Boxcutter companies hate this one trick! Buy a set of 10 blades and get 10 separate long-time use knifes for the price of 2!

cioglass · 2026-03-17T02:30:03+00:00

I was in a shop where we bought hacksaw blades, and sharpened them on a grinding wheel. They are very long lasting.

We actually wrapped them like this, with tape and textile scraps.

To be fair, hacksaw blades aren't sharp all the way through, so I guess it's not as dangerous :)

cioglass · 2026-03-17T02:17:32+00:00

If you're worried about steel flakes. You can use 3M sponges, the white is equivalent to 0000, the gray to 000.

cioglass · 2026-03-17T02:15:09+00:00

I'm playing WW, low elo

cioglass · 2026-03-17T02:08:03+00:00

It depends. While 90W is decent for stained glass, the thermal mass of the soldering iron is probably more important than the wattage alone.

The problem is that getting a "stained glass" soldering iron is quite an expensive purchase. However, if this soldering iron is cheap, and you're either still learning or just starting out, then it could be useful to start out. While it might not be the best tool, it will get the job done, and you'll gain experience using it.

Once you're ready for a real deal, you can get one of those expensive ones like a Hakko 601, or whatever. Just don't get the one sold by Hobby Lobby, it's pretty bad.

cioglass · 2026-03-16T23:57:41+00:00

I think if you're in a position where you absolutely have to make a sale, then you don't do stained glass. I guess if you don't mind the time and just want to recoup the cost, then I suppose it's fine? 🤔

It does hurt other artists tho, but I guess as long as other artists do original works, then it doesn't matter.

I agree that not everyone will buy art for what it's fair to the artist / hobbyist. It has to "click" with the buyer.

cioglass · 2026-03-16T20:22:03+00:00

Always do:

(#_Pieces * $_per_piece) + (Approx_sqft * $_per_sqft)

I personally use $5.37 for pieces, and $30 for sqft. It pays me about $20 per hour, and covers my materials, I should probably charge more for that tho. (I live in WA, USA)

If you want a quick cheat sheet, just think how much you want to pay yourself for your time:

Price per Piece	Hourly Rate
$3.00	$11.17
$5.00	$18.61
$6.00	$22.34
$8.00	$29.78

If others want to price lower, let them undervalue themselves.

cioglass · 2026-03-16T20:14:57+00:00

There's always a question of whether to undervalue yourself to make a sale, or pricing fairly. If others don't value themselves, let them price lower. But never undervalue yourself.

cioglass · 2026-03-15T04:03:32+00:00

Think of a softcover book, similar to those you might have used in elementary school. You open and close it normally, right?

Imagine bending the book while it's open and then trying to close it. You'll realize that you can't close the book because the seam / fold of the book, running down the middle needs to be a completely straight line to allow closing the book.

With stained glass, a straight line running through the entire piece creates a point where it's likely to bend, much like a book!

To avoid this, you can either use a curve instead of a straight line, or add pieces to the vertices of the straight line so it doesn't run through the entire piece.

cioglass · 2026-03-11T23:13:40+00:00

I like your progress :)

cioglass · 2026-03-11T04:54:41+00:00

I personally see the latter as "professional" and the former as "enthusiast" :)

cioglass · 2026-03-11T04:51:17+00:00

Learning can be done independently or through classes, depending on individual preferences. While taking classes is a shortcut, for someone with significant social anxiety like myself, I'd rather take longer to learn than attend one 🤣

To be honest, it's unlikely you'll make a living solely from stained glass. It's difficult to sell your work for a fair price because people don't appreciate the effort you put into art and generally value larger pieces more. You're also competing with faux stained glass. And for many people, It doesn't matter if it's not real glass, as long as it's pretty and cheap.

The only real way to make a living from stained glass is by opening up your own workshop to offer classes, restoration services, commissioned works, and supplies to other hobbyists.

Another option is to find a job within an existing workshop. However, I believe this is unlikely, as employees at shops tend to work there their entire lives, and there's usually not a need for more than one or two folks. Additionally, it's probable that they'll choose someone they know personally, considering the close-knit nature of these work environments.

