I can't thank you enough for taking the time to post your technique for soldering. I have been doing stained glass for three plus years and have been very unhappy with my soldering. I was using paste flux, big no no. Secondly I was holding the gun wrong and thirdly I completely soldered the front versus tacking and doing the back first. Results are what counts and using the above three techniques have allowed me to produce Christmas ornament sized pieces with much smoother solder jobs as well as much more solid end piece. Thanks a lot, Phil Rines
I've been wanting to fix some decorative stained glass panels at my Mom's home for a few years now and now finally I think I can do it myself. I've been watching other how to videos for the last week and yours is by far the best I've seen to show the soldering process. Thank you Dru for sharing your skills and tips!
Thank you for this video. It answered a lot of questions I had swirling around in my head. I will be much more sure of myself when I do this in the future.
Thank you so much Mr. Malone, I also have electronic soldering background and your video saved lot of frustrations I have been facing doing my second project ever (taj Mahal cabint glass door) The 3 steps you mentioned front, back and then the front again Will help me enormously with my next project of transom. Great video, and I cannot than you enough because watching 100,s of videos on youtube could not solve the problem of balling up solder. Cheers
Thank you very much for posting this. I've been looking into stained glass and specific soldering techniques have been the piece of the puzzle I've been missing. I'm coming at this with a background in electronics, and now i see the technique is just different enough that i would have messed up my project.
Oh my stars! Thank you very much! Wish I would have found this yrs ago. Last yr I took a class and he literally gave us a 5 minute talk on soldering and that was it. And his demo was nothing like this! I'm so excited again. I've made several pieces & havent soldered because how bad I am & all that I didn't know. Any suggestions on nailing down projects? I like your set up to hold your stuff in place.
Thanks for the tip re: tinning/gap filling side one, then beading side two and then beading side one. I've always done side one completely, then side two and touching up side one if necessary. Your method makes so much more sense, and I'll do that on my next project. Before watching your video I saw another one that says to use 50/50 to tin and fill gaps, and then use 60/40 for the beading. Do you mix solder types or just use one type for everything? Thanks for a great video. :)
Thanks Lisa, You can mix solders if you like. 50/50 is a little less expensive than 60/40 and that may be the motivation. I use 60/40 for everything. A lot depends on your iron. 60/40 has a lower melting temp. than 50/50 so if you are useing a cooler iron 60/40 may work better for you. It also is easier to get to penetrate between the open spaces. In the end both can work well if used with the proper techniques.
Felicidades por excelente Video y Brindar los Conocimientos necesarios, solo una pregunta, de cuantos Watts debe ser el calor del cautin para aplicarlo sobre el vidrio, empiezo esta Nueva Hazaña de hacer Vitrales. Feliz Inicio de Año.
Great video, Dru. I'm new to this - I need more info on the tape part. Is it metal tape? Where do you buy it? Do you just take a piece of glass and put the tape in it first? Sorry for such newby questions. Looks like you're having fun in your frozen area and creating some beautiful things! Impressive:) Friend from Florida
Question: What if you just applied your copper tape directly to the face of 1 large piece of glass and then soldered it. This would save you from cutting all the pieces of glass out. I realize you would then be relying on the adhesive to hold the solder on and no mechanical properties but it seems like it should work. You could apply the tape to both sides in the same pattern. It seems like this would save a lot of time. Can you try it and let us know how it goes by replying to this message?
