How to Restore Stained Glass Windowpanes

 

If you now a few things about stained glass repairing then you could fix your damaged stained glass window by yourself. However this article can help you only if you have some basic knowledge about stained glass. If you have a very expensive window or if you don’t have any idea about stained glass then you should leave this task to a specialist. Else this procedure is similar to creating a new stained glass or even easier. This process doesn’t involve many things and in some cases you only have to cut some glass.

 

 

The first problem. Your stained glass’s lead cames are eighty years old and they got very fragile causing bulging and even breaking. If you’re not careful it may break.

 

This only happens to stained glasses older then eighty years. Lead doesn’t corrode or rot but over time it may loose its flexibility and as a result it becomes very fragile. If you’re not careful the stained glass bits can fall or even break.

The solution:

 

• Re-leading your stained glass window is a good way to restore its original splendor. Here are the steps that you must follow:

• Take a picture of the glass pane and measure it. This will help you when you will start its reconstruction.

• Take off the pane frame and remove the framing.

• The next step requires taking the entire panel apart. You will use a fusing iron to undo the solder and then carefully take off the cames from the glass pieces.

• Deposit the old lead in a place where they won’t affect the environment.

• Clean all the glass pieces and then dry them. Arrange the glass pieces so that you won’t get confused later on.

• Reconstruct the panel using new lead cames. Be careful to maintain the original width.

• Broken glass pieces must be replaced by new pieces. Cut these new pieces with the pattern you made and take care to match the original. Another solution is to use lead cames to hold all the broken lass bits together. However this second option could make your repairing a little too visible if you’re not careful.

• Use cement on the both sides of the pane.

• Also don’t forget to add new strengthening bars and patina the glass.

• Now you can reframe the stained glass window.

The second problem: A stained glass window under eighty years old is broken.

 

The solution:

 

If the broken piece is near the outer edge then you can use a soldering iron to take the broken piece outside the frame and then put a new piece in its place. If the damaged piece is in a difficult location or if there is more than only one damaged piece then you must follow the steps from the first problem. If there’s only a little break you can use a glass repairing kit. This kit can help you repair tiny glass fragments and also stop additional damage.

 

There are several repairs that you can do by your own such as re-painting some areas or re-kiln the stained glass but it’s always recommended to ask some advices from a specialist in this kind of problems. Repairing the stained glass pane is a great way to preserve these artworks for the following generations.