I have my next group of stained glass creations to share with you. For the past month or so, I’ve been working on a variety of plant stakes!
Creating plant stakes, I had a few more lessons that I needed to add to my arsenal. First, I switched from lead-based solder to a lead-free solder since it was much more likely that people would touch the plant stakes. I realized about halfway through my second round that switching to the lead-free solder also impacted my tools. My original soldering iron just didn’t get hot enough! So, I had to purchase an upgraded temperature controlled iron to better meet my needs.
I also realized after my first round that my black patina wasn’t applying evenly. This could be because I unknowingly double-dipped into my bottle of patina and contaminated it. Or, it could be because there was still flux residue on the piece after cleaning. I’ve since learned a new cleaning technique to better remove the flux from the piece and then seal it at the end.
Another lesson I learned was to choose thinner copper wires for the stake portion of the piece. I tried a thicker version to start and prefer the look and bendability of the thinner version I used on my second round. By bending the copper stake, I’m able to align it with the soldering line on the stained glass which results in a more secure design.
I’m quite happy with how my plant stakes turned out and plan to make a few more designs before moving on to my next challenge!