Here are answers to some of the more common questions people have about stained glass.

1. How many colors and sizes of stained glass area available?  Stained glass comes in sheets of a wide variety of sizes and colors.  Look at a large stained glass work; every piece of glass that’s a different color or texture started out as a part of a single sheet of glass.  Large works can be made of hundreds of different colors and types of glass depending on the design and the artist’s vision.

2. Is it difficult to learn to work with stained glass?  The answer is:  it depends.  It depends on the skill level you want to reach.  If you’d like to start out making suncatchers or other small pieces, you can quickly learn the basics.  (If you buy a kit, you can get started immediately with no instruction or experience.)  If you’d like to learn advanced techniques, it will take time and patience.  The best thing to do is start with a small project – even with a kit.  If you enjoy the process, and find yourself wanting to try more… go ahead.  You’ll be motivated to learn, and you’ll learn more quickly.

3. How expensive is the stained glass hobby?  There are basic costs for tools and supplies; you can assume you’ll need to spend between $100 and $300 for supplies, not including glass.  Less expensive glasses can cost between $5 and $10 per square foot.  More expensive glasses can run between $20 and $40 per square foot and up.  Dichroic glass can cost between $80 and $150 per square foot.  Once you have your tools and basic supplies, your ongoing expense will mostly be for glass.

4. Are there safety issues to keep in mind?  Absolutely.  You’ll be working with sharp objects, with chemicals, and with a soldering iron.  The potential for burns, cuts, etc will always exist.  Follow all safety precautions provided with your tools and supplies.  You should be especially careful with children; most experts recommend waiting until a child is thirteen or older before allowing them to work on complete stained glass projects.  In the meantime they can help you cut out patterns and foil the glass.

5. Is there a reason I should choose lead came or copper foil?  Foil is a very thin copper strip that's sticky on one side.  Basically you wrap this tape around every edge of every piece of glass in a project.  Foiling can take awhile to do, but you can get a much more intricate design than you can with came.  Plus you can have decorative soldering done to a project.  Foil is also flexible, though, and it can allow a panel to flex and break.  It's also not waterproof, so it’s not a great choice if it will be exposed to the weather.  Came is stronger and is usually found in bevel windows; you’ll usually find it in church windows or other large applications.  Foil is easier to learn to use, but came is the more “traditional” method.  So which should you use?  If you’re making a window that will be exposed to the elements, use came.  If you’re making a lamp, a suncatcher, a box, or any other item that will stay indoors and won’t need to be weatherproof use foil.

6. How do I know if a piece I’m buying is well-made?  There are several clues you can look for.  Look for smooth solder lines; you shouldn’t see any divisions in the glass. Lines should appear smooth to look at and to the touch.  Also look for splattering on the surface of the glass. If it was made well, there should be no splattering though a little bit of solder on the glass is normal.  Next, look for any cracks.  Run your finger over the surfaces to see if you feel any cracks.  A small crack today could turn into a larger one tomorrow.  Finally, step back and look at the piece.  Do you like it?  After all, that’s the final test of quality.