Stained glass 2.0
By Anar on 31/07/2025, 07:41 - Print - Permalink
Stained glass traditional making is an art that exists since centuries, in which pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns, held together by strips of lead known as the "came". But special precautions should be taken when working with this metal to avoid lead contamination.
So I wondered how 3D printing and other materials could be used instead of lead...
I'm not an expert in stained glass making which is an art that requires artistic and engineering skills.
This is my humble study to see how 3D printing could somehow replace lead for stained glass production.
Just a proof of concept...
Step 1
Once again I know nothing about traditional stained glass making, but I guess the 1st step is to make a design ?
As this is just a research work, my design is very simple and only made out of 3 broken colored glass I had laying around and wanted to recycle.
Step 2
Once happy with my "artwork", the 2nd step is to reproduce the contours on a 3D modeling software and extrude what will become the "came".
I used SketchUp.
Step 3
This 3D modeled "came" is then exported for 3D printing and sliced, with the introduction of a pause in the print process at a very precise height. The pause should be made on the top of the glass pattern (which depends on your glass thickness).
Step 4
The 3D "came" is then printed up to the programmed G-code pause.
Once paused, the colored glass pieces are placed where intended and the print process is resumed, which results in completely incapsulated glass pieces within the printed "came".
Result
Not perfect but not so bad for a first test.
Conclusion
I'm pretty sure that this method will probably never replace traditional making.
But I think there is some place for further researches including metal printing (?).
Which is someting I can't try...