| 1.
What is leaded art glass? |
| Leaded
glass is the traditional stained glass used in churches for over 1000
years. It is made from pieces of colored glass about 1/8"
thick, held together with lead channels soldered at every joint. |
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| 2.
What are applications for leaded glass? |
| At
Tooley Art
Glass Studio,
we focus on windows and panels for architectural applications like
churches, chapels and public spaces like train stations, hotels &
restaurants in our Liturgical & Architectural division. |
| |
| Leaded
glass is also widely used in homes in beveled glass entry doors,
sidelights, transoms, windows, interior doors and room dividers,
cabinets, furniture, and fireplace screens, autonomous panels and
"sun-catchers." |
| The Tooley
Art Glass Studio - Residential Division (trade name Dazzle Glazz
LLC) focuses on these types of art
glass. |
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| 3.
How are the pieces of glass held together? |
| The
colored glass is cut to shape based on the approved design pattern. Lead
channels of various widths are molded to the glass edges and soldered at
each joint to hold the pieces of glass together. Putty is brushed under
the lead edges to seal the glass panel and to convert it to a single
rigid panel. |
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| 4.
How long has this kind of glass been around? |
| Artifacts
of stained glass from an Abby in Germany date from the 9th or 10th
century. Although the fabrication tools have improved, the basic process
is unchanged from the Middle Ages. |
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| 5.
What kind of longevity does it have? |
| Windows
exist in European cathedrals which are hundreds of years old. Lead can
become weak over time, and typically a window will have to be re-leaded
sometime between about 75 and 150 years. |
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| 6.
How does this leaded glass compare in price to other forms of art glass? |
| Leaded
glass represents a substantial investment in art because of the large
labor component in its fabrication. Other types of art glass might be
fabricated at a lower cost for similar designs. However, leaded
glass is often favored because it is the most traditional type of art
glass. |
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| 7.
What factors determine the price of leaded glass? |
| The
fabrication cost is primarily a function of size and complexity of the
piece. The more complex the image, the greater is the cost per square
foot because of the labor involved. The type of glass used is also a
factor. (We recommend antique, mouth blown glass for its beauty).
Additional value components which can be handled by Tooley
Art Glass Studio
or by others are design, framing and installation. |
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| 8.
Can you give a ball-park of the costs for leaded art glass? |
| When we
design and fabricate moderate complexity designs in leaded glass, the range is usually between $175 and $225 per square
foot, depending on the design and type of glass. Although this is an average,
every project is unique. We have done some very simple panels for about
$125 per
sq-ft and some very intricate panels for greater than $400 per sq-ft.
For a more specific answer: |
| Please
contact us for a project-specific estimate: send
an estimate request. |
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| 9.
Where will the leaded glass be fabricated? |
| Tooley
Art Glass Studio is located in
Rancho Palos verdes, California. We also have a fabrication studio
in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. Our work is all done in the USA in one of these
locations. On a larger project, we
may involve one of our partners in assisting with the fabrication. |
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| 10.
What are the size limitations for a section of leaded glass? |
| Although
we have restored panels as large as 20 sq-ft, we recommend that a large
area be divided by framework into panels of about 10 sq-ft or less, in
any combination of length to width ratio. Large areas are subdivided
into smaller panels by some type of mullions or framework. If steel T-bar is used as the
framework, it usually disappears visually into the design. this is
the type of framework that has been used for centuries in
cathedrals. |
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| 11.
How is leaded glass installed? |
| Either
just like normal clear glass, or on the interior of clear glass by use
of a pair of "glass stops" (moldings) that create a space
between the clear glass and the leaded glass. |
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| 12.
Are there special framing systems required? |
| No. Any
kind of stone, wooden, aluminum or other window, storefront, or ecclesiastical
window system may be used with leaded glass. |
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| 13.
What is the thickness of the glass? |
| Most
commonly the glass is 1/8" to 3/16" in thickness and secured
into metal channels that are 1/4" to 3/8" thick. |
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| 14.
What are the design possibilities? |
| We
can do all types of designs from representational images with painted
features like hands and faces to very abstract designs of just motion
and color. Our studio engages multiple artists, each with a unique
style of his/her own. On many projects we submit designs from
several artists to insure that we meet the client's needs.
can do all types of designs fr |
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| 15.
What are the color possibilities? |
| We
use glass from dozens of vendors with thousands of colors and shades so
there is no practical color limitation. The
design is limited by the strength and cut-ability of glass. (Where
extreme shapes are required, we recommend our inlaid glass where there
are practically no limitations).
The lead is dark gray
and will always appear as a dark shadow on the inside because it blocks
the light. We use lead widths from 1/8 inch wide up to 2
inches wide. Large panels will require reinforcement with steel bars to
guarantee the window strength for decades. We typically bend our
bars to follow the design lines and thereby render them practically
invisible.
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16.
Still have a question? |
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