R E P A I R S  ::  L E A D   C A M E   G L A S S

by Vaughn McGrath

There are two principal methods used in leaded glass panels: Lead-came and Copper-foil.

With Lead-Came, the pieces are seperated by channels of lead came, and held together with cement grout.
With Copper-Foil, a copper tape is put around the edges of each glass piece
and the pieces are held together with solder.

Lead Came | Glass Repair
Note: that this project is a lot simplier if you can remove the glass panel or the window and work on it on a flat table.
Cushion the glass with old newspapers to take-up the gap between the glass and the table-top.

::   Safety First : safety glasses and work gloves required ::  

Take a sheet of paper and make a rubbing of the top of the came over of the broken pieces to be replaced. You'll make templates of each piece from this. Cut the pieses just a little smaller than the template. Some glass pieces may be large enough to piece back together to create a more accurate template.  

Peal-up the lip of the lead-came. An old butter knife works well here. Remove the broken glass. Scrape out the old grout.

Take the template rubbing and make a tracing of each piece onto the glass using a permament black marker. The piece will have to be a little smaller than your template so cut inside the trace lines.

Using a basic glass cutter and the template rubbing, make a replacement glass piece. Insert the new piece of glass into the panel. Trim edges until glass fits. Press down the pealed-up edges of the lead-came and smooth out. Repeat this process for each broken piece of glass.

Grout Formula
  • 2 cups Fine Cement from the hardware store
  • 2 cups Plaster
  • 1/4 cup Linseed oil
  • 1/4 cup paint thinner
        Mix to a bread consistancy

    • Grouting
    Push the grout in between the glass and the came using your fingers and an old sponge. Use a lot of grout, don't worry about being neat. Use a paper towel to wipe up the access. Then sprinkle the panel with plaster to soak up any access water that's there and wipe it up again. You don't have to be spotless.

    Grout the other side
    Let the panel dry over night, flip it over, and repeat this process for the other side. The best way to do this is to slide the pane onto a sheet of plywood. Put another sheet of plywood on top of the panel making a sandwich. With the panel sandwiched in between the two sheets of plywood, carefully flip the panel over and clean and grout that side that side.

    Let it start to dry a little. Take a pointed stick and run it around each piece of glass and clear away any excess grout. Clean off any grout that's on the came with a slightly damp cloth.

    Carefully flip the glass over again and repeat to that side. Let it dry overnight.

    Final Cleaning
    Now you can use glass cleaner to clean up the glass. Once that side is clean you'll have to flip the panel over again using the sandwich method and clean the other side of the panel. Reinstall the window in and clean the glass one last time.

    Make your own Glass Cleaner
    In a Spray Bottle
    1/2 Water
    1/4 Vinegar
    1/4 Amonia