Decorative Soldering - How To Easily Create Accents To Your Stained Glass Suncatchers

There are several decorative soldering techniques used to easily create accents for your stained glass suncatcher projects that cost very little if anything to implement.

Some single strand copper wire is all you need to give a flower, a fish or an insect a more realistic looking appearance.  An extra bead of solder strategically placed on your project can also add an interesting look.

You can purchase single strand copper wire from many sources online or you can strip the wire insulation from any scrap piece of single or multi-strand wire and use it in your decorative soldering.

Decorative soldering accents can be made to any project by simply tinning and bending copper wire to shape and tacking it to your pattern.

An otherwise drab looking butterfly can be jazzed up by bending a couple of copper wires to the shape of an antennae and tacking it on the head.

An extra little "blob" of solder tacked on the ends also adds a unique realistic look.

The same technique can be used to jazz up the butterfly's wings.

Tacking thin pieces of wire across the wing areas can more realistically simulate a butterfly's wing pattern.

This also can be done to add scales to fish patterns.  A strategically placed piece of wire makes a gill look like a gill. 

Flowers and leaves can also be enhanced by adding thin pieces of tinned wire.

Veins in plant leaves almost never look "right" in a finished project but, when you add wire veins to the leaf or flower petals you get a totally new look. 

The Maple leaf to the left is an example of how much more realistic you can make your suncatcher look.

Solder beads can be added to many otherwise drab looking projects to give them some personality. 

The starfish and the portion of the jewelry box below demonstrate how decorative solder beading on an otherwise dull project can enhance the overall look of the finished product.

 

The technique of using copper wire accents to provide a support for solder beads is used in many freehand projects.  This is also used with flowers and a multitude of other original freehand projects. 

Below are examples of this technique.

The next time you plan your stained glass suncatcher project, try some decorative soldering techniques to create accents that will distinguish yours from the many other projects available in the marketplace.

Decorative soldering with copper wires, some extra solder and time costs you nothing except your time.

How To Drill A Hole In Your Stained Glass Suncatchers

One of the best ways to learn how to drill a hole in your stained glass suncatchers is by using a drill press with a Diamond Drill Bit.

Although this can get quite expensive, a drill press is the easiest and best way to keep your drill bit perpendicular to the stained glass work piece.

The trick to drilling any type of glass with a Diamond Tech Core Drill Bit Set, is to use the slowest speed possible with a lot of lubrication; water, mineral oil or oil to keep the heat down.

Remember, when using a drill press it's important that you drill VERY SLOWLY .

People often get in too much of a hurry to drill through the piece, apply too much pressure on the drill press handle and wind up breaking the piece or burning up their diamond bit.

To prevent any chipping around the exit hole on the reverse side of your piece, some people stop drilling the hole when they are about half way through the thickness of the glass and finish the hole from the opposite side of the piece.

Not all glass chips when drilled and not all glass can be drilled.

Safety glass and tempered glass is almost impossible to drill after it has been tempered.

Before you start drilling a bunch of holes through your stained glass suncatcher projects; it's a good idea to drill a practice hole all the way through the type of glass you'll be using to see if it actually does chip.

Since it's easier to drill straight through the glass whenever possible, a "dry hole run" can save you a great deal of time.

Some people I know use a Dremel tool with a diamond drill bit to drill through their stained glass suncatchers.

The problem with a Dremel tool is the high speed at which the motor runs.

You need to go as slowly as possible when drilling glass in order to save your bit and not crack your glass.

In any event, this is how to do it.

• Put your piece of stained glass on a piece of Styrofoam in a shallow pan and pour just enough water in the pan to just cover the glass.

• If your piece of glass is too large to fit in a pan, use clay or some similar waterproof material to build a "dam" around the area you will be drilling.
  
  
• Fill the dam with water, mineral oil, olive oil, or any other commercial lubricant.

The drill bit must be cooled by water at all times, otherwise the heat generated by the friction will either crack your glass piece, burn up your diamond drill bit, or both.

• Set your speed as low as possible and start drilling your hole at a slight angle to create a slight indentation in your glass. Your bit will want to skip on the glass as you start out so keep a firm grip.

• Once you start your indentation, straighten up the Dremel and push slowly but steadily into the glass until it pushes completely through.

It takes some practice but after two or three holes you should be able to drill your holes without much of a problem

A Dremel drill press makes the job of drilling glass much easier.

You can set the depth of your drill to go just through the glass without punching a hole in your pan and you don't have to worry about keeping the bit perpendicular to the work surface.

You can use a regular drill to bore holes through stained glass if you don't already own a Dremel.

The main problems with using a regular drill, is again the speed of the drill and it's unwieldy nature.

You can also drill a hole in your stained glass suncatchers using your glass grinder and a 1/8 Glastar Bit head.

The only problem using this method is keeping the glass and the bit wet as you drill.

Hold your stained glass at an angle to get the hole started and then gradually bring it upright.

You have to hold the piece steady all the while you are pushing it into the grinder head until it punches through.

I use this method as a last resort for three reasons.

• It generally causes the glass to chip around the hole.
• The glass tends to skip too much when starting your hole.
• The glass tends to break much more frequently.

If you plan on drilling only one or two holes in your stained glass suncatchers, this method is probably better than buying any additional, more expensive equipment.

However, if you plan on drilling a hole in your stained glass suncatchers for hangings or wind chimes on a regular basis; you should probably invest in a Dremel or a small drill press that can be used for other kinds of work.

There are many places online where you can purchase diamond bits at reasonable prices.

You can even ask your dentist for his "old" diamond bits. He probably won't give them to you because of government regulations, but he may give you a couple of new ones or tell you where you can purchase them.

Now that you've learned how to drill a hole in your stained glass suncatchers, go for it!