Understanding the Different Types of Stained Glass

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Phillip Mckee: Hi, I am Phillip Mckee with Mckee Stained Glass. There are several different types of glass that we use when making a stained glass piece. Contrary to what people think, we don't paint the color on the glass, instead, we use glass that is specifically made of certain color. The first type of glass that is often used is clear glass. This glass can be seen through but it's often used with a slight texture to obscure the view and add visual interest. This provides the most amount of light transmission through the window.

The next type of glass is a transparent but colored glass. In this case, a green. Transparent glass is often called Cathedral glass because this is the type of glass that was used in the Great Cathedrals of Europe and is still the most common type of glass used in stained glass art work in Europe. The next type, is a translucent type of glass that has some other color mixtures inside but that is not perfectly clear. This is sometimes called wispy or translucent glass. It has a small amount of light transmitted.

Next is a type of glass called Opalescent Glass. This is the glass whose production method was invented by Louis Comfort Tiffany and has come to be especially associated with the stained glass art from the United States. It has had a large amount of opal added to it, to create a more solid coloration that does not allow shapes to discerned or detail, but instead when the light hits it, is infused with a glow from inside. Also, unlike Cathedral Glass, it retains its color even in low lighting conditions. Finally there is a fully opaque glass. This is a glass that is so saturated with colors and opal that no light gets transmitted through it. It can occasionally be used to create negative spaces in your design but it's most often used when making mosaic. Now that we know about the types of glass, we are going to use, it's time to choose them for our patterns. When choosing your glass, always a good idea to think about the overall intended effect and where you are going to be putting it. It's okay to mix Cathedral with the Opalescent glass but traditionally they are always used on their own. For the piece, we are working with today, we will be using cathedral glass and red, green and blue. The blue glass will have a slight texture. Now, let's get ready to cut

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