Copper Foiling

Copper foiling is the technique used at Torbay Glass Studio to assemble all of the architectural stained glass works. This method enables glass panels to have intricate designs, while being lightweight and have superior strength. They are also easier (than traditional lead light) to construct, install and repair.

Using the full scale design as a guide, glass is cut as closely as possible to the required shape, then the edges are ground with a diamond grinder to improve the fit of the pieces and to remove the uneven edges. Copper foil is then applied to the edges of all the glass pieces, and the panel is welded together using a large electric soldering iron and 60/40 solder. This results in a strong rigid structure ready to be fitted into a window as a single panel or as a double or triple glazed window. These latter configurations have the added bonus of extra security and greater insulation, as well as protecting the artwork from the weather and other damage.

Lead light

Stained glass is often referred to as lead lights; this stems from early stained glass techniques that used lead cames in their construction. Lead was used because it is malleable and inert, enabling pieces of glass to be enclosed before joining with blobs of solder to hold the structure in place. The lead does not adhere to the glass like modern copper foil and therefore requires the excess space to be filled with a linseed-based cement to seal it from the weather and stiffen the panel. A lead light panel is inherently heavy and somewhat flexible, so larger works require steel bars as supports despite the cement filler.

At Torbay Glass Studio we choose to use copper foil for all the advantages indicated above, because it weighs less than lead and also for the improved safety which comes from not handling lead, which is neurotoxic, especially to children.

Find out more about the invention of copper foiling by Louis Tiffany.

Other glass techniques: [etching] [painting] [kiln-forming] [lamp working]