Beginner's Questions
 

Greetings all;

I've always been interested in stained glass, but I'm finally getting to the
point of having funds and time to actually act on the interest...where is a
good place to start? Can anyone suggest good classes in the Seattle area?
And what tools do I need, and what should I look for in a good basic set,
that will last for a while?

Thank you greatly for your help,
Adam

Hi Adam


I've always been interested in stained glass, but I'm finally getting to the
point of having funds and time to actually act on the interest...where is a
good place to start? Can anyone suggest good classes in the Seattle area?
And what tools do I need, and what should I look for in a good basic set,
that will last for a while?

Can't help on the Seattle area - I'm in the UK - but a google search
might help.....?

I started Tiffany-style stained glass (the copper foil technique)
about 4 years ago - and went on an intensive 4-day course with one of
the glass shops.

Much depends on 'what you know already' I'd been interested in
electronics for many years - so soldering wasn't too much of a
challenge (although assembling stained glass is rather different from
assembling electronics equipment!)

Over here in the UK the glass suppliers will sell you a 'starter kit'
- typically containing

soldering iron
oil-filled glass cutter
grozing pliers
cutting square
solder
copper foil
flux
patina
tinning block
clear practice glass
burnishing tool
and an instruction book

I'd add a silicon carbide grinding stick and a hand-foiling tool to
this list.

As I intended to do this semi=professionally, I also invested in a
Morton system - which is a cutting surface with a selection of jigs &
gauges that make it easy to cut a number of pieces of glass to excatly
the same width or angle. This isn't essential for starters.

The other 'easy' projects are flat suncatchers - especially geometric
shapes like stars - again - all straight lines.

Practice on cheap clear glass (beg, steal or borrow offcuts from your
friendly window-glass or picture-framing company). 'Proper' glass can
be more difficult to cut, and more annoying when the cut runs the
wrong way!

Probably the simplest starter projects are boxes or terrariums
(planters) - as they tend to consist of straight line cuts. It's a
good idea to practice

Hope this helps - enjoy!

Adrian
Suffolk UK

If you can't find a good class, any class will do to give you some basic
techniques. Your interest and enthusiasm will do the rest. The only class I
took was part of the adult ed. program at the High School. Nothing special,
but good enough.

John Bassett
John and Christina

"A. L. H." wrote in message
news:UN_xb.150967$Dw6.616685@attbi_s02...
Greetings all;

I've always been interested in stained glass, but I'm finally getting to
the
point of having funds and time to actually act on the interest...where is
a
good place to start? Can anyone suggest good classes in the Seattle area?


Yellow pages..... GLASS, STAINED and LEADED. Your local SG retailer is
the best place to learn and get your stuff, and they really need your
busines. Good luck!

--
JK Sinrod NY
Sinrod Stained Glass
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

Contact north west glass in redmond and see if karen gunderson is still
teaching .

Also call john at JAXS on bel-red road in bellevue. Both have excellent
classes

Hi Adam:

There is a fantastic place not far from you and their website will give you
a list of their dealers. The website is www.spectrumglass.com and they are
located in Woodinville, Washington. I haven't been there yet, but am told
it's a great place to watch them actually MAKE glass. They make stain glass
and sell to glass dealers worldwide. I live in BC, not far from the US
border and go to Bellingham all the time, if you go to Spectrum Glass, let
me know if it's worth the drive. I may spend a weekend out there and go to
see for myself.

Jeannine

"A. L. H." wrote in message
news:UN_xb.150967$Dw6.616685@attbi_s02...
Greetings all;

I've always been interested in stained glass, but I'm finally getting to
the
point of having funds and time to actually act on the interest...where is
a
good place to start? Can anyone suggest good classes in the Seattle area?
And what tools do I need, and what should I look for in a good basic set,
that will last for a while?

Thank you greatly for your help,
Adam

kasfam wrote:

Hi Adam:

There is a fantastic place not far from you and their website will give you
a list of their dealers. The website is www.spectrumglass.com and they are
located in Woodinville, Washington. I haven't been there yet, but am told
it's a great place to watch them actually MAKE glass. They make stain glass
and sell to glass dealers worldwide. I live in BC, not far from the US
border and go to Bellingham all the time, if you go to Spectrum Glass, let
me know if it's worth the drive. I may spend a weekend out there and go to
see for myself.

Jeannine

A friend I was visiting in Whistler had taken the tour. He said it was
interesting but lasted less than an hour. If you buy your glass in the
US I would recommend Northwest Art Glass in Redmond, WA. They have a
huge selection and great prices. I bought some glass at Kona in
Vancouver and thought it was quite expensive, but then again, I think
they're the only show in town.

What part of BC are you in?
--
Jack


http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/xmissionbobo/

Seattle Stained Glass has very good evening classes. Excellent teacher.
They also sell glass and can get whatever you need in about a week or less.
They get it from NW Glass (the only distributor in the NW) and are sometimes
cheaper. NW Glass (also goes by names of Cascade and Elliott Bay Glass) is
expensive. I hear M and M in Tacoma is cheaper. Buy almost all of mine
from mail order places. Almost half the price. EX: Spectrum 96 clear is
over $8 a square foot at NW and SSG but around $4.60 plus S&h mail order.

"A. L. H." wrote in message
news:UN_xb.150967$Dw6.616685@attbi_s02...
Greetings all;

I've always been interested in stained glass, but I'm finally getting to
the
point of having funds and time to actually act on the interest...where is
a
good place to start? Can anyone suggest good classes in the Seattle area?
And what tools do I need, and what should I look for in a good basic set,
that will last for a while?

Thank you greatly for your help,
Adam

Greg Colman wrote:

Seattle Stained Glass has very good evening classes. Excellent teacher.
They also sell glass and can get whatever you need in about a week or less.
They get it from NW Glass (the only distributor in the NW) and are sometimes
cheaper. NW Glass (also goes by names of Cascade and Elliott Bay Glass) is
expensive. I hear M and M in Tacoma is cheaper. Buy almost all of mine
from mail order places. Almost half the price. EX: Spectrum 96 clear is
over $8 a square foot at NW and SSG but around $4.60 plus S&h mail order.


That is expensive. I forgot that I was getting the highest discount at
NW, I have no idea what their retail prices are like.


--
Jack


http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/xmissionbobo/

"jk" wrote in message
et...

"A. L. H." wrote in message
news:UN_xb.150967$Dw6.616685@attbi_s02...

[...]

Yellow pages..... GLASS, STAINED and LEADED. Your local SG retailer
is
the best place to learn and get your stuff, and they really need your
busines. Good luck!

JK Sinrod NY
Sinrod Stained Glass
www.sinrodstudios.com

They may "really need" your business, yes, but I think most here can
attest to the fact that there are "good" local retailers and
"bad"--indeed, horrid--local retailers. I live about 15 miles from a
decent-sized (pop. ~500K) city, and the dominant retailer there (there
are only two; one's quite small) gouges customers on everything from
class fees to materials/equipment/tools. I do much, much better buying
on the 'net, and better yet when I occasionally tag along with a friend
who can buy from a wholesaler who's about 50 miles away. As for
classes, you might check with some local art centers (the one in my
community offers a variety of art classes, including at least one SG
class each quarter) and/or community colleges. You *might* be slightly
better off taking an introductory course from a retailer, if only
because they likely have a variety of tools/equipment available for
students' use/testing. (This isn't true about the exploitative retailer
I mentioned; they, for example, only carry Toyo cutters.)

Speaking for the consumer,
JG