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Stained Glass Basics: Techniques, Tools, Projects
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Manufacturer: Lark Books
List Price: $27.95
Our Price: $171.87
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This work contains 30 decorative projects. Instructions are included on basic copperfoil and leaded glass techniques, selecting and cutting glass, making patterns and safety tips.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS:
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 748.5
EAN: 9780806948768
ISBN: 0806948760
Label: Lark Books
Manufacturer: Lark Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 144
Publication Date: 1996-08
Publisher: Lark Books
Studio: Lark Books
SIMILAR ITEMS:
• Basic Stained Glass Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started (Stackpole Basics)
• Introduction to Stained Glass: A Step-by-Step Teaching Manual
• Beyond Basic Stained Glass Making: Techniques and Tools to Expand Your Abilities (Stackpole Beyong Basics)
• Stained Glass for the Beginner
• Creative Stained Glass: Modern Designs & Simple Techniques
CUSTOMER REVIEWS:
Exceptional as a basic beginning instructional book as well as for slightly more advanced beginners -
I'm an artist and a designer who decided I wanted to try my hand at creating stained glass for a change. I took a couple of classes to learn the basic technical aspects of working with glass, the cutter, the foil and the soldering iron. Then I decided I needed a book to read on the subject, to keep as a tool for future reference. I checked on Amazon but found so many different stained glass books, I decided to check the library before buying one.
I found three different books there: "Stained Glass Basics" by Rich, Mitchell, Ward; "The Stained Glass Classroom" by Payne, and "How to Work With Stained Glass", third edition by Isenberg. I'm 'old-fashioned'. I like to do 'hands on' with books before I buy them, since I tend to purchase many books. That's what the library is for. I check them out, read through them, see 'up close' what's in the books and then, if I really like them, order them. If not, I haven't wasted my money.
"Stained Glass Basics" by Rich, Mitchell, Ward is the best, followed closely by "The Stained Glass Classroom" by Payne. "The Stained Glass Classroom" is really a beginners book with very simple easy to do projects, patterns, directions and overall good information. Just enough to whet your appetite for stained glass without being too complex. Both are in full color with plenty of closeup pictures to illustrate the information, showing the tools used, projects to make using the line drawings for patterns and measurements, a list of what is needed for each and full page color pictures of the finished pieces.
Additionally, "Stained Glass Basics" has a plethora of black and white line drawings showing various storage stands for tools and equipment that can be made to assist you in the process of creating works of art in stained glass. "Basics" shows full color pictures in the back of all the various larger more complex projects that can be created by a more advanced person, once they have learned the basics. It is loaded with full color pictures of more designer oriented completed projects, both by the authors and by a number of highly skilled stained glass artists, who they give thanks and credit to listed in the back of the book. There are simple and advanced projects along with the line drawings and measurements included so you can reproduce these using a wide variety of glass, and other objects to incorporate into your selected design.
The only problem that I had with "Basics" is the typefont is small and printed in grey rather than in black, making the type font difficult to read. But the information is better laid out with both techniques and projects for beginners as well as techniques and project to use for more advanced users. After taking my last class and after checking out all three of these books, I ordered the "Stained Glass Basics" by Rich, Mitchell, Ward, to use as my primary reference. For me, it gives me all the information I wanted both for a follow-up for the basics as well as ideas for making my own equipment for greater expansion of creativity in my studio. It gives me directions and ideas for more complex designs, Technical Tips which are invaluable, working with both foil and came, working with nuggets, leading grids, working with smooth soldering beads on heavily textured glass, incorporating found objects in my work, etc.
"Stained Glass Basics" is simply my book of choice which I will keep handy as my 'go to' book for all my stained glass work.
As for 'How To Work In Stained Glass" by Isenberg, it is very dated going back to 1972. It uses only 16 full color pages showing old examples of work, produced years ago, in stained glass, which, by the vary nature of stained glass, is not going to do anything visually to inspire the reader to take on the process of learning how to create stained glass or understand the topic. Color sells and people don't learn about stained glass by looking at small, old, dated black and white poorly reproduced photos. The book contains some history on the art of stained glass, though it does not go back beyond the Gothic Age, 12th-14th century and stained glass was used long before this, historically. It gives an overview of 'all things stained glass' and includes some brief paragraghs on the Victorian Period and the Tiffany Era, but says or gives nothing more than passing mention about Tiffany, LaFarge or Durand, all very famous stained glass artists of their time. The book is technically written and literally covers all things glass, including dichroic glass, drawings of every size and shape of lead came along with the names and forms and measurements, how to fit the lead came stained glass window into its position, even includes information on the use of carbon paper in layers for making your copies, which is a clear indication of the age of this publication. It gives you step-by-step detailed instruction for making lamps, but again, only using small black and white photos. It discusses painting on glass, the basic equipment needed by an artist who is painting on the stained glass, formulas, etc, along with line drawings and patterns of a couple of religious figures that can be dublicated. It is complex in its details of instructions, difficult to interpret in many cases, unless you are a highly skilled glass crafts person. The photography is of no help because, again, it is so poorly done. I was not impressed. Unless I had the time to sit down and put a great deal of time and energy into just studying this book to the exclusion of everything else, I would not purchase it or recommend it.
