How Stained Glass Lamp Shades Are Made
Making a stained glass lamp shade, such as the ones on the famous Tiffany lamps, is a lot like putting together a puzzle. However, this puzzle must first be designed. It starts out as a drawing of where the individual pieces of glass will go. This must be done by an experienced designer, since the individual pieces must not only look good, but be structurally sound and support one another. This is similar in principle to the way a line of bricks interlocks to hold up a wall.
One thing is certain, and that is that stained glass lamp shades are often pricey because the process of making them, especially by hand, is quite involved. Here, we've listed the eBay auctions for these wonderful shades so that you can save money in purchasing them. (Continue reading below...)
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Read More About Making Stained Glass Lamp Shades
Once the design is completed, templates for each piece of glass in the design are made. If glass cutting is being down by hand, the templates are made from heavy paper, with the outline of each piece traced onto paper and cut into pieces. There many be many different pieces in a stained glass shade, but there are relatively few individual shapes in most.
Handmade Lamp Shades
Handmade stained glass lamp shades then involve laying the template down on the correct piece of glass and cutting using a special glass cutting tool. It's important to use a firm, single stroke when doing this, as a tentative stroke or more than one cut could cause the glass to splinter. The glass is broken apart using pliers, then edges are smoothed using grozing tools or powered grinders. All pieces are cut out, then laid on a full sized copy of the original design. In shops where production is larger scale, the glass may be cut by a machine instead.
Once all pieces for the lamp shade have been cut, each piece of glass is wrapped. The edges are enclosed in either zinc or copper foil, then once again placed onto the full size design. Lead was once used to hold stained glass together, but has been abandoned as too dangerous. Antique stained glass lampshades may still contain lead solder, however.
A Word About Lead Content
If you're concerned about the lead content in your antique lamp, you may wish to have it checked. Regularly checking the pieces against the design ensures that everything will fit correctly when done. The project may be held together using a wood or metal frame and pins.
The next step is soldering. The edging on the glass pieces are painted with what is called soldering flux. This substance allows the copper, zinc, or lead to melt at a lower temperature. Then, the pieces of glass are soldered together. This must be done one at a time and is quite time consuming.
However, at the end, the entire lamp shade is a complete structure. Once this is done, the project will be flipped and fluxing and soldering done on the reverse side of the glass. Finish soldering to clean up details may be required, and metal may be patinaed after the lamp shade is complete.
Reproductions
Assembling stained glass by hand using old fashioned tools may be time consuming, but the finished product is a work of art. Stained glass lamp shades have been dazzling us for over a hundred years, and some old ones are real treasures, costing tens of thousands of dollars. Of course, if you don't have the means to afford an antique shade, reproduction stained glass is also available. It's made in much the same way, is just as beautiful, and is a lot less costly.
