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Stained glass supplies depend a lot on the project being made and the artist who designs it or puts it together, with stained glass projects able to be purchased in affordable kits or purchased as individual pieces for a specific art piece. Depending on a person's budget and where they live, all of this can be purchased through many venues---wholesale stained glass supplies, cheap stained glass supplies, discount stained glass supplies, or stained glass supplies wholesale---all depending on the pocketbook and the kind of stained glass desired.

TYPES OF GLASS

The glass used for stained glass projects consists of either cathedral glass or opalescent glass. Transparent or semi-transparent cathedral glass comes in a single color but is also available in a several colors and surface textures, while the opalescent glass is milky-looking or semi-opaque. Also available in solid colors, it can also be found two or more colors mixed with streaks and swirls.

·         Cathedral Glass

o   A very popular choice, transparent cathedral glass emits light so a person can see through it, with its transparent beads appearing rather "sparkly" or lively.

o   Cathedral glass is not only available in one color or multi-color mixtures, but through another choice called "streaky cathedral stained glass sheets" where the surface textures range from large swirls, rain drops, frost patterns, or small bubbles to choose from.

o   Other cathedral stained glass styles to choose from are: confetti glass—glass with chips and streamers; water glass—glass with a wavy appearance; streaky glass---two or more colors combined in swirls; glue chip—glass sheets are lightly sand-blasted and an animal hide glue dries on the surface (appears feathery or frosty).

·         Opalescent Glass

o   The word opaque refers to a milky appearance appearing to be solid.

o   Opaque allows no light to go through it, with its opaque colors visually coming forward.

o   Semi-opaque is glass that is not easy to see through, yet allows a small amount of light to appear through it.

o   Opalescent glass is used in stained glass panels or foil glass panels.

o   The opalescent glass is excellent for use in mosaic work, where a combination of opaque and semi-opaque glass offers its own character and colors.

HOW TO USE GLASS CUTTERS

The term glass cutters are misleading when working with stained glass, as nobody cuts glass. In fact, it is pretty much impossible to do as anyone knows who has cut window glass or mirror glass. That is because glass is considered a solid liquid which has changed from a liquid form to a solid form. When a glass cutter is ran over a piece of glass, it does not cut the glass but instead form a scratch that "disturbs" the surface tension, with the glass breaking along that line. The correct term is "scoring glass" instead of cutting glass.

When scoring glass, make sure the glass is always squeaky clean to prevent the cutting wheel from becoming dull too quickly. And pushing or pulling the cutter both work equally well, with some cutters working better one over another.  But the glass cutter wheel HAS to be perfectly perpendicular at all times to the glass. Do not lean to the right or left but simply maintain an even weight of pressure until it goes off the end of the glass. Once the glass is scored, break it from the final edge the cut was made.

If a cut pattern piece is traced with a marking pen, cut on the "inside" of the line. If the cut is made on the outside of the line, the cut piece will be too big for the pattern. Do not cut on the full sheet, keeping the pieces cut one at a time or if one slip occurs---the full sheet will be ruined. Also, cut from the narrowest pattern end to the fullest end, while cutting the most difficult cut first. Deep inside curves should also be done in a series of small cuts instead of one big heavy one. Otherwise, corners may become lost or pieces will be broke.