the patina from continuing to darken.

25. Dry the design and buff the solder lines with a clean dry towel.

26. Hang your "Desert Walls" open-space stained glass piece in any window with twine, chain or fishing line.

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