Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Leaded Glass Pattern

In typical fashion, I am flitting around my different projects. Last night found me playing with Corel Draw. I really need to learn how to use a photo editor so I can make patterns for making tile, leaded glass and/or stencils. I have a pretty old version I bought about 5 years ago, but it still does the job well enough for my needs.

This is the leaded glass panel I was considering for our front door.
Tonight (or rather last night by the time I got this finished) I managed to draw it out in Corel Draw. I had to extend the height so it would fit in our door. It is nice that CorelDraw can print out this large design across multiple pages so I don't have to pay extra to have it printed on a plotter.
I still have a lot to learn, but this project went pretty well.

Update: And for the record, I also tried making this pattern in SketchUp. In the old Google days of SketchUp it would have been pretty easy to make this pattern, but the new company that owns SketchUp has stripped nearly every worthwhile feature out of the free version (SketchUp Maker). Since I cannot justify paying $700 for the pro version, I guess my SketchUp days are over. I may eventually spring for another CAD program if I can find a good value, but I'll make due with other programs for now.

13 comments:

  1. The elongated design is much more graceful than the original. I like it a LOT.

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    1. Thanks Connie. I'm liking it too. I've been scouring catalogs for weeks for a pattern I like that I can exactly reproduce, but I've been unsuccessful. This one is close enough to period styles I've seen, I decided it was acceptable.

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  2. I am amazed by how much patience you have learning to use those kinds of tools.

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    1. Haha, yeah me too lately. I guess I was just ready this spring to take on the challenge. I also figured out the stencil software. I was actually up all night last night working on this because there was no way I was going to be able to sleep until I got it right. I did finally give up getting the top part colored before I got some sleep. I'll give it another try tonight. (Not because I need it colored, but because I want to learn how to do it.)

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  3. The last CAD program I used was in a pneumatic class and I hated every minute of the class, instructor, and the software. I'm still a pencil and paper sketcher and loved my drafting classes. At least once a week when I hand someone a check they say "I like how you write your numbers". Yes, I still write checks....lol

    Love the design. Will you be adding purple to the green? Will the clear be seeded glass?

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    1. I'm probably going to make that flower purple instead of red. I'm not entirely sure what glass we'll be using yet; we have to dig through our supply that is rather buried in our basement.

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  4. Wow, that is going to look great! I do think the taller aspect ratio really looks good. I imagine you'll need quite a few reinforcing bars on it, especially if it's going to be in a door? Have you considered how those will integrate with the pattern?

    My leaded glass projects have been pretty simple so far (making panels for our current home, which was built with simple rectangular and triangular shapes in plain clear glass). I've enjoyed the exercise of re-interpreting the theme of remaining panels in our house to replace ones that previous owners threw out.

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    1. Good question. I hadn't given it much thought and I should have. I think I'll end up soldering on 1/4" or 3/8" steel rod on the two vertical lines that run nearly the whole length and don't really cross much of the flower design. It will cross behind the leaves and one of the beveled pieces, but it won't be too visible. That should reinforce it well enough for our purpose.

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  5. You may want to consider horizontal reinforcements. They'll be much stiffer and stronger than the very long vertical runs. You don't have any continuous horizontal lines, but a few bars crossing the small rectangles won't really be obtrusive, especially if they are colored or opaque glass.

    A lot of the historic leaded glass I've seen wasn't designed around the reinforcement anyway, so bars crossing the pattern is completely normal. I do think it looks cleaner when it's designed into the pattern, but that's not always possible, and revising the pattern to get continuous straight lines may look worse.

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    1. This is my first exploration into a large panel. We haven't had problems with our leaded glass in the cabinets, but perhaps they're small enough. I'm sort of thinking about exploring having this panel made into a triple pane unit to fit in the door. I would obviously have to figure out how much that adds to the edge first. It may be too prohibitively expensive for us to do it, but it would be nice not to have the leaded panel exposed to the elements.

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  6. Leaded panels can hold up well to weather if they're properly cemented. I put storms on all of mine for protection, but they will hold up to weather, just require more maintenance. For a door on a covered porch, it's only going to get indirect weather, so I wouldn't be worried about it being exposed any more than the stained door.

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