Watkins Stained Glass

Glazing

After the glass has been cut and sometimes painted, it will be placed back upon the cartoon work drawing on the workbench; the window is now ready to be assembled into the lead came. The lead is cut precisely with a lead knife and placed tightly between each of the pieces of glass. Various sizes of lead came are used within each panel with the lead being hand cut with a special lead knife. After the lead had has been cut and is in place, flux is applied to each lead joint, and then soldered together with a soldering iron. The flux is cleaned off the window. Bars may be added for stabilization.

When the glazing process has been completed, the window is moved to another bench for cementing Special hand made stained glass cement is then applied to the window carefully pushing it between the glass and the lead. This cement becomes a stabilizer and waterproofing procedure. Once the cement has been brushed into the window, it is then cleaned off the surface. The window is then once again brushed to remove excess cement and days later when somewhat dried, the surface along the lead lines is picked to remove any visible cement. This process greatly strengthens the window.