HOW MUCH I MADE on my 2nd stained glass commission? 

I've been a professional stained glass artisan for almost 40 years. A good word of advice to help you with your materials' cost: make your own stained glass putty. There are a number of different formulas for making window putty. Stained glass is an ancient art and there is no "one way" to mix your own putty. Because I make a lot of windows, I use Portland Cement (Portland cement is a very fine powdery cement, but you will still need to put it through a strainer... the kitchen type used for flour works great). I Mix the cement with a 3-1 formula of mineral spirits to boiled linseed oil in a 1 gal. paint bucket... mix only what you think you need. The final consistency should be like a thick pancake batter. After you apply the cement mixture to the window and brush it into the came, you can use whiting to help set up the putty and clean the excess putty from the glass. I just use the Portland cement powder instead of whiting. NOTE: never use plastic or wire brushes to putty or clean windows. Use only natural bristle cleaning brushes. Some stained glass artisans use a similar mixture, but substitute the DAP window glazing compound instead of cement. But if you use the Dap mixture, you might want to add something to darken the putty... the gray putty will be more noticeable. You can find all of these materials at your local building supply retailer. Depending upon how many windows you are producing, your initial investment should last for months and you will save a lot of money... $16 for a small amount of putty is too much. I understand that you are still very new at this, but a professional stained glass artisan should be able to cut, build, putty, and clean a window like the one in this video in about 15-20 hours maximum. Hope this helps you.

I've been using a 2 part cement (putty) that can be purchased at most stained glass retail outlets. It is a powder and liquid that you mix in the amount that you need. I apprenticed at a very old studio in Ohio, and we made our own using Putty, linseed oil, lamp black and elbow grease, but these 2 part compounds are so easy to mix and easy to apply plus you do not waste any. Get a bag of whiting (powdered limestone) to do clean up and it does an excellent job and very much water proofs the window.

In the US, youre spot on with your tax estimate. 25%-30% is what is recommended. The math gets tricky depending on how you file. If you file with a schedule C (versus claiming a hobby, which is usually isnt intended for profit and income), you can take deductions which can massively lower the amount of taxable income you made. You can deduct things like supplies, tools, operating costs of your workshop, website costs, shipping and shipping supplies, even gas mileage/travel expenses and classes/books. It sounds really overwhelming, but once you get the hang of it, its a lot easier. If you do file schedule C, just be aware that after your first year you will need to pay estimated taxes if you expect to owe more than $1k in taxes from your business. First year is a freebie to figure out what your expenses and profits might look like.

I really appreciate your transparency with these profit videos! Keep up the great work

You deserve so much more than that. You do amazing work! More like $50+ an hour…when calculating business expense, don’t forget about cost of studio space (rent/lease/mortgage per sq.ft) plus utilities to operate (lights, internet, cost of software, etc)…it all adds up so quickly. So much you don’t think about when you are trying to track your EBITBDA. Love you’re videos!

You are so awesome, so many times I ask questions on Instagram and people are so secretive with information which is really annoying. Your transparency is truly so appreciated!!!!

Hey thanks for the content! I’m thankful for seeing this account! Def opening my eyes more to the world of stain glass. Excited to start my first project

Awesome details and discussion! Thank you!

I think your pricing structure is spot on with the second panel.

Idk how I stumbled across this at 3am but I really appreciated the forthcoming glimpse into your world and finances. Earned a sub from me! Interested to see what your other content looks like. Also idk a single thing about stained glass artistry but imo the piece came out looking awesome!

Nice work, both the video and the art.

Looks great, glad you made some money this time. Looking forward to the next one.

You are absolutely awesome putting out a video as informative and enlightening as this 'elephant in the room'!

they're beautiful. wow that's expensive to make!I'm getting into glass work, but not using lead came. and so far I have found decent prices on glass, and to anyone thinking of getting into it, ask the glass studios if they have equipment they can sell you for cheap to start with if you're on a budget

That's is really good,I like your formula,I think in this craft,word of mouth goes a long way,you really did a great job😁👍🎉🎉🎉

Looks great! Thanks for sharing.

There’s so much more to pricing than meets the eye. You also need to add in travel and expense, insurance, operating costs, like design time. This can eat away 7-10% of your gross. And then you also have to pay taxes on that loss. You need to sit down and figure out ALL costs involved, no matter how trivial they may seem, and come up with a workable pricing formula. Or in the end you’ll have nothing to show for your work. This is a legitimate business, not a hobby…not a charity. You have to rethink your options, or you’ll price yourself out of business. There’s a very good reason why they’re called “starving” artists. Stained glass is an art, not too sure if it’s something that can be done as a main source/sustainable income. But definitely great as a side hustle.

If you still have your old putty, break it up in a container and add boiled and non-boiled linseed oil mix it around. If it too thin add whiting powder (calcium carbonate).

Nice video! Did you charge for design time of the original art?

I think you did a great job,I would only charge more,if I used Tiffany stain glass,other than that,I think you were right on👍😁😁😁🎉

cool. like your vid. I did this for years and well... I hope to get back at it when I can but I do better working on and with computers and data! But the glass work is so much fun and more artistic.

I have a question: could you have made this same project without the led cane? Like is there anything “amateur” about making work like this with foil and solder? Can you still charge similar prices without using the cane? Thank you!

Hope I'm not missing another video but how did you go about selling the first piece? Did they come to you or did you reach out to them?

Take it from someone that had business for 15yrs...at first your not confident so charging less is fine..after a few years one day you will wake up, realize how much you need to charge,charge the customer and loose no sleep..nice channel..I would think having the channel helps you charge more

I think $1500 is plenty. I think you have to figure out how to shorten the amount of time doing the glass. Jmo.

As you have come to realize, people don't want to pay what it worth, it's a dying art!

Save 20% for taxes.