If you're only using a single colour of glass, yes, it will probably work as a decorative effect. But mostly people use copper foil to combine different colours of glass into a larger work. He has used clear glass here as an example. Also, copper foil isn't weatherproof -- you can't use a panel like the one shown for a window - you need to use a different technique called leading for external windows.The copper foil will eventually lose its adhesion and fall off if exposed outdoor. However, I sometimes repair a stained glass piece where there is a (small) single crack in the middle of a larger work in the way you describe. Just lay the copper foil over the crack on either side and run solder along it. But again, that would be a simple repair in a piece that has been soldered as described in this video. You can see my work at www.elfgift.co.uk
I am having trouble with the patina not going a copper colour on to the 60/40 solder, i clean the soldered parts in warm soapy water, what am i doing wrong, or is there a cleaning product i dont know about.
debz clarke polish your bead with silver polish. It gets all remnants of flux or soap etc., and will take your patina very well. But consider black over copper patina. It’s the glass that is making the statement, the lead lines are not forefront usually. But in the end it’s you design and your choice, so enjoy what you make. Cheers.
I've seen another guy in a video who was having your problem. He discovered that his patina was old. He bought fresh patina and it worked like a charm.
The tip has turned black because there is no longer any tinning on the tip. To clean the tip you should use a salamoniac bar. To use this tip cleaner you should melt a puddle of solder on top of the bar and rub the tip around in the puddle of solder. Your tip should end up looking like a new nickel. If you have heavy corrosion on the tip you may need to scrape it gently with a razor blade to get the crusty stuff off, then use the bar. If you have filed the tip you probably ruined it and need to get a new one.
You need to have either a damp, natural sponge or a brass wire tip cleaner (looks like a brass wire scouring pad) and wipe the iron tip every few minutes. It removes any picked-up flux and burnt impurities from the tip. It should come up clean and sparkling silver every time. You should only need to re-tin the tip with a sal ammoniac block occasionally if you do it right.
My GF is trying to do some of this for the first time ,,,and its not working so far at all. I am now trying to help her out. I think we had the wrong solder and a cheap iron. Do we need a high dollar iron? The one we have is 20 wattt,very small. The solder just falls off of everything ,,even the tip of the iron. We have alot to learn.
You can get by with a standard 80 watt iron. Solder will not stick to dirty metal or cold metal. Your 20 watt iron cannot generate enough temp to heat solder and foil up to the needed temp. You do not need top of the line supplies to get started just good quality. Go to your local stained glass shop if you can and get some 60/40 solder, a bottle of glasflux and 80 watt soldering iron. Be sure to use flux, you cannot solder without it.
Yes Heat is critical. The thicker the copper you are using, the higher the wattage iron (or setting on an adjustable temp iron) you need. Plus this guy technique is all wrong. Read my previous post on how to properly prep the copper and how to run the iron and solder.
Why not go straight down each row in a fluid motion than across 3 times laying down a nice bead all at once? Why do you keep poking and dabbing at it in stead of going at a smooth even speed?
This guy is a joke. I am an electronics technologist and have soldered high end electronics for years. Even though this is basic, as easy as it gets soldering this is a mess. Completely wrong technique with sloppy results. First off, he used flux which is great but use fine Emory cloth or really fine grit sand paper to clean the bulk of the oxide off before you flux( leaving slight abrasions in the copper is fine, it will be filled with solder and actually give a better bond). Then use the use a solder bridge between the iron head and the copper (put a bead of solder on the tip and make contact with the copper with this molten bead) use the iron and bridge to heat the copper and let the copper melt the solder and flow onto the copper, Run the solder wick slightly ahead of the iron. Move the slowly in the desired direction. Repeat along uneven areas to fix up any imperfections ( if you move at the right speed, you will have few to none).
You're a electronics technologist and you can't tell art from high end electronic soldering? You do realize he's not working on a circuit board, don't you?
No dude, you are as wrong as anyone can be. I am a professional and my work stands for itself. I am commenting because this guy is not very good at soldering. It is as simple as that. Good for you for trying, it really is that simple a task that anyone without any experience can do it. That fact makes it even more painful to watch when buddy tries to pass himself off as an expert.
Well duh, yes I do. Yes he is performing the simple job of tinning copper ) even if he is using silver solder, it is still called tinning) and he still is not very good at it. this guy would never be able to solder a circuit board. Just because it is simple does not mean you should do it poorly, but you go ahead and champion incompetence...
