Leaded
Glass Options
There
are many lead finishes such as Soldered, Antique
or even Gold and they can all create
the perfect look. Here
are our most popular leaded glass finishes.
Option 1 - Natural Lead
A natural lead finish is created by
using pure lead that will start life as a bright
silver colour but over time will become dull
and grey as it oxidises.
When oxidation occurs the lead will discolour and may even leave a white
residue but eventually the lead will become a consistent grey colour.
Where the lead meets up with other lead, the joints are 'boned' down
(crossed over) in the direction of the lead.
This lead has been the most popular choice of lead
over the years and gives a great traditional appearance as long as
the lead
is cleaned
on a weekly basis for the first few months or years.
Option 2 - Aged Lead
Also known as 'antique lead' finish, this lead
has recently become the most popular request of our lead
finishes today.
The application
process is the same as Option 1 but
this aged lead is pre-aged with a powder coating colour
coat during manufacture of the lead so this will massively reduce the chances of the lead oxidising through time.
This lead has a dark reflective appearance that helps make the design
more prominent compared with the natural lead finish. One of the few
drawbacks to this lead is the inconsistency in batch variation. One
batch of lead may appear darker or lighter than another batch of lead
so exact matches cannot be guaranteed if orders are placed at
different times. When different thicknesses of lead are used on the same glass panel, there may also be a variation in colour of the tweo lead profiles but both will be 'aged'
Option 3 - Natural Soldered Lead
This lead
finish is created by using the natural lead from Option 1
and instead of connecting the various sections of lead together
using the 'boned' method, the lead is soldered together using
the same technique as used in traditional stained glass.
As this is natural lead, the lead will again start off with a bright
silver appearance and it will gradually oxidise and become a dull
grey in appearance as with Option 1. This lead should be cleaned regularly
over the first few months to avoid
staining
of the glass and the lead itself
Option 4 - Aged & Soldered
The aged and soldered finish is created by using natural lead and solder
as described in Option 3 with the addition of a darkening chemical added
to the lead after soldering. This sheen chemical instantly ages the
lead giving it a darker appearance.
As this lead is not colour coated it will still oxidise over time
and will discolour with a white discharge until it stabilises to give
a consistent dark finish.
This aged and soldered lead cannot be created using Pilkington K glass
as the sheening damages the K side of the glass. If this option is
selected, the K glass can only be used as the backing glass
Option 5 - Antique Copper
This new colour coated lead gives an amazing finish to the glass design.
The colour is applied to the lead in a techinque known as powder coating
and this process gives a beautiful effect.
Note: this lead is
not guaranteed for external use so should only be used for internal
glass or inside of triple glazed sealed units.
Antique Copper lead can be used in conjunction with our colour film
to create coloured leaded glass. This lead can also be used to surround
bevels from our extensive bevel range and by choosing the right coloured
film to compliment the design, Antique Copper Lead could be the ideal
choice for your decorative glass project. Feature lead designs that
are ideal for use with Antique Copper Lead are being created now and
will be added to our Gallery in the coming
weeks. Please note that both Antique Copper and Antique Iron leads
carry a premium charge so please receive a quote before adding these
leads to your standard order.
Option 6 - Antique Iron
This new colour coated lead gives an amazing finish to the glass design.
Again, the colour is applied to the lead in a techinque known as powder
coating and this process gives an amazing finish. Note: this lead is
not guaranteed for external use so should only be used for internal
glass or locked inside of triple glazed units.
Antique Iron lead can be used in conjunction with our coloured glass
film to create coloured leaded glass designs. This lead can also be
used to surround bevels from our extensive bevel range and by choosing
the right coloured film to compliment the design, Antique Iron Lead
could be the ideal choice for your decorative glass project. This lead
is also ideal for creating Wrought Iron effect designs for windows
and we will be adding Wrought Iron style designs to our Gallery soon.
Please note that both Antique Copper and Antique Iron leads carry a
premium charge so please receive a quote before adding these leads
to your standard order.
Option 7 - Gold Lead
Gold lead or Brass as it is sometimes referred
to can create stunning designs especially with bevelled
glass panels. This lead cannot be soldered and comes in
both flat and oval profiles.
We have created many jobs through the years using Gold
lead and one of the more stunning jobs featuring Gold lead
was an American
style bevelled glass doorway for a client
in Northamptonshire.
Gold
lead looks great when used in triple glazed units and this
is a great way of protecting the finish from scratches
and other damage that could occur to these 'coated leads'
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