| EDUCATION | PHOTOS |
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LEADED VERSUS STAINED GLASS LAMPS |
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Most leadlight or stained glass lamps are made using the copperfoiled method of construction. This allows for finer detail of design and a lighter weight lamp than any made using lead. Leaded lamps are a very heavy lamp, simplistic in design and often come to grief by the very nature of their heavy construction. The lead fatigues over time and with gravity and many simply come adrift causing extensive damage when they suddenly give way and drop from their resting place. A copperfoiled lamp is a sturdy, strong and lighter-weight lamp with more avenue to explore more adventurous design concepts. The copperfoiled method is a different process using an adhesive copper foil strip to join all the pieces of glass. All pieces are then soldered together to form the lamp. The simpler version of lamps we make using the copperfoiled method are generally known as flat panel lamps.
HANGING LAMPS |
TIFFANY STYLE LAMPS Lamps we know as Tiffany style are those which are generally rounded in shape and have many, many pieces in their construction. These lamps are very labour intensive and costly to make, requiring special moulds and matching patterns to assemble the lamp. There are tiffany lamps flooding the market and available through lighting shops at a much cheaper price as they are imported from countries where the labour costs are very low. However it must be advised that the standard of these lamps is such that they often need reinforcing or repair in a very short space of time. The most common fault being that the top section comes away and the lamp drops causing great damage to the lampshade and anything it chooses to drop on at the time. I get to repair such lamps all the time, so know of the problems associated with these imported cheap lamps. |
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Any copperfoiled lamp can be hung from the ceiling as well as from a lamp base. It is important to make sure that the lamp has the appropriate fittings to secure it from a canopy hanging kit with chain. These items can be purchased from any leadlight supplier familiar with lamps. Any situation where your existing lamp or shade is merely fixed into the plasterwork will not be suitable and a more secure way of anchoring the lamp in the ceiling must be employed. An electrician is capable of fitting your lampshade in a professional manner, with the correct fittings having been pre purchased from your leadlight supplier, you will keep the lampshade safely in place for many years. LAMPS ON BASES A stained glass lampshade can be put on any lamp base with the right fittings. A leadlighter with experience in lamps would be able to supply whatever combination of fittings necessary to attach your lampshade to any base. Since the weight of a stained glass lampshade is heavier that a decorative fabric type shade make sure that the base is stable. It is essential that the lower base of the lamp base you have chosen is broad and that the base is heavy enough to to keep it stable.
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There are some very substandard lamps marketed as Tiffany lamps catching the unsuspecting purchaser unawares. I have seen some "tiffany lamps" that have been pressed out of a plastic mould with liquid leading in a tube having been squeezed into the gaps between to simulate real copperfoiled lamps. In many cases the liquid leading has come out of the tube in splutters and has been applied in a variance of thick-thin-thick lines in a very shoddy manner. These lamps cannot tolerate the heat from a standard lightbulb therefore defeating the object of a colourful lamp well lit. Yet another lamp on the market has been produced using the traditional copperfoiled method, but by assembling with scrap clear glass. In the final stages the backs of each glass piece has been painted with common enamel house paints to simulate the streaky colours of traditional leadlight glass. It must be stated that if these lamps ever need repairs, it is near impossible to match and replace the broken glass segments.
** NOTE : the most apppropriate lightbulb to use in a stained glass lamp is a 45 watt pearl.
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ARTISTRY STAINED GLASS PERTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA
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