How to cut stained glass using a hand cutter.

This technique for cutting glass is sort of unusual but has been the way we have cut glass for many years. The advantage is great control of the cutter especially when going over divots and lines in art glass. The wheel of the cutter is easily kept in the parameters of the pattern template. The downside of this technique is it takes months if not years to master.

Stained glass pattern transferred

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Here's the previous design made from the folding process transferred to another copy ready for template cutting. I'll use copper foil shears due to the intricate design even though the window will be done using lead. Reason for this is the narrower 1/8" lead I will use has a thin heart or vertical core thickness.

The pattern segments have been numbered to coincide with the original draft to keep tabs on where the glass when cut ends up.

Stained Glass Shears

Stained glass pattern using page folds

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Here's an example how to create a stained glass pattern using page folds. The original draft in the upper right section is easily tranferred (mirrored) into the bottom right section of the pattern.
Now you can fold the pattern on the vertical line and transfer the design to the left side of the pattern. Once done you now have a completed pattern that can be duplicated onto a working copy for templates. The original drawing is used for constructing the stained glass window.

Stained glass expose from Chicago

A colorful slide show of antique stained glass windows.