Stained Glass & Leadlights
Leadlights-
Most of the time the terms leadlight and stained glass are used interchangeably to describe ornate, colourful glass. But there is a difference between the two.The term leadlights (or leaded light window) refers to the age old technique where decorative glass is held together by H lead cames, and then soldered together. Such as the image below
Leadlights are often made up of hand rolled glass & stained glass.
The image below depicts a panel of hand rolled glass, hover over the image to see the detail!
Hand rolled glass-
A traditional method made by flattening the glass and rolling it our manually on a flat surface.With this process, it is possible to create special effect, such as heavy ripples, fracture and streamer glass. These are not obtainable in machine rolled glass.
As you can see by the image, the hand rolled glass has some seeds (otherwise referred to as bubbles), which some customers identify as "imperfections" this is very much untrue.
These irrefular textures not only give glass tactile quality, but modify the transmission of light in its own unique fashion so that the light rays, on striking the uneven surface of the glass are refracted through different angle.
The result can greatly enhance the overall effect of the glass, giving it a dazzling aliveness.
The types of glass available may seem confusing and perhaps endless. However there are four basic manufacturing methods used in making glass: blown glass, drawn glass, rolled glass and poured glass.
Stained Glass-
Refers to plain glass that has had enamel colours applied to it and is then fired in the kiln. Stained glass can be used in leadlights like the image you see below.
