I'm having trouble with my Wizard grinder. I have the large model, and although I very much like the embedded tool tray, water collects in the recess and eventually drips out. Water doesn't get into the tray itself, so at least all the tools are dry. But my grinder sits on top of a piece of MDF, and standing water is going to degrade the surface, even if it's only a little. Disassembly of the grinder top to remove this water under the tray requires emptying the normal reservoir and taking the bit off the spindle.This is another annoyance, because if you use a gel bit it increases the chance of cracking the bit if you over tighten the set screw when reassembling the top.
Let me describe my grinder setup. II have two grinders, the Wizard mentioned above, and a Glastar. They both work fine, though I have a slight preference for the Glastar. On the Wizard I have a coarse grid gel bit, and on the Glastar I use a fine grit. This allows me to make quick rough-ins to approximate the shape, and with the fine bit I have more control and can sneak up to the edge exactly. This also leaves a nice smooth surface for good foil adhesion. I find this setup makes for faster, easier, and more accurate work.
My back hurts if I bend over the grinders for long, so I prefer to work standing up. The work surface of my grinders is about 49" high. I have one bright light over my left shoulder, but a second light on my right would be an improvement when working with small pieces. I have a pair of goggles next to the grinders that I always use when grinding, and the goggles are only used for grinding. Since grinding is hard on goggles, the pair I keep for cutting stays clear. I have another pair I use only for soldering.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Fiddly Details
To follow up with the topic of my last post. I'm working on the landscape background of the Anthurium panel, specifically on the small view of hill that shows through the dividing hollow on the tip of one leaf. That also makes it a captive piece, so it has to be dropped in from above rather than sliding in sideways. It's fairly small, about .5 x .25 inches. With pieces this small, a score that causes an undercut when the piece is cracked off will completely ruin the piece. So cuts have to be made a bit wide, which means more grinding to shape. This is more accurate, but more work.
This comes with it's own problems. To fold the piece on the grinder, your fingers have to be closer to the bit. If I don't keep my nails short enough, there's an increased risk of my finger bumping the bit. This has happened to me several times, and it's emotionally jarring, but I don't think there's much chance of real injury. You should judge for yourself about this, since I'm definitely not saying this is safe. So far, I've hardly broken a nail.
Another thing is that your fingers cast shadows over the work. A swing lamp right over the grinder may be helpful, , but keep in mind that grinders throw off water. The spray is normally horizontal, but since water and electricity really don't get along, this is something else to be careful of.
Another problem is that your fingertips are very likely to rub off the line drawn of the piece. Even when I mark a dark piece with acrylic paint instead of a marker, this still happens. So I constantly have to ask myself if the line is too obscured to use, and if so I have to stop grinding, clean off and dry the piece, and then remark it. Since my method involves templates that hold up over repeated use, this works out well.
But it is work. Fiddly pieces are time consuming, hard to work with, easy to mess up, and just generally a pain in the ass. Avoid them as much as possible. But if they are necessary for a good design, do a good job on them. Knowing the difficulties and setting up your shop to deal with them accordingly will make a big difference in the quality of the finished panel.
This comes with it's own problems. To fold the piece on the grinder, your fingers have to be closer to the bit. If I don't keep my nails short enough, there's an increased risk of my finger bumping the bit. This has happened to me several times, and it's emotionally jarring, but I don't think there's much chance of real injury. You should judge for yourself about this, since I'm definitely not saying this is safe. So far, I've hardly broken a nail.
Another thing is that your fingers cast shadows over the work. A swing lamp right over the grinder may be helpful, , but keep in mind that grinders throw off water. The spray is normally horizontal, but since water and electricity really don't get along, this is something else to be careful of.
Another problem is that your fingertips are very likely to rub off the line drawn of the piece. Even when I mark a dark piece with acrylic paint instead of a marker, this still happens. So I constantly have to ask myself if the line is too obscured to use, and if so I have to stop grinding, clean off and dry the piece, and then remark it. Since my method involves templates that hold up over repeated use, this works out well.
