Hi Antonio

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 13:37:27 +0000, asalcedo
wrote:


The windows at home are made of small rectangles (15cmx10cm) of glass
framed into strips of lead. Fifteen of these rectangles are then framed
into an iron frame.

I have to replace a couple of glass pieces that broke.


I can lift the thin lead strips around the broken rectangle, the
problem is that the glass is very tightly framed against the lead and
it is very difficult to lift enough so that the end of the glass is
visible.

There is also a great risk of breaking the adjacent glass pieces.

Also, the corners are welded and the only way to lift them is to cut
through the weldings.

Perhaps someone familiar with this type of window knows if there a
better way to do this.

Thanks,

Antonio

I know this is a diy newsgroup - but my first recommendation would be
to take the whole lot, iron frame and all, round to your friendly
local stained glass restoration place. It's one of those jobs where
you can very quickly end up with more broken glass than unbroken glass
- been there, done that !

The other thing is that, assuming the thing is at all 'old', you'll
probably want to do the job right and get the whole thing re-leaded...
which involves disassembling it, cutting new lead 'came' (that's what
the channel is called) to fit, soldering the joints and then brushing
a weatherproofing compound into the gap between the glass and the
lead.

If you really want to do it yourself, you can buy all the necessary
from your friendly local stained glass supplier - you can use a
Stanley knife to cut through the soldered joints at the corners (may
be easier if you first use a glass cutter to score the broken panes
and break them out in small pieces ) (mind eyes / fingers etc!) and
then gently peel the lead back.

Once you've refitted the new glass you can then re-solder the corners
(use stained-glass liquid flux or a tallow candle at the joints - and
a big soldering iron) and then brush new weatherproofing compound into
the gaps.

If you need more detailed info please ask

Adrian
Suffolk UK

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