Hinge Points and How They Affect Your Stained Glass Art
Iāve been seeing a lot of chatter lately about hinge points.
Far too often people donāt understand what they are, how to avoid them, or even how to reinforce them. Sadly, this sometimes includes people who are offering advice (eek!)
So letās take a moment to identify what a hinge point is.
What is a Hinge Point?
Once youāve made plenty of free form suncatchers of various shapes and designs, youāll probably be able to notice and figure out what a hinge point is, even if you couldnāt name it as such.
Letās run through the typical scenarioā¦
You took the time to make sure you had a good fit between your pieces, and you made certain that your foil was adhered really well. You even built up your solder seams to make sure there was enough metal to make everything super strong.
Then, when you were cleaning or polishing the piece, you noticed one section that would flex or bend.
What?
How did that happen?
Well, you see...youāve discovered a hinge point!
Anywhere there is a straight, or fairly straight line from one edge of the piece to another, you have a hinge point. Because of the straight line, if any pressure is added to the front or back of the piece, itās going to bend right along that seam.
Think of it as a door that swings open. With a straight line in your stained glass piece, the finished piece will āhingeā or swing open like a door. (Okay, that may seem a little dramatic, but you get the idea.) It will become loose and swing more and more as time goes on.
It doesnāt matter how well you cleaned the glass before foiling and it doesnāt mean you got a bad batch of foil and itās not adhering well.
Itās simply, that structurally speaking, there is a weak point in the design.
Naturally, the weakest point is where things will begin to move and if the hinge bends far enough, the foil will break and the piece will separate entirely from the rest of the panel or suncatcher.
Here are some sample drawings to demonstrate hinge points.
A Straight Seam From One Edge to Another = Hinge Point
How Are Hinges Addressed?
Well, you have 2 choices:
1) Change the design
2) Reinforce the piece
Ideally youāll want to identify possible hinge points BEFORE you make a piece. This way you can factor in reinforcement or adapt the design before you even cut any glass.
Changing the Design
Hinge points can (and should) be taken into consideration when creating a design. Now just because you have a hinge point, it doesnāt mean that the design needs to be re-done from the beginning.
Sometimes you can modify it to make it more stable.
Letās use the following design as an example.
Notice in the image on the left how there is a hinge point right across the middle of this design? Itās right where the water and skyline meet.
If we alter the design by adding an additional element, like the boat in the one of the right, then we can break up that horizontal line and completely eliminate the hinge point altogether.
Avoid Disappointment!
This should give you an idea of how to start identifying possible hinge points in your work and avoiding the disappointment of having a piece become unstable right after youāve made it.
Sometimes tweaking the design is all you need.
But what if you love the design the way it is? What if you donāt want to change it?
I mentioned above, that there is an alternative to changing the design, and that is to reinforce the piece. This is an option for panels as well as suncatchers and it really isnāt hard to do.
Learn to reinforce your hinge points in this article: Reinforce Hinge Points in Stained Glass
Thank you, this helped me figure out what is wrong with a suncatcher I made of leaves. It has a huge hinge point.
Just have to wait for the next set of instructions to know how to correctly correct the problem.
I’m glad this helped to pin-point the problem for you. The next post I write will show you clearly how to remedy it with reinforcement and I’m sure you’ll be happy with how sturdy you can make it š
I can not wait to learn how to reinforce.
Merci pour ces beaux tutoriels, j’adore.
C’est mon plaisir.
Thank you!
I have found your emails seem to always be aimed at me. Finally a name for a problem I fight a lot. The sailboat picture is great and offers a visual solution. So, back to the drawing board and a few redesign fixes. Thank you, thank you.
It’s my pleasure Karen. It’s great to hear that you can totally relate to what what I share and I’m so glad the drawings provided the clarity you needed to find the problems you’ve been experiencing.
Looking forward to next installation
Can’t wait for the next step
Thank you for your interest in the article, Paula. The very next article I write will explain the solution. š
Well, part of my problem has been solved!
Great! Identifying what’s happening is key to the next step š
Thank you, I understand now. You seem to answer my questions before I ask, Sandra
Your tutorials are very clear and helpful! I have so many more questions that I hope you answer at some point. ?
In regards to this article about hinge points, I read your next post on how to reinforce them, but Iām curious how you would reinforce the little inukshuk in your photos!! That little leg is just hanging down there all by itself…. I also have a geometric pattern with a similar appendage.
Thanks!
For reinforcing a small little project like the inukshuk, I would use a very fine wire. Because this piece is so small, it doesn’t need anything super heavy. I would probably just use a 20 or 22 gauge wire embedded in the solder all the way around. Because it is so fine, it will be very easy to hide in the bead of solder and won’t take much fussing to stabilize all the pieces of glass. If your project is bigger, you’ll likely want a heavier gauge wire for reinforcing it in this way.