Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am not sure that traditional stained glass would hold up to the stresses of going down the highway. It has been quite a while, but I used to do "glass staining", normally on a plexiglass base. It is similar to some of the stained glass craft kits kids make. Basically, you can lay out your design, then place the glass over the top of the design. You trace out the pattern using liquid "leading". You then use liquid plastic dyes to fill in the areas. Once the dyes harden, you have your window. I have seen people do their shower doors using the same technique, it seems to work well, and is waterproof, as the material bonds to the glass or plexiglass. Many of the craft stores carry the materials, which were fairly inexpensive.

Among other things I dabble in stained glass. pmowers is correct in saying that stained glass will probably not alone stand up to the strain of being bounced around, however possible stained glass sandwiched between two plated of regular glass might. Size does matter and the smaller you go the more strength your stained glass will have. Number of pieces in your design will make a difference also. Less is stronger.

Not all stained glass is equal. Some glass is very fragile and seems to crack just by being looked at. Some is stronger than regular glass. Ask at the stained glass studio and generally they can tell you what will break the easiest and what will take more of a beating.

A single piece of stained glass can be as strong as regular glass and some of the marblized ones are truely beautiful all by themselves.

Good Luck with your project and don't forget to post a picture of the finished project. Also a one year report on how well it stood up.

Gary

If you can get your hands on an old copy of Bruce Bingham's "Sailor's Sketchbook" he has instructions in there for making faux stained glass windows out of casting resin. They are meant to stand up to the rigors of a sailboat pounding on the waves, so I am sure they would work on a teardrop. I have the book. If you want I could scan the project and email it to you. PM me with your email address if you would like me to do that.

I too like the idea of stained glass (must be a BC thing) but I was looking for a way that I could just get a printed off sheet of something so I could take any design I want print it off and apply it so maybe there is some technique in there some how to do it that way

They sell stained glass look glass film at Home Depot. It just goes on like window tinting film but comes in several designs.

You might try having a sheet of slumped glass made. It would be best if it was initially made with a clear glass sheet for one side, then colored glasses could be fitted into a pattern on top of it. Then strips of clear glass to serve as a cover glass. The whole set would then be heated to the slump point for glass and held there for a bit of time to allow the air bubble to work out and the whole mass to fuse together into one sheet of glass. I no longer have access to a kiln to do it, but it isn't hard to do. The main thing is to pick glass types with the same coefficients of expansion (COE). That can be hard as many colors change the COE of the glass.

You could also consider a laminated glass. My spouse, Dean, has made windows with this type of glass which can have items placed between the layers such as feathers, colored/decorated rice papers, dried flowers or a wheat stalk are some of the examples.
Joanie
TDN

When my spouse, Dean, gets a chance, Also, the GlassMan Returneth! He's accepted new employment which allows him to get his creative juices flowing around glass again. I am sure he could give you some more suggestions/ideas as well.

I think we still have a piece of the laminated glass with a peacock feather embedded in it in the house or shop. He did a large scale commercial specialty lam. glass where he laid copper foil lines (intersecting grids) in it and he might have a pic of that. With lam. glass you can also add different colors or make it opaque.

Also, the resin window for a sailboat is another great option. I have seen them in boats and tricked out show vans. One I saw was a clear glass round porthole style with tiny shells inside it (boat/theme) and the other side had seahorses & small starfish inside. The only thing I noticed about the resin was that it tended to age a bit on the "yellowish" side/murky but keep in mind these were also exposed to a lot of salt water/air.

P.S. It could take a while for him to get a moment to do this.

TDN

I'm doing stained glass lighting fixtures in the Command Post. In the process of learning how to do it, I stumbled onto something that would probably work great for you. It's called "triple glazing." You start by making the stained glass panel you want using the Tiffany Method. Then you cut two pieces of tempered safety glass the same size and shape as your panel. Then you use little foam spacers and some black waterproof sealant around the edges. (I'm just a bit foggy about the details. More research to do yet.) Then you seal the "glass sandwich" into a wooden or vinyl frame.The outer layers of safety glass stiffen up the stained glass panel in the middle, and you also don't have to worry about all your joints in the stained glass being watertight and sealed.. Check youtube, That's where I found a video of the method.
Hope that helps

http://youtu.be/cKa421W8jhQ

They call it double glazing in this one, but it's three layers

Just my 5c worth.... especially when you start doing things like sandwiching stained glass between 2 more sheets of glass, it's all adding weight.

I'd definitely go for the plexiglas tinted with either the stick on film or the glass paint. And if you want the authentic chunky lead beading (or do they call it reeding?) like your friend would use for a "proper" window, why not combine the above with stic- on lead strip (here in the UK its sold under the DECRA LEAD brand).

Happy building