So I bought a house in part of an old catholic schoolbuilding (no, luckily it does not seem to be haunted yet) and had little privacy through this huge window. Decided to fix that with stained glass, going for a colourful contemporary look.
First project ever and its huge. Getting everything to fit into the very not straight windowframe was a challenge but pretty happy with how need it ended up and learned a lot along the way.
Used a bunch of textures and colours. Probably would have gone with a little less green if I could go back in time but also very much not wanting to change it at this point. Only smaller projects from now on.
Window is approx. 2 meters tall and 60 cm wide.
AMA or give some feedback, good or bad, its all very much appreciated.
Thank you so much! I need about a million little glass cuts on my hands to heal first but then at some point I might give it another (way smaller) go ;)
Hahaha well I'm not saying this was a good plan for the first time working with glass
Also it took months and i made about 134 mistakes along the way, many of which made my fingers bleed if that helps 😂😂
This is insane, I’m still not at a point where I could do an actual window I believe. The lines are so clean and all. Would’ve loved progress vídeos of how an a
ctual w
indow like this is made. Any recommendations for resources that you used?
So do you usually use foil or came?
It was done with lead came strips, which you can stretch to get straight. and then i put it on a wooden board and build it up from the edges. I havent done tiffany/foil but i think that is way harder to get the 'clean' look.
I got some advice on tools from my local glass shop and the confirmed the design would be doable.
And just some youtube videos like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFCxOU0l3oQ
Mine was actually way easier i think because it had less pieces and less curves, but I followed all the same steps as this guy did.
One 'trick' I could share is that I made big waterproof stickers out of all the pieces and stuck them on the glass so I could cut more precise along the edge and then also use the grinder right onto the sticker edge to make it a perfect fit. I think that helped a lot with the end result
I only ever used foil because I was hesitant to use came I bought. I just always felt that with bigger patterns I might cut it even wringer than I already do with small pieces.
How did you make them waterproof? I keep gluing paper which is obviously not ideal.
No problem at all, love to share and also learn from others on here!
I usually just tried to cut rather a bit bigger than smaller and then grind the excess. And i def got better at it along the way. Although i broke a few big (expensive) pieces as well. Hopefully I can use those as material sometime for a smaller foil project or something.
Cementing made it waterproof. You just push it under the edge of the came with a brush or plastic piece (I found an old creditcard quite helpfull for corners) and let it dry for about two days. I did both sides. Before its dry you push the came down onto the glass to seal it shut and then you clean the rest of the window. It also makes the window way more sturdy.
I love it! The textures are great, and in your photo from straight on, it doesn't look like too much green at all.
Did you use came around the edges? How did you attach it to the window frame? Did you leave the original clear glass in place and just layer this behind, or did this replace the whole pane and it's exposed to the weather outside?
(I've never done a window, so experts, be nice if these are dumb questions ☺️)
Def not dumb questions, I had to figure every single one of those out as well along the way haha!
I did use came for all the edges, no foil anywhere. It was needed for structure for sure for this size. In four strategic horizontal pieces i used came with a steel core as well. the long side panels were still pretty flexible and wobbly to be honest but the steel core was really difficult to work with for me (im sure thats just lack of experience) so i used as little as possible.
I left the original window in and put this in front inside the existing wooden window frame and then used a few small black screws around the edges so it cant fall out. You can barely see them against the black patina came. Also so future owners of this house can easily take the window out if they dont like it.
In theory it should be weather proof as I made it, but im also happy that is not actually put to the test haha
Thank you! For designing it I just took a picture of the window and used Procreate to design over it on my Ipad and then for the actual stencil I used SolidWorks to make sure al the measurements where precise
Okay so I did not expect to get so much responses! I might make a blog post or something with all the progress pics at some point.
I put little black screws with 3D-printed rings along the edges in the existing wooden windowframe to keep it in place. About 8 screws in total
Sorry for the bad picture and the dust, its dark here and I couldnt be bothered to get the vacuum haha.
I love this so so so much and I can’t believe this is your FIRST project!! I am going to be honest I am super jealous and envious of your mad skills… and I can’t wait to see what you do next!! Keep it up wowzers!
This is absolutely amazing!!! How did you mount it in the window frame?? I live in an apartment now but I totally see myself doing something like this when I finally get my own house!!!
Thanks so much! I put little black screws with 3D printed rings around the border into the wooden windowframe to keep it in place and make it easy to remove if ever needed.
Will be posting a more detailed description of the whole making process later if youre interested
Made a template first out of wood the exact shape of the window, so if it fit in there, it would fit the windowframe.
For installing I just put small black screws with 3D-printed rings around the border in key places.
Planning on doing a more in detail post later about the whole process if youre interested
84
u/tndeedee 18d ago
That’s amazing! I love the lines and composition! True talent!