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Self Taught Stained Glass -
This is THE single best stained glass available! I was able to teach myself to do glass with the help of this book and used it to advance to an intermediate level of competency. It begins with one project that you can choose to make either by the copper foil (my choice) or leaded came method. After completing this, it presents additional projects that are quite nice, some more challenging than others, with hints on how to progress over various challenges. Wonderful photography, clear explanations, good methodology. I haven't seen it's equal.
Nice photos, but... - 
Years ago I took a beginner's class at a local community college, then raising a family took my time. My tools and glass sat packed away for years, now the kids are grown and I am starting out as a beginner for a second time. Once again I am taking a class and wanted a book to supplement my learning and practicing at home. The photography is very striking, the best part of the book. Instructions are very basic. I am doing copper foil and hoped to find more tips on how to correct foiling mistakes. If I hadn't done some soldering, the instructions would have seemed very vague. I have read over the lead glass techniques, which I have not learned yet, and I am truly lost, can't make any sense of the directions. Consider this a bare bones introductory book, and once you become more proficient through other sources, perhaps return to it to recreate some of the patterns.
Way simplified -
There's one thing you have to say for this book. It doesn't give you more information than you need. In fact, it doesn't give you a lot of information at all. However, the real truth about doing stained glass art at its most basic is that it really is a very simple process. The most complex Tiffany window is really a reiteration of the basic copper foil technique carried to magnificent extreme. Therefore, once you master the basic skill set of cutting, grinding, foiling, and soldering--you will be able to do great things. The only limit is your budget and your imagination.
The good news is that once you are set up with a few basic tools--and the only really expensive one is your grinder, which can be purchased for under $100--all you really need is glass, and glass is not nearly as expensive as I thought it would be. It averages around $5.00 a pound, and in most cases, a pound is a piece that measures about a square foot. I've been sticking to glass in the $3.50 a pound range, and have made some pretty cool stuff.
The projects in this book are the real problem. There are no full-size patterns. There are just pale little outlines, which say things like "enlarge to 375%" and give no directions about assembly, only a few tips. Most have no guidance whatsoever about what kind of glass to use. They really are just suggestions. Your local glass shop is packed with project books, but though they are in fact little more than pamphlets, they are extremely expensive--$17.95 and up. Puleeeze. The best thing to do for a beginner is to draw out some simple diagrams on graph paper and just start cutting. Don't overthink this thing or you will become so intimidated you will never get started. Buy some glass and don't be afraid to break it. Practice cutting and grinding on some Spectrum glass--beautiful and inexpensive--and you be surprised how quickly you progress past this book.
I would recommend this book to a rank beginner, but I would also recommend that somebody out there write an up to date, useable instruction manual with real directions.
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Gives great visuals, a boon for newbies! -
After I began taking a stained glass class, I ran to the library and the bookstore. My instructor is good, but he's only one opinion. I must have looked at a dozen books, but this is one of the two that I brought home. I'm certainly glad I did.
Like many such books, there are three sections: basic techiques, projects, and a gallery that shows what you can do (but offers no instruction -- just an ooh-ahh opportunity).
The strength of this inexpensive book is in an exhaustive series of photos. They don't just tell you, they SHOW you. Other books might give you one picture or drawing to explain how to cut an inside curve; this one has three. With clearly numbered instructions and five photos, it's easy to see how to, say, make and attach hooks to your project. And, unlike any other stained glass book I examined, this one explains how to make minor repairs, such as what to do when you crack a piece of glass after you soldered it into place.
Speaking of projects, these are lovely. None of them are dorky. They start out with lots of instruction -- 9 pages for the first lead came project -- and give less and less. At the end, they present a simple lamp with two variations, on a single page; clearly, they expect that you've worked up to a level of expertise where you don't need quite as much assistance. It might be a bummer if I wanted to jump ahead.
I'm glad that I'm taking a hands-on class in stained glass; there's no question that the one-on-one instruction is minimizing the number of mistakes I'm making. However, this excellent book is a great reference for the information that was unclear or which didn't stick in my head. I'm glad it's in my library. You should get it for yours, too.
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