Working with No Days Glaze - The Hobby Method
The Hobby Cure Method of construction is a great way to practice using the No Days Glaze product. It is the slowest method of construction, but does not require adjusting the stained glass pattern for the width of the No Days Glazing material.
With the Hobby Cure Method, the window is assembled, heated, and cured piece by piece.
Constructing a small project with the hobby cure method allows you to see how long it will take to melt the No Days Glaze with the heat gun, as well as letting you adjust to using the heat gun.
First, insert the NO Days Glaze into a lead or zinc channel and cut to size. You may need to use a tool to help the glaze into the channel of your lead or zinc came.
If the No Days Glaze hasn’t been sized to fit the came, it can tend to slip or curl out of the lead before it is heat set. In this case, you could use a heat gun, electric soldering iron, or even a candle to bond the No Days Glaze with the lead to help keep it in the channel while you’re working with it.
Once your edge came is prepped on your leading board, you can begin building with glass. Slowly begin to heat the zinc channels and the glass with an even heat by holding the heat gun approximately 4"-6” away, keeping the heat gun moving to avoid thermal shocking the glass.
Maintain a bit of pressure on the glass and as the No Days Glaze begins to liquify; the glass will slide into place. If the piece of glass is transparent you will be able to see the No Days Glaze melt and grab onto the edge of the glass.
After the first piece of glass is in place, you’re ready to prep the first piece of lead.
Insert No Days Glaze into the channels on both sides of the lead came.
Place the lead up against the glass. The main difference between the Hobby Method of construction and the normal leading process is the insertion of the No Days Glaze in the lead channels before the glass. Notice how the edges of the glass pieces don’t quite match up with the lines of the stained glass pattern when the piece is initially placed. This is because the No Days Glaze adds to the heart size of the lead. But, once the No Days Glaze is heat set and the piece is pushed into place, the pattern lines match up again.
When heating, you want to continually move your heat gun, holding it approximately 4-6 inches away from the window. This will provide an even heat and prevent thermal shocking your glass.
As the No Days Glaze begins to soften, push the pieces into place against the edge came and lead channel. Don’t worry if excess glazing spills out of the channel and onto the glass, it can be wiped away while liquid or scraped and peeled off with a razor after it has cooled. The more you work with No Days Glaze, the less spillover you’ll have, which means less cleaning.
As soon as the No Days Glaze cools, the window is stable and can be moved, even though it hasn’t been soldered.
Continue to build the window by preparing the lead with No Days Glaze on both sides in the lead channels. Insert glass pieces and heat to set. Remember the Hobby Method is recommended primarily for practicing with the heat gun and learning how to heat the No Days Glaze.
As you’re heating the pieces, it is helpful to have a tool handy to push the glass pieces in place. The No Days Glaze changes from a solid to a liquid at approx 160 degrees F (71 degrees C), so the glass and lead will be hot to the touch.
The biggest frustration with this method of construction will happen if your glass pieces aren’t cut exactly to size. You’ll need to reheat the glazing to remove the piece and grind it to fit.
When the No Days Glaze has cooled and cured, you can pick up the whole window and cut the excess edge came off. The window is solid and has strength, even though it hasn’t been soldered.
With the Hobby Cure Method of construction, you heat set the No Days Glaze as you build the window, piece by piece. Then, after the window is constructed and heat set, you solder the joints with a soldering iron, flux and solder. The soldering iron will reach temperatures of 600-700 degrees F (315-370 degrees C), so it may liquify the No Days Glaze at the joints. This is fine, and doesn’t affect the process.
After soldering, clean the flux off of the window and use a razor to clean up any No Days Glaze that has melted out of the came.
If there’s a waxy residue, a cotton swab or paper towel with mineral spirits will remove it.
One last tip to keep in mind...
To ensure the longevity of your heat gun, make sure to set it with the point facing straight up. This forces the residual heat to rise up through the end of the gun, instead of getting trapped and burning out the elements.
Once you’ve become comfortable using No Days Glaze, it’s recommended to move on to the Quick Cure or Professional Fast Cure Methods.
For more instructional videos, visit http://www.Streuter.com.
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