STAINED GLASS STUFF
911 Richmond Rd., Ottawa, ON, K2A 0G8
tel: (613) 722-8702, fax: (613) 722-7062
email: info@stainedglassstuff.com

Selecting Glass For Your Project

  1. There are two styles of stained glass, cathedral and opalescent. Cathedral glass is a clear glass, in that it can be seen through. It may or may not have any colour, and can be textured. Opalescent glass is a solid coloured glass, in that you cannot see anything through it. It can be one colour, or multiple colours mixed together, and also be textured as well.. There are also various grades between the cathedral and opal styles.
  2. You should try to select all of the glass for your project at the same time. This will allow you to see how they interact with each other. You should also judge them against the same light source as the finished project will be exposed to. Be aware that incandescent and flourescent light sources give off different colours of light, and will make you glass appear differently.
  3. Opal glass and heavily textured or dark cathedral glass will mask the source of light. This is important when doing a lamp or when privacy is a major concern in a window. Textured glass will be less visible from farther away.
  4. What may at first appear to be a defect in the glass is often a good thing, in that it will give character to a piece. Stained glass will always have some kind of bubbles or striations in it.
  5. Tap your glass with your finger. If you hear a ‘ping' like noise, there may be a crack in it. Look carefully for the crack, lay the piece down very carefully, and score a like perpendicular to the crack a few inches beyond it. Break out the new score line and this will prevent the crack from going all the way through your piece of glass.
  6. Never hold a large piece of stained glass over your head to look at it. If it were to shatter, it would be falling directly into your face, and we don't have enough bandaids in the store to help you with that type of wound. Hold large pieces vertically, hands on the top sides or corners.
  7. If you do drop or knock over a piece of stained glass, do not play hero and try to catch it. Jump back out of the way and let it go. A piece of glass is not worth multiple stitches and hours waiting in the emergency department.
  8. Allow for cutting mistakes and possible future repairs by purchasing around 10% to 20% more glass than what your project actually requires.
  9. If you should end up being short for whatever reason, that type of glass may either be no longer available or have changed slightly so that it is no longer an exact match. Ask the store staff about the type of glass you are looking at buying. Some brands, like Spectrum, are very easy to use, readily available, inexpensive, and don't change too much over a short period of time. If you are using a more expensive glass made by a smaller company like Oceana, their stuff changes much more quickly, and also may not be available if you run out.