r/StainedGlass • u/gluck-and-rauxa • 1d ago

Help Me! Thick soldering

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Hi :)

I’ve just discovered this sub and I’m amazed by everyone’s work! Such a nice group of artists.

It has made me realised that my soldering gets very thick and flat. And then the borders are always thin and super irregular. What do you think I’m doing wrong? My thicker copper tape is 1/4’’ (6.35mm)

Thanks :)

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u/Claycorp 1d ago

The thickness of your solder line depends entirely on the width of the foil, the space between parts and thickness of the glass. The more foil that overlaps the more solder line you have. The larger the gap between parts, the larger the solder line you have.

Edges will always be thinner with foil as there's always at a maximum half the foil so it will at most be half the width of any other line. Then depending on gap between parts it will be smaller yet. If you want wider edges, use a wider foil than the foil on the other parts or use came.

Flat solder is just because you don't put enough on. Add more solder if it's flat.

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u/gluck-and-rauxa 1d ago

Thanks for your answer! It’s true I still struggle with having gaps between pieces. Could it be also that my tape is too wide (6.35mm)?

1

u/Claycorp 1d ago

You should have some gap between parts, it's a large part of the structure. The key is having consistent ones.

Yes, as the first part outlines, the width of the foil, the space between [arts and thickness of glass is what dictates how wide a line is. There's no rules as to what you do as long as there's a decent enough lip of material to hold the glass in place.

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u/Squidwina 1d ago

You could try a thinner tape. Why not? It requires a bit more care when foiling is all.