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Tom Bull
03-25-2008, 3:50 PM
I have the opportunity to do an interesting project, but it is beyond my Corel ability, so will need some help. Please bear in mind that I am pretty computer/software challenged, so may be asking some very basic questions in the process. What I have is a photo of a stained glass window that I want to make into a real stained glass window. The proportions will change, and I will delete some of the pieces because the size of the finished product is quite small: 20 x 37.875 in.

I really don't know how to even start. I acquired the image in Corel, expanded the width to fit, and now what? What is the best way to make all of the lines that are made of lead in the window into lines I can use in Corel? How should I go about chopping off the bottom of the design and moving it down to the bottom of the drawing? And then I would want to fill in the rest of the space between the top and bottom with equal rectanglular background pieces. I am sure a lot of this is extremely basic, but I am pretty well at sea here.

After I get a finished drawing, is there an easy way to make all the pieces have about .060 between them sort of like a kerf. That is needed so that the leading doesn't cause the window to grow as it is put together.

I could do this all by hand, but this old hound dawg wants to learn some new tricks. Among those tricks is going to be attempting to attach a file to this question, so if it is not there, I will keep trying. It will be .cdr of the frame with the scanned image enlarged to width. I will also try to attach the image by itself.

Thanks in advance for your help! It has been ofter said, but sure is true, this is the most helpful and giving bunch of people you will ever find on the net.

Joe Pelonio
03-25-2008, 4:04 PM
I do stained glass, as well as vinyl signs and laser work. I've done designs in Corel, then laser cut them from card stock to use as patterns to cut the glass. Do you have a laser and will be doing the same?

When I create them I will use the contour function on corel to add the slight the lead or copper foil thickness so that the pieces will fit together accurately.

Using a scanned image will be harder, you will have to run Corel trace, to create outlines of the pieces. Then those have to be cleaned up (smoothed) to fix any little bumps from the trace process. The you would use the contour function to outline the pieces since the edges of the glass on your file are hidden by the lead/foil. Then you would use the corel shape creation tool to make the rectangles the right size.

All of this is too much to try and explain step by step here, and I don't have the time this week. Someone else may be able to offer more help, but it's hard to give detailed instructions if you are totally unfamiliar with Corel. You could play with it and see what you can do, or buy one of the tutorial books or CDs.

Tom Bull
03-25-2008, 4:10 PM
I will start with that, at least it is a direction for the first step of the journey.
I am going to use the laser to actually score the glass, I saw a thread here that showed it being done. Couldn't believe it until I actually tried it myself. I have done glass for 30+ years:eek: and my shoulder is tired of pushing the cutter around, so thought this might make life easier in the long run.

Kim Vellore
03-25-2008, 4:42 PM
Tom,
The last I remember from all the discussion on scoring glass with a laser, that does not work well. Could you try a sample to make sure it works for you before going all the way. Let us know if it works.

Kim

Tom Bull
03-25-2008, 5:56 PM
I cut some somewhat complex (in the range of this project) shapes and it worked fine. Would not use for a copper foil project because of the strange edge it left. This is an adventure for me, learning how to do something like this with Corel, as well as the cutting of glass. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say. If I get nothing else, I will learn how to draw more complex objects than I can now. Plus on top of all that, I am home with the flu:mad: so don't feel like doing physical exertion at this point.

Wayne Morris
03-25-2008, 6:54 PM
Tom, if you have a simple line pattern, you might try a pair of pattern shears. If you haven't seen them, they are like a pair of sissors with an extra blade that will cut the kerf between your pattern pieces. The narrow ones remove 0.036" (for foil) and the widser ones remove 0.072" (for lead.)

Off thread: I broke down a while ago and bought a glass cutting band saw. I haven't gotten a chance to do much glasswork since, but the tool is remarkable for cutting tiny pieces. I hadn't thought about usinga laser to score the glass. That's intriguing.

Wayne

Tom Bull
03-25-2008, 7:08 PM
I guess I didn't make my situation clear.:rolleyes: I am doing it this way so that I don't have to use the regular methods. I have been doing stained glass professionally for nearly 35 years and it feels like it has worn down some of my parts so am looking for easier on the ol bod methods. Might end up being faster and more accurate for really complex jobs. I am sure I will still use a lot of the old school ways for simpler jobs.
Thanks for the input. Have about 6-7 pairs of shears, and use 3 of them regularly for jobs. Would like to find a pair of arcurate (that's not a typo) shears that were made in St. Louis back in the 60's and 70's if anyone knows of a pair for sale.

Eric Allen
03-26-2008, 1:48 PM
I don't suppose you've found or tried any settings for regular glass? I tried that once, it curved out of the score beyond 3 inches, sometimes just past 2". My regular cutter works great, but the laser resulted in a lot of scrap:)

Michael Kowalczyk
03-26-2008, 1:59 PM
Tom,
I hope it works well for you. I know that they use a laser to do the glass on cars and have the video showing it done on "How it's made". I am not totally familiar with the compounds used for glass other than high heat and sand:confused:. I have read that there are certain mixtures of glass and some are better than others for lasering. Ask your supplier if you are not familiar with them. Hope you will post a picture of your finished or test project(s).

Joe Pelonio
03-26-2008, 2:50 PM
I understood from earlier research that simple flat transparent colored glass worked fine, but the more elaborate textures and multicolored opaques, iridized,crackles and ripples, did not. I rarely use the plain colored glass but tried it anyway on my 45 watt.

I had no luck at all. Even tried plain 1/8" clear window glass and it wouldn't break along the laser score.

Tom Bull
03-26-2008, 9:21 PM
I cut some circles in a green opalescent with granite texture and had excellent results. That snapped apart with better than what I would do with a regular cutter. I had poor results with ss window glass. I will try some various other glass asap. Will be out of town a couple of days so won't be able to do it until Sat.
My goal is two-fold: make the window, learn a lot about Corel. I do not do well with just doing a lesson, I learn best when there is a real finished project at the end.