Stained Glass?

[paulinaaa]

Anybody here into stained glass for a hobby? If so, can you give me the run down regarding how expensive it is and if there is a long learning curve for it or not.

I did the whole candle/ soap thing for about a year and half. It was fun, but got boring after awhile, not to mention my sinuses couldn't take the constant abuse from all the fragrance oils and such.

Need something new to master.

Thanks!

[Natrat80]

I have a friend who totally went crazy with stained glass. She has since moved on to working with glass in another way (can't think of the name for it now!). She got started by taking a class at a stained glass studio. I think through the class she got most of the tools needed to start out. Glass is expensive, but I'd say you could probably take and glass and get the tools you need to start for under $1K.

[meggiedarlin]

I got started working with stained glass through a community education class. It can get expensive to start up. There are some tools that you need to begin. As you get more into it, you can get fancier tools. At minimum you'll need: (I'm guessing on the prices. I haven't done anything for awhile. I'm listing tools for the "copper foil" method rather than the "lead came" method.)

-glass cutter (less than $10)
-tracing paper/pattern paper
-pattern shears (less than $15)
-copper foil (less than $5/roll)
-fid (a smoothing tool) (less than $5)
-lead ($5/roll)
-flux (for sodering) ($5?)
-soder torch (around $25)
-GLASS (can really range in prices)
-a board to lay out the pattern and glass
-horseshoe nails to hold glass in place before sodering
-patina ($5/bottle?)

Extras: glass file, pattern books (I always got mine from the library and made copies of patterns), glass grinder (machines that cost over $200); light tables, etc., etc.!

All in all, if you only buy glass for the project you're working on (meaning you don't go wild when you see all of the beautiful glass and you don't waste much when you're cutting) you can do start-up for around $200.

Have fun! Oh, and by-the-way, because you're working with actual lead, this is NOT recommended for women who are pregnant or if you have small kids around and only if you can do the sodering in a well ventilated area.