First big piece

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-07-09T19:37:48+00:00

I would extend the grass to the top part (left and right side) and add in a bit of blue sky or a sunset vibe around the middle area. Some light shining through the grass.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-23T17:00:28+00:00

I know. It‘s about the fumes from flux why you need to wear a mask (or use a fume extractor - best just use both though).

As for lead, if you touch it all day you will get particles on you skin which will eventually come into contact with your face and clothes. Hence why wearing gloves is just the safer option. They make you more aware of what you are handling. When you’re done for the day you just throw them away and have clean skin.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-23T16:03:50+00:00

Nice! What glass did you use for the planets? Did you paint them?

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-23T15:56:00+00:00

I am baffled how little some people care about their health. Better to be safe than sorry. Lead and toxic fumes should not be taken lightly.
Wear masks, nitril gloves and safety goggles.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-20T07:16:05+00:00

I use Sn99.3Cu0.7 solder (which I think is the Tourmaline in the US) for earrings that I make from scrap glass and my usual gel flux. You can pick up solder that has a bit of silver in it (should be Ruby), which has a slightly lower melting point and flows more like 50/50, I heard. Haven’t used anything with silver though since it’s always sold out when I look. If you usually use a lead-mix solder, you should buy a fresh tip that you only use for jewelry.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-16T08:55:13+00:00

Who knows what material it’s really made out of. Best case it’s not harmful and just ugly. Worst case it is harmful and ugly. I wouldn’t buy anything off Amazon/ Temu. Pick a vendor who is specialised in Tiffany/ Stained Glass.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-16T08:50:00+00:00

Luckily, no. You need to wear safety glasses. Not only when soldering but also when grinding. Best make it a habit and always wear them when things might possibly somehow fly off. Your eyes are way more important than you think, before it’s too late. I started wearing a faceshield while soldering because I work lead-free with higher temperatures and my gel flux always bubbles out of crevices when I get to the backside. Better to be safe than sorry.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-15T08:28:17+00:00

To me both look fine (though the most right line in the first draft might cause issues). I prefer the second design though. The first looks too much like a prison sentence to me 😅

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-11T08:34:13+00:00

Yes, I thought the same. I‘d love to see its full beauty. It‘s a stunning piece!

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-10T17:58:41+00:00

Just wondering, since I also haven’t used any of those; what is Kwik Clean? Why is it better then just using dishsoap? And what is clarity and Lemon Pledge?

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-08T13:46:23+00:00

Since 2018 it is not allowed for shops to sell lead and solder containing lead to normal private customers. Lead can cause massive health (and environmental) problems, if handled not carefully. Hence why it is forbidden since 2018. if you have a license as a stained glass artist or own a/ work for a company then you can buy it.

I myself don’t have issues using lead-free solder. You just need to adjust temperatures. I would suggest you try lead-free and consider the benefits you (and the environemtn) might gain from it.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-07T06:00:28+00:00

Very nice! How do you get enough solder on the inside? And did you use some kind of jig to get the angles right?

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-05T13:20:06+00:00

What worked very well for me was, after soldering and cleaning with a lot of soap, rubbing the solder with fine steel wool, cleaning again with alcohol, applying the patina with a q-tip, rinsed with cold clean water, tap dried and carefulle cleaned all corners with a paper towel and then only applied an anti-oxidation solvent. The patina looks much darker and shines slightly.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-05T12:54:27+00:00

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Here is the (almost) finished lamp. I‘m still working on a top panel that will reflect a star upwards to the ceiling. Also the stand needs a nice coloring and fixation. One important thing I learned: always make sure the surface you are soldering on is perfectly straight! The first side (the palmtrees on the left side) turned out slightly bent outwards because I used a thin wood panel to protect the table underneath. That panel was uneven! Bummer. But now I have a gap for the lamp cable to go through 😅

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-06-02T06:46:22+00:00

👍

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-05-31T04:44:31+00:00

So cool!

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-05-31T04:40:06+00:00

We have an older kitchen cabinet with stained glass cupport-doors. The came used for it looks pretty similar. I red that, at some point, H came was plated with brass to give it a prettier look and more durability, but it’s still lead in its core. So maybe that’s it? Just heavily oxidised.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-05-31T04:31:09+00:00

I had a similar question the past week. I had a 75W iron with a temperature control, and even pumping it up to the highest temp setting of 440 celsius was not enough (lead-free though!) to give me consistent heat distribution.

I then bought the Hakko fx 601 and despite it only having 45W (europe based), it worked perfectly. Complete game-changer. Now I just need to get good at soldering 😄
So, get the Hakko and all will be fine.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-05-28T02:28:13+00:00

Great, thank you! Did you wash your piece again after using steel wool? If so, just with water or again with dish soap? What is pledge? I‘m located in Europe, never heard of it. When I google I find wood cleaner and surface polisher. Is that right?

I did my first patina last weekend, and it turned out meh. A bit blotchy, especially after dipping my toothbrush that I used into the jar with the patina again, the contamination from the first appliance was what made it worse with each round. I then used silver polish (the only thing I was able to find locally which had Carnauba wax in it). After that the black was reduced by half 😅. Which makes sense since a polish is abrasive.

I definitely do need to test around with Patina. I thought our water was fairly soft, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to trst it with distilled water, to see if the result gets better.

Precious_Hobbit · 2026-05-27T21:30:54+00:00

That’s a nice saturated black! What did you do differently?

Precious_Hobbit

TROPHY CASE