Stained Glass Starter Checklist

1. Gather your supplies

• A glass cutter, running pliers, and grozing pliers for scoring and breaking your glass
• A soldering iron with a stand, lead-free solder, flux, and a flux brush
• Copper foil tape and a fid or lathekin to burnish it down neatly
• Safety gear: safety glasses, cut-resistant gloves, and good ventilation for soldering

2. Your first project

3. Your first month, step by step

• Week 1: Get a basic kit and safety glasses. Practice scoring and breaking clear scrap glass into straight lines and simple curves until the motion feels natural.
• Week 2: Learn to wrap edges in copper foil and burnish it down smooth. Foil a few practice pieces and get comfortable with your soldering iron and flux.
• Week 3: Solder your first seams. Tack the pieces together, then run a smooth bead of solder along the lines, working slowly with good ventilation.
• Week 4: Complete a small 3 to 5 piece suncatcher from start to finish, add a hanging loop, wash it well, and hang your first finished piece in a sunny window.

4. Mistakes to avoid

• Skipping safety glasses and cut-resistant gloves. Tiny glass shards fly when you cut and break, so always protect your eyes and handle glass with gloves.
• Soldering without ventilation. Solder fumes are not good to breathe, so open a window, run a small fan, and never solder in a closed room.
• Forgetting to wash your hands after handling lead came and solder. Lead is toxic, so keep it out of food areas and always wash hands well when you finish.
• Applying copper foil unevenly or off-center, which leaves gaps and weak, messy solder lines. Center the foil carefully and burnish it down tight all around.
• Making cold solder joints from an iron that is not hot enough, so the bead looks lumpy and dull instead of smooth and shiny. Let the iron fully heat and keep the tip clean and tinned.
• Rushing the score and break. Score once in a smooth, single pass and let the glass break along the line, rather than sawing back and forth.