Glossary

Badger

long-haired brush of badger hair used to brush or whip gently the even wash of paint to make a dull matt. The badger is used to manipulate the paint when it is already on the glass.

Brown or black paint

consists of a mixture of iron oxide, glass as a flux and gum arabic and water as a binder. To paint the glass, a variety of brushes made from badger, squirrel and other animal furs is used. Long and fine brushes are used to trace linework, and badger brushes are used to smooth the wash of paint. Sticks, needles or the end of a brush could be used to scratch away paint.

Carborundum/grindstone

used for grinding away sharp and prominent points and edges left on completion of the cutting of the glass.

Cast or casting

lead came cast in a mould, before being milled to shape.

Diamond

tool used since the sixteenth century to cut the glass.

Glazing knives

they come in several forms. They are used for cutting the lead.

Glazing nails

nails used to hold glass and lead in position as the glazier puts the panel together piece by piece.

Grozer

flat-nosed pliers or square-ended pliers used to nibble the glass to shape.

Lathekin

instrument made from hard wood or bone, used in the process of glazing to widen out the flat outside lead so that the glass will fit into it easily. It is also used when working an inside lead into a tight curve, to bring pressure to bear on the heart of the lead.

Saddle-bars

the generic name for all bracing bars of the ferramenta or iron armatures, but there is a distinction to be made between those that go across the middle and those that are placed opposite the joint connecting two panels placed on top of one another, which are called division-bars.

Soldering irons

a hand tool consisting of a handle fixed to an iron or copper tip that is heated, electrically or in a flame, and used to melt and apply solder on the joints of the lead cames.

Spindles and cheeks for the lead mill

the thickness of the milling can be varied with the different-sized cheeks which are supplied to slip into the lead mill.

Steel wheel

cutting tool consisting of a cast-iron handle at the end of which the steel wheel is inserted on a tiny spindle.

Stippling brush

badger used to make a stippled matt.

Templates

shape, cut out of tracing paper corresponding to the exact size of a piece of glass required.

Three-bladed scissors or double scissors

Two- bladed cutter

the tracing of the lead-lines is transferred to thin card and divided into templates with three-bladed scissors or a two-bladed cutter which leave a central strip corresponding to the width of the heart of the lead to be used.

Wooden bridge

to avoid smudging, the painter rests his hand on a wooden bridge.