But it is work. Fiddly pieces are time consuming, hard to work with, easy to mess up, and just generally a pain in the ass. Avoid them as much as possible. But if they are necessary for a good design, do a good job on them. Knowing the difficulties and setting up your shop to deal with them accordingly will make a big difference in the quality of the finished panel.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Keeping Busy
I've been spending more time cutting glass than writing about it, which sounds about right. My current project is the Anthurium panel, the last piece needed to complete the tryptch for the kitchen hutch. Mostly I think it's going pretty well. For the other two panels in the hutch, check the stained glass pages on my website, www.cairone.com.
It started off with quick progress, since the curtains, tablecloth and flowerpot were larger, simple shaped pieces. Then I got to the dirt and pebbles in the flowerport. There were much smaller, getting to the scale that I call "fiddly." Making fiddly pieces takes a lot of time. They're not too hard to cut, but sometimes they crack off poorly. Just holding them down of the grinder can be a challenge. And if anything is likely to cause bleeding, it's trying to hold these tightly before the sharp edges and flakes have been removed from them. I've been redesigning on the fly to eliminate some of the fiddly pieces as I come to them. My working method allows for these redraws with no loss in accuracy. For those that can't be eliminated without compromising the design, it's a matter of doing the best you can, and keeping band-aids handy.
Keep in mind that below a certain size, most of the fiddly piece is lost under the solder anyway. But it's necessary for the structural strength of the panel that these pieces be there, and the tighter the better. Very likely, these are areas where stress is likely to accummulate, so gaps are undesirable.
Generally I use thinner foil on the smaller pieces, especially if they are the finer details in the panel. Ih the small piece butts up against a larger piece, I use wider foil on the large piece, and the solder smooths out some of the v ariation in bead thickness. For a longer run, say the stem of a flower, two thin foil edges runnning alongside each other make a distinctive thin line that has a nice artistic effect. Even a little curve to the glass makes the joint quite strong, presuming the fit is as tight as it should be.
It started off with quick progress, since the curtains, tablecloth and flowerpot were larger, simple shaped pieces. Then I got to the dirt and pebbles in the flowerport. There were much smaller, getting to the scale that I call "fiddly." Making fiddly pieces takes a lot of time. They're not too hard to cut, but sometimes they crack off poorly. Just holding them down of the grinder can be a challenge. And if anything is likely to cause bleeding, it's trying to hold these tightly before the sharp edges and flakes have been removed from them. I've been redesigning on the fly to eliminate some of the fiddly pieces as I come to them. My working method allows for these redraws with no loss in accuracy. For those that can't be eliminated without compromising the design, it's a matter of doing the best you can, and keeping band-aids handy.
Keep in mind that below a certain size, most of the fiddly piece is lost under the solder anyway. But it's necessary for the structural strength of the panel that these pieces be there, and the tighter the better. Very likely, these are areas where stress is likely to accummulate, so gaps are undesirable.
Generally I use thinner foil on the smaller pieces, especially if they are the finer details in the panel. Ih the small piece butts up against a larger piece, I use wider foil on the large piece, and the solder smooths out some of the v ariation in bead thickness. For a longer run, say the stem of a flower, two thin foil edges runnning alongside each other make a distinctive thin line that has a nice artistic effect. Even a little curve to the glass makes the joint quite strong, presuming the fit is as tight as it should be.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Stained Glass
My current focus has been on stained glass. I always design my own panels, and take a fairly painterly approach in my work. I don't do this to make money - so far it's all for my own artistic expression and for decoration of our home. The left side of my brain houses an engineer, and I've always considered good technique an important part of any artist's craft. And I try as much as possible to keep my work green - for example I only use lead-free solder. I've had no problems working with it, and except for the price find it superior in every way. I easily adapted to the differences in handling.
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