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Clean Up: After your piece is soldered to your satisfaction, it is ready
to clean. Carefully clean the front and back of
the piece with hot soapy water or flux
remover. An abrasive cleaner and fine grain steel wool
is effective for
shining the solder lines. Remember, if all flux
residue is not removed from the piece, the solder
seams may oxidize over time.
Oxidation is the crusty white buildup that
sometimes appears on metal. Dirty solder seams may
also inhibit the coating of patinas.
If you would like your solder seams to be a color other than silver, apply a
patina to it. Patina is a chemical that reacts with the
solder and changes the color. Popular colors of patina are black and copper.
Thoroughly dry the panel and apply stained glass finishing compound, a liquid
wax, to further clean, protect and shine
the solder seams.
Framing: Wood frames are available three ways: finished oak frame, 6
ft framing stock, and precut framing stock.
You can buy oak frames with a groove in the back for mounting your finished
piece into. These are available in a variety
of shapes and sizes and you simply silicone or clip your clean panel into
them.
Oak framing stock in 6 foot strips comes sanded and ready to stain. Measure
your panel and use a mitre saw and
mitre box to cut your stock at a 45 degree
angle. Remember to add for the mitre allowance to get the proper outside
size to
cut the frame. Drill corner holes and insert screws. Hint: to prevent sideways
"drift" or "stepping" when assembling
the frame, just place
a C-clamp covering both mitred edges. Keep it snug but not too tight and insert
screw.
To use pre-cut framing stock, which is available in even measurements from
10" to 28", simply slide the wood strips around
your panel and insert the screws into pre drilled holes. The framing
comes 2 per pack and ready to stain.
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