Mentoring Students....the last stages

Ildiko finishes up tinning her piece. She holds the soldering iron in one hand and the solder in the other keeping both low to her work area. In the close, up you can see see her progress as the tape goes from copper to shiny silver.

Anna now gets to release her piece from the board to look at her results while holding it up to the light. I think she looks pleased. In the photo below you can see her choice of textured glass more clearly.

 And now Ildiko gets to do the same. This is of course the most exciting moment. After both girls have tinned both sides of their work, they will proceed to "laying a bead" over the area they have just tinned. This can be a tricky part and requires lots of practise, but they both did a lot of concentrating and the results were great.

Mentoring Students .......Copper Foiling

This day both Anna and Ildiko were at the studio ready to begin taping their pieces. They started with a sticky sided tape made of very thin copper foil. Each piece must be entirely taped, and burnished. The copper tape will allow the pieces to hold together when we solder them and will also give them a strong bond. The girls need to have each piece clean and free of glass dust for the tape to adhere.

Anna burnishes the piece of tape she has just applied. I ussually use very high cost tools for this process like a wooden clothespin or wine cork. This will make the tape smooth and closely adhered to the glass.

 Ildiko uses a Foiler tool to help wind the narrow tape around the edge of the glass.

  Once the piece has been foiled the girls can begin to tin their work. This process involves the use of solder which is part tin and part lead, and a soldering iron to melt the solder onto the copper tape which has been thoroughly fluxed. The flux will help the solder to adhere to the the tape.
We're getting closer to our goal and of course when we can lift the piece off the the board and see how the light projects through the piece can be an exciting moment. Remember to click on the photos for a larger view. Until next time....