Copper Foiling Courses
Copper Foiling: Similar to stained glass work but instead of using lead came to join the glass together the artist/student uses copper foil. It’s a very versatile medium giving an opportunity to join very tiny pieces of glass together without losing the transparency of the glass or any intricate detail in the pattern. Three dimensional forms – like tiffany lamps and boxes - can be made more easily using copper foiling than with conventional lead came, while small window hangings and mobiles positively lend themselves to copper foiling.
Copper foil is basically a thin tape with an adhesive backing which is wrapped around the cut out glass pieces. It’s supplied in different widths with different backings for different uses i.e. black, silver and clear and can be used on mirrored glass, transparent and opalescent glass. Once foiled, the glass pieces are then soldered together to form the finished pattern.
A bit like leading - the student/artist must make a decision about which foil width to use. Some widths are not suitable for specific projects but different foils widths can be used within the same project. The whole idea of copper foiling is to keep the foil as narrow as possible without losing the strength of the soldered panel.
