1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and a method using said apparatus for assembling and soldering glassware, in a particular stained glass piece.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of stained glass component parts for assembling glassware ornaments, artwork, or stained glass windows has been well known for centuries. The basic process or method for assembling stained glass pieces has remained unchanged for a number of years. In general terms, the process involves drawing an actual size template which is laid out on a flat worksurface. Pieces of variously colored stained glass are then cut and ground to size as shown on the template and then positioned on the template at the appropriate location thus assuring the person assembling the stained glassware that all of the component pieces have been cut and fit properly together.
In the traditional method of making a stained glass piece, the assembler then removes all of the component pieces from the worksurface, removes the template and then wraps the edges of each individual component piece of glass with copper foil. The individual component pieces are then again laid out on the worksurface to form the stained glassware.
Once this has been done flat sided nails are positioned in close spaced relationship to each other around the outer perimeter of the assembled stained glassware to hold all of the component pieces together during the soldering phase. The assembler then uses a soldering iron to inject melted solder into the joints of the various component pieces. The solder, when it has cooled and resolidified, holds the entire stained glassware together.
The nails are then removed, and the stained glassware is carefully turned over so that the opposite side can also be soldered. After the completion of soldering, the outside perimeter is finished either by framing or with the appropriate soldered trim.
The art of assembling stained glasswares either for small windows and/or for ornaments has always attracted the home hobbyist and has enjoyed increased popularity over the past several years. The problem is that the cutting and polishing operations involve grinding wheels and cutting and breaking of pieces of glass. These operations generate a lot of dust and small splinters of glass, and as a result, are normally done in a garage or workshop. The soldering operation requires a clean, well lighted and comfortable environment with a very steady worksurface since it requires steady hands and skill. In the case of the hobbyist, this soldering operation is done inside the home, usually at a well lighted table.
Soldering the various component parts together into one glassware is a slow, careful operation requiring steady hands and patience. If the final glassware being assembled is of any significant size it becomes difficult to reach one end of the glassware from the other if the solderer has to reach over the glassware to apply solder to the far end. Most hobbyists use a workboard which is placed upon a table. They rest their hands, wrists or arms on the workboard to steady them and from time to time have to stop soldering to pick up the workboard to reposition it so as to have better access to other sections of the piece being assembled. This is tedious and time consuming.
Additionally, hobbyists often times assemble two or more individual items of glassware at the same time. In this manner all of the pieces for two separate works will be cut and polished at the same time. And then, when the hobbyist is ready to solder the component pieces, he will do the soldering operations for all of the pieces at the same time. Thus while one semi-finished piece is cooling, the hobbyist may be soldering together the component parts of a second piece.
Various workfixtures have been developed for holding glass while it is being cut, ground or polished. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,786 discloses such a workfixture in which a workpiece, as it is being acted upon by cutting or finishing tools, can be held in place or slid either in a straight line or rotated about a fixed axis. U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,136 discloses an apparatus for pivotally supporting cutting and polishing tools by use of a maulstick while the piece being worked upon is held by peripheral clamps.
However none of the prior art provides a fixture suitable for use in assembling stained glass artwork where, after the cut component parts are placed upon the template, they need not be removed again until a first soldering operation has been completed even though the cutting, grinding and polishing operations take place at a different location from that at which the soldering is done.