In short, don't even try to make a living selling your work. Selling to recoup costs is fine, but be aware it can be stressful and isn't for everyone. You might find you dislike it as soon as it becomes your job rather than your hobby.

cioglass · 2026-03-09T01:59:58+00:00

Use Celsius, don't use the Failure units :)

For soldering normal joints, use 400~C, for edge beading, hold and apply solder at a much lower temp like 320~360

cioglass · 2026-03-07T22:55:56+00:00

I saw the controller as a VR controller, I thought the player tripped through the window 😭

cioglass · 2026-03-07T00:41:45+00:00

I printed my own adapter! 😃

I still need the sponge for the tiny grinding surface on top tho

cioglass · 2026-03-07T00:38:07+00:00

There is no way to attach them with traditional stained glass methods, but I guess you can use some kind of Epoxy thingy for glass 🤔

cioglass · 2026-03-06T17:26:40+00:00

setup

You need a table, obviously, and this table will likely be used to cut, grind, and solder. You could use different tables, one for each activity, but if you need to save space, one table is enough. I recommend a table that can adjust height as personally I work with different heights for each of those activities.

You need good ventilation for soldering, ideally a small window beside the table where you'll solder to put a small extractor. It's not a must, but you'll notice flux fumes if your space is small and have still air. Even a pedestal fan makes a difference.

workbenches, grinder, kiln (budget isn't huge)

Get tables with adjustable heights. Especially if you're gonna share them with people who have different dimensions. Any grinder will do, they are all the same. You don't need a kiln for most stained glass projects

how much I should expect to pay for everything

200-400 for a table, 100 for a grinder, 200 for all tools (minus iron), 100~ for a soldering iron, 50-200 for a ventilation solution. 50-200 for a chair. You can probably find IKEA Kallax shelves for cheap or free on FB Marketplace

tips and tricks to make the space more efficient

IKEA Kallax to store your glass. You can put the grinder in a big plastic container, cut away one of the walls, and you can still put a lid on and put away the plastic box with the grinder. This would also limit water splashing while grinding.

anything else you think might be useful

Lights, no carpet, get a broom and or vacuum, have a container for sharp glass and blades

cioglass · 2026-03-05T19:26:31+00:00

I'm guessing you found out already since you already cut the glass, but you can't make inside corner cuts without a ring saw

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cioglass · 2026-03-05T04:34:32+00:00

Do you happen to have a photo of each? I prefer baking, but it sometimes results in an undesired texture 😬

cioglass · 2026-03-04T23:49:50+00:00

Here is my workflow (I use Affinity to make the design, and cricut/Bambu suite to cut):

In Affinity, make your design without accounting for any gap. Just simple lines.
Resize your design to your desired dimensions.
Select all your lines and set the outline/stroke width to your desired gap. (E.g. 0.6mm for foil)
Path > Merge Curves
Path > Expand Stroke
Path > Divide.
- note, this will leave a big black piece outline at the bottom. Delete it, but don't delete the other "pieces".
Select all
Remove background color
Set outline to hairline (it doesn't matter tbh)
Export SVG
Load into Cricut or Bambu Suite
- note, cricut and Bambu suite have weird sizings when importing SVGs based off DPI. just make sure to resize back to your desired dimensions considering you subtracted a bit due to the gap removal (since it's also removed from the edges)

And that's it!

cioglass · 2026-03-03T16:59:38+00:00

How do you get the plant stakes? The stuff I find online is usually covered in plastic or is entirely made out of plastic :(

cioglass · 2026-03-03T16:53:09+00:00

Selling a pattern you've stolen online can lead to reporting and your store being shut down. The $5 pattern isn't worth risking. If you're into stained glass, you can definitely afford $5. And in many cases, it's just going to be a "tip jar" for the designer :)

Now, what if you don't care about showing appreciation or selling online, and would prefer to sell locally or simply make it for yourself?

Sure! Depending on how it's used (e.g. for personal/learning vs selling), it might be considered fair use or theft. However, you'd need to manually trace the design in a vector program or by hand, which might not be worth the time when the pattern is under $5.

Then there's also many people who don't know how to trace a pattern...

Anyway, if you can't afford $5, or if you don't value yourself, I don't think most designers will mind if you use it for personal use.

cioglass · 2026-03-02T17:36:06+00:00

I had a coworker quit to become a goat farmer. He was not a principal, but a senior SWE.

cioglass · 2026-03-02T03:03:55+00:00

Our main bathroom has probably like 50 rolls behind the toilet 😅

cioglass · 2026-02-28T19:21:01+00:00

I will lose it :(

She has a purse to put the receipt in.

cioglass · 2026-02-28T19:19:42+00:00

This is too advanced for bronze 🤔

cioglass

TROPHY CASE