When you first think about pursuing a stained glass hobby and learn a little about what it takes to get started, you’ll find that you’ll need to decide if you need to get a stained glass grinder right away.
The cost of a grinder is the largest item you’ll need to consider among the collection of tools and supplies you’ll need to get started. So for many, this is quite an important decision to make. The truth of the matter is that whether or not you get a grinder will probably determine whether or not you actually end up doing some great projects and decide to continue working with glass.
Many people see a gorgeous Tiffany-type lamp, or marvel at the elegance of tasteful stained glass as an accent to a home, and think that if they learned how to make stained glass for themselves, they would be able to create something at least almost as pleasing to them. their own house.
And when you do your research and learn about what it takes to make your own stained glass windows or lamps, you’ll find that it’s not that difficult or expensive to learn the trade yourself. Only a few basic tools are required. And for many years in the past there was no such thing as a motorized stained glass grinder.
So a new hobbyist might think, “The craftsmen who made all the great stained glass windows in the cathedrals of Europe or the original craftsmen of the Tiffany lamps didn’t have an electric grinder, why would I need one?” And they go online and get one of the stained glass kits that includes the most basic tools but doesn’t include a grinder. Then they start their first project and find that they can barely put it together if they’re using lead, or that they’re done before they start if they’re trying their first project using tin foil.
While there were no electric grinders in the past, the new glass craftsman will quickly discover that after cutting the glass, the edges are sharp. And that when glass breaks, it doesn’t break in a perfectly straight line up and down at the edge. It’s like when you break a piece of peanut brittle in two. The broken edge is sharp at the top or bottom and is always slanted.
No matter how precisely he marks the glass, it will not always break where he wants it to and the cut piece will not be precisely shaped. It will try to nibble at it or try to make new little marks on the edges and end up making sharper edges and various slants that still don’t exactly match the pattern.
If you’re doing a major project, the gutter in the gutter will allow for some irregularities to be covered, but if your idea was to start with a botched project, you’ll be done before you start. So you have two options: learn how to grind and smooth edges by hand with hand grinding stones and sandpaper, or go online and order a power grinder.
You need a stained glass grinder to smooth the edges of the glass after you cut it and to roughen the edge if you’re making foil to allow it to adhere well. You will be pleasantly surprised how you can use the grinder to perfectly shape the piece of glass to fit your project exactly. Doing this by hand is tedious and time consuming.
The availability of home use electric stained glass grinder at a reasonable price can be said to be the main thing that has made it possible to make your own stained glass lamps and windows burst as a hobby. What used to take hours can be done in minutes. You don’t have to be a full-time craftsman nowadays to make an exquisite stained glass window or lamp. Give it a try and if possible get one of the stained glass kits that have a grinder as part of the package. You’ll be glad you did.
