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Materials:
- Variety of Stained Glass
- Slate or other stone or tile for background
- Portland Cement-based masons' mortar
- Concrete mix
- Acrylic admixture - sold in large bottles and looks like thin
white glue
- Chicken wire for reinforcement
- Two-inch thick builder's insulating foamboard - high density
- Piece of plywood large enough to hold the form
- Clear contact paper
- Screws and washers to attach the foamboard to the plywood
- Petroleum jelly used as a form release agent
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Tools
- Glass cutter - the wheel type is easiest to use
- Light machine oil (sewing machine oil works fine)
- Pliers for breaking the glass after scoring it
- Grozing pliers for chewing the edges of glass
- Hammer and nail for breaking the slate
- Trowel
- Hoe for mixing
- Mixing trough, bucket or wheelbarrow for mixing
- Screwdriver or drill/driver
- Knife to cut the foam
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Steps:
Stepping stone with slate and stained glass |
Gather a selection of opaque glass pieces |
Locate some slate, either from a roofer or stone setter |
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KNOWING YOUR GLASS FROM YOUR ELBOW
First, locate a nearby stained glass shop in your yellow pages,
and drop in. For this project, avoid transparent glass that
looks dull against a solid background. Instead, go for rich
shades of opaque marbled glass.
Most glass shops keep a bargain bin of scrap pieces. Scour
the bin. If you still don't have enough colours, buy some
larger pieces as well. Also buy a glasscutter, an inexpensive
cutting wheel set in a short handle. Toolhounds might consider
buying both 'breaking' pliers and 'grozing' pliers to trim
glass into precise shapes.
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A wheeled glass cutter is the simplest to learn to use |
To cut the glass, press firmly while rolling the cutter over
the glass |
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Go home, don your gloves and eye protection, and practice
cutting. Score the glass with straight or curvy shapes by steering
the glasscutter while pressing down firmly enough to create
a crisp, searing sound. Never go over the same cut line twice.
TIP: If the wheel is skipping or popping, run it through some
light oil to lubricate the cut. |
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Two kinds of pliers assist in cutting the glass to shape |
Breaking pliers have a wider mouth and are used to break the
glass after scoring with the cutter |
Grozers are used to 'chew' away the edge of the glass |
Use the breaking pliers to break along the line, down and away
from the scored line |
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| Don't dawdle once you've scored the glass; glass has a crystalline
structure that tends to repair itself. The longer you leave
it, the harder it is to break. Using pliers or gloved hands,
break the glass along the scored line. Always break away from
the cut line and never towards it. That's all there is to it.
If the glass breaks strangely or doesn't follow the scored line,
trim it with grozing pliers, or just start over. You'll get
a feel for it quickly. |
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Use your gloved hands to break the glass down and away from
the cut along the line |
Place the sticky side of a sheet of clear contact paper on top
of the glass, pressing so it adheres |
Turn over the paper and glass |
Arrange your design the way it will appear on the stepping
stone. Be sure to leave at least 1/8" between the pieces to
allow the mortar to flow properly. Place a sheet of clear contact
paper over the pieces and stick them down. Lift the sheet of
paper with the glass stuck to it and turn it over so that the
glass is once again exposed. The contact paper prevents the
pieces from swimming around when you start pouring mortar over
them.
When your design is complete, set it aside. It's time to make
the mould. |
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Prepare a form using a piece of high density insulating foam
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Cut the desired shape for the stepping stone |
Place the design under the form on a small piece of plywood
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NEVER TOO MOULD FOR IT
You can use anything for moulds - storage tubs, baking dishes
or the bottom of a pail. But if you want to make a custom shape
(i.e. butterfly, flower, stegosaurus) use a piece of 2" high-density
Styrofoam sheathing, which is sold in 2' x 8' sheets in the
insulation aisle at your home center.
Using a bread knife or keyhole saw, cut the shape you want,
remembering to bevel the sides at about the same angle as a
cake pan, so your steppingstone will pop out easily later. It
also helps to coat the inside edges of the form with petroleum
jelly. |
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Fill in the background design with slate |
Use screws with washers to attach the form to the plywood |
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| Place the glass-covered contact paper on a piece of plywood.
Lower the Styrofoam form over the glass design, and then screw
the Styrofoam to the plywood so nothing moves around. (Use washers
under the screw heads to ensure tight contact between the form
and the plywood.) |
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The stepping stone is made up of several layers |
Use acrylic admixture to strengthen the mortar and the concrete
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THE MORTAR THE MERRIER
The steppingstone is composed of four layers: glass on the surface,
then a layer of mortar that flows around the glass pieces, then
a piece of chicken wire to stabilize the stone during expansion
and contraction cycles and, finally, a layer of concrete for
strength.
TIP: To freeze-and-thaw-proof your steppingstone, use
acrylic admixture instead of water when mixing mortar or concrete.
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Mix up the mortar first |
Place the mortar carefully in the mould over the glass |
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Mix up enough mortar to fill the bottom of the form an inch
deep. About twelve cups of dry powder was enough for the stone
I made. Be careful to use cement mortar, which is sold in bags
in the masonry or tile section of your hardware store; don't
use concrete! Mortar is fine enough to fill the cracks between
your glass pieces. Concrete isn't.
Mix the mortar to the consistency of muffin dough - not too
wet, but not lumpy either. Pour it into the form about an inch
deep. |
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Place poultry wire on top of the mortar |
Fill the remaining space with concrete |
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Cut a piece of chicken wire slightly smaller than the form
and place it on top of the wet mortar.
Now mix a batch of concrete, and pour it on top of the chicken
wire and wet mortar until it fills the form.
Now knock the underside of the plywood with a hammer or bump
the whole thing with your hip until air bubbles stop popping
on the surface. (This makes a much stronger stone than if you
leave it porous.) |
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After it has cured for two or three hours, remove it from the
form |
Remove the contact paper |
Wire brush the surface to clean it up and soften the texture
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| After it's set up enough (3 - 8 hours) that you can't dent
the concrete with a fingertip, remove the steppingstone from
the mould and peel off the contact paper. Run a wire brush over
it to soften the edges. |
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Scrape clean the surface of the glass and stone |
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Be sure to thoroughly clean the glass and the stones because
the acrylic additive will permanently coat the surfaces if you
don't nab it early.
The stone won't cure fully for about six weeks, so keep it at
room temperature until then.
Be sure it is completely dry and then seal the whole thing with
concrete or grout sealant, so it lasts forever. |
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Artisans'
work featured on this episode:
(click pics for Artist info and larger
images)
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