Shortening a too-long transom

[Tre V]

Well....darn...  
 I just finished my first commission, a transom. I measured the opening, remembering to measure in several places, not just width and length. I was soooo proud that I remembered to do that because the darned thing was neither plumb nor square (100+ year old house) . I was very careful to be sure the pattern correctly reflected the exact shape of the opening. Pride Goeth Before The Fall.  I neglected to make sure the homeowner had completed the trim work prior to me measuring. It is now 3" too long.
   I found a website that has instructions on how to shorten the piece at   http://www.ehow.com/how_5309791_shorten-stained-glass-panel-dtg.html
The general consensus of opinion is that this a good way to get the job done.
  Unfortunately..... my husband, who used to have a glass and glazing business, says it would be cleaner and faster to use a wet tile saw. I'm not so silly as to run my finished transom through a wetsaw without a test on something else.
   So....in the interests of marital harmony, I've made a mock up and will let you know what we figure out. Stay tuned.

[Wayne]

Since the shape of the transom window is a simple rectangle, shortening the window by 3” is not a hard thing.  Either you can remove 3“ from the one end (right on the picture) and if that affects the design, you can remove some from both ends.  You remove the zinc on the end and the one side assuming you are changing one end and the other end zinc if you must shorten that as well.  Since you have the paper pattern, make a change design in clear which will fit into the green areas you have in the window right now.  If the change does not go that far into the window, then make the design reflect a change which will fit into the design.  Once drawn and the glass has been cut, remove the pieces from the window and insert the new pieces and assemble the zinc again.  If you are lucky you can reuse the zinc and if not use a couple new pieces.  It should go quickly, say an hour and a half.

The advantage of doing it this way vs. the saw is that you won't interrupt the design since it has been changed to look good in the shorter mode.

[Tre V]

Thanks Wayne. If I remove 3" from the right end (as posted)  of the panel, it won't unbalance the design. I sure wish I'd thought to ask about the trim..

[Malinda]

I'd probably go for a bit off each end equally if possible.

[ct4mom]

Good Luck!!!

[Tre V]

Good Luck!!!

Yeah! Thanks for that!  :) I'll need it.

[Graham]

Removing all 3 inches from one end is just a tad more than half the work. I've reduced the sizes of panels many times, nor rocket science, but one must be careful not to break then end pieces when cutting part off.

I'd just remove the 3 frame pieces from around an end. mark, with a magic marker how much is to be cut off, and melt off the solder from the end back a bit past the line. Then putting something to support each piece from behind score along the marked line, and snap the pieces off. Cut the frame sides back to the proper length and re solder to the panel.

If the pieces all break correctly, it's quick and easy. If you break off too much, or crack the part that's to remain, a new piece will have to be cut and installed.

It's sort like the procedure below, except your trimming off a group of adjoining pieces, and
since that edge is going into the hard metal frame, no grinding is necessary.

[Tre V]

Thanks Graham, although I'm getting more and more nervous...

[Stephen Richard]

Ferom the appearance of the piece in the photo, you need to cut from both ends.  Use Graham's method.  It is simple, easy, and usually works without breaking the parts you want to keep.

[Rebecca]

Your grape leaves are beautiful!  You are the one to decide if it is appropriate to cut it all from one end or if you need to cut some off of each end.  Either way, you will do fine and the customer will be thrilled.  You don't need to be nervous, it isn't any harder than building the panel the first time.  It just is frustrating because you wish you didn't have to do it.  Just go into it with the attitude that it's just "one of those things" and it won't be so irritating.

Rebecca

[Scooch]

I made a transom once that was 1/4" to tall.  I took the came off, de-soldered the areas that needed to be trimmed.  I then marked and scored along a across the bottom of the piece.  Each piece was then broken off.  I then ran a piece of foil along the bottom and re-tinned the bottom.  Put new came on and was done.  Worked out fine and was not that hard to do. In this case I would reccommend talking some off of both sides.  Right now the leaves are centered in the transom.  If you take glass off of only one side, it will appear lopsided.  Just my opinion.

[Tre V]

I agree Scooch.. I think 1" off the left and 2" off the right..  Sunday afternoon is D-Day...

[Rebecca]

Just don't let it get to you!

Rebecca

[Graham]

  I then ran a piece of foil along the bottom and re-tinned the bottom. 

A question Scooch: Why foil and tin if it's going back into came?

[Scooch]

  I then ran a piece of foil along the bottom and re-tinned the bottom.

A question Scooch: Why foil and tin if it's going back into came?

I don't know.  That's just what I did.  In my mind it sounded good at the time.  I asked myself the same question after the fact.  Oh well.   One run of foil and some solder never hurt anyone.   

[Graham]

I don't know.  That's just what I did.  In my mind it sounded good at the time.  I asked myself the same question after the fact.  Oh well.   One run of foil and some solder never hurt anyone.   

I'm not implying that there's anything "wrong" with the practice. I just wondered if you had a reason that I never thought of.

[Tre V]

Here's the the thing. Most of you are highly respected professionals in your field, so it makes me a little jumpy to try to do something different. Frankly, when DH insisted the tile saw would work, especially for the short end of the transom I was pretty skeptical. I expected to see posts that said something like  "Oh don't do that! My uncle Derford tried that and he's still picking shards of glass out of his nose."
I had already wrapped the perimeter of the transom with lead instead of zinc, and I'm not sure how this would work going through the harder, more rigid zinc.

Caveat: 1. I don't know what I'm doing and don't necessarily recommend this for anyone else.
            2. As always, EYE protection!
            3. Moving the finger guard is NOT recommended, in spite of what DH has done here.

   I was surprised and elated at how clean the cut was on this test piece. When cutting the transom I will need to be sure the support surface is built up the the same height as the tile saw, and is strong and stable. It will also help that there are two people..one to run the saw and one to maneuver the rest of the transom forward.

[Kev]

Cool Tre!

[Graham]

1. I don't know what I'm doing and don't necessarily
         recommend this for anyone else.
 2. As always, EYE protection!
 3. Moving the finger guard is NOT recommended,
         in spite of what DH has done here.

 

Words to live by. No argument from this corner.
What works, to get a job done, is OK by me. I'd do it
my way, if only because I don't have a tile saw.

[Judy K]

Love my $60 tile saw and will not forget your experiment. thanks.