My favorite brands after much trial and error 

Some artists might not be willing to share their secrets. After all, it’s not always easy to figure out which tools are the right ones for the job. It can be an exhaustive, expensive process of trial and error. I understand not wanting to share your hard-earned secrets. But, for me, art is all about collaboration. 

After all, no matter what you’re creating in the 21st century, you’re doing it with the knowledge passed down by the artists who came before you. Even those Renaissance painters who painted creepy babies right after they figured out how to add dimension to their paintings. Before the 14th century images were pretty much flat. Humans had to figure out how to paint angles and lighting - we didn’t jump from stick figures on cave walls to the Mona Lisa overnight. We had to improve oil paints, study proportions, and develop chiaroscuro. Da Vinci didn’t invent chiaroscuro, but he built upon the knowledge of his forebears and took it to the next level. 

So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite lead-free tools and supplies to leave you with less wrecked soldering iron tips, smoother solder lines, and spotless patinas:

COPPER FOIL 🥉

You probably didn’t expect me to talk about copper foil in this post, but this is where I see a lot of lead-free soldering frustrations begin. 

Lead-free solder requires higher temps than 50/60 solder. The adhesive on the copper foil however cannot always take the heat. When the glue underneath the foil overheats it can melt, burn, and come loose from the sides of your glass. To help prevent the worst from happening, it’s crucial to have a high-quality copper foil. I tried using a cheaper brand when I first started out and nearly every piece fell apart while soldering. It was so disheartening to put so much work into a piece just to have it crumble minutes into making it. 

My favorite brand right now is EDCO copper foil. It has the strongest adhesive of the brands I’ve tried so far. I wouldn’t recommend using studio pro copper foil for lead-free work. 

If you're still struggling, double check that your glass and foil are both at room temperature when you are foiling. If you're cleaning your glass in hot water or keeping your foil somewhere cold, it just isn't going to stick. 

SOLDERING IRON 🔥

The soldering iron is one of our most precious tools as stained glass artists. Don’t waste your time with a cheap soldering iron. When it comes to lead-free soldering you will need a high-quality iron with temperature controls. I go up and down pretty often while using lead-free solder. You’ll need to decrease the temps or start with a cool iron to help tin the edges of your piece. 

I use a Hakko-601 soldering iron (price ranges around 65-100 depending on where you buy it from) with an ¼ inch tip. Mine came with an 3/16 inch tip that I save to use for intricate work. The ¼ inch tip helps speed things up for most of my glass work. 

Have an iron without temp controls? That’s okay! You can get an external thermostat to attach and control your iron. I haven’t used one of these so I can’t speak from experience, but I have heard they can be a bit cumbersome to work with and add a bit of weight to the iron, which can get uncomfortable. 

No matter what iron you use, maintaining it and keeping the tip shiny is crucial to making beautiful stained glass art. Use tip tinner and a damp sponge to keep your tip clean while soldering. Trust me, it’s better to do maintenance now rather than constantly find yourself buying new tips down the road! 

LEAD-FREE SOLDER ✨

There are so many brands of lead-free solder out there I would recommend starting with a couple of brands to see which one you prefer. If you don’t have the time or money to do that, then here are my recommendations. This may change over time if I find a new favorite solder but these are the ones I have tested out so far:

• AIM Artist Pure - My #1 choice for lead-free solder.  For the price, this brand is probably the best bang for your buck. You can get nice, clean lines at low temps (which is great for saving your iron tips), and it has a nice shine. Especially if you plan on using a patina, this brand of solder takes a patina really well. 
  
  
• DGS Canfield - This solder leans toward the expensive side and wasn’t my favorite to use. For that reason alone I am probably going to avoid using this brand. You need your temps on the higher end (400) to get smooth lines and it had a duller finish than some other brands I’ve tried out.
  
  
• Amerway Tourmaline - My 2nd favorite solder. Not only does it run smoothly at 340 degrees, it is the shiniest solder I’ve worked with. If you’re making an ornament or jewelry where you don’t plan on adding a patina, this is the solder you want to be using. Even before waxing and polishing your artwork, this stuff SHINES! If you're planning on adding a patina, I would avoid this solder since it was designed to shine and doesn't take the patina as well as other brands.
  
  I should warn that I've had a lot of issues with Amerway solder not wanting to stick to edges of pieces. If you're using came that won't be a problem, but if you plan on beading your edges, this solder could give you some issues. 
  
  
• Amerway Ruby & Amerway Emerald - I honestly didn’t notice much of a difference between these two solders. They both run smoothly at decently low temps for lead-free solder (320-40 degrees) but would have a bit of a dull finish compared to the tourmaline. Since they are the same price, I generally stick with the tourmaline. 

LEAD-FREE FLUX 🍯

Everyone loves their gel flux when working with 50/60 solder. When you’re working with lead-free, gel flux doesn’t cut it. Not only does it dry up quickly (dry flux = no flow), it also burns at lower temperatures than paste flux. Where gel flux is slippery, paste flux is thick and gooey. 

My favorite brand is Nokorode Paste Flux. It leaves my soldering iron tip nice and clean and doesn’t burn at high temps. It’s the best flux, in my opinion, for getting nice smooth lines. 

PERFECT PATINAS 💖 

This final step is arguably the trickiest part. Nothing is more heartbreaking than finishing a beautiful piece only to end up with a spotty, uneven patina destroying your hard work. Thankfully this is also the most forgiving step. With a little steel wool and a lot of patience, you can redo this step a few times to get it perfect if you don’t nail it on the first go. 

The most important thing to remember when adding a patina is that this isn’t paint, patina causes a chemical reaction with the solder. Your solder lines shouldn’t just look clean and shiny, the flux you just smeared all over it needs to be neutralized. 

Knowing that, you don’t just want to scrub your finished stained glass piece with dish soap and call it a day. Here are the steps I’ve been taking to get clean, spot-free patinas on my lead-free stained glass art:

• Start with Dawn dish soap - scrub gently but thoroughly with a clean toothbrush. 
• Scrub gently with flux remover. (I use CJ’s Flux Remover)
• Dust and scrub gently with baking soda.
• Rinse and dry before going over the solder lines with steel wool
• Wipe off the steel wool dust and clean one last time with a magic eraser
  

This might sound excessive, but this has gotten me the cleanest patina lines so far. Skipping a single step has left me with sad, spotty patinas and it’s just no fun having to scrub off your patina to start over. 

SUMMARY 📝

Working with lead-free solder can be a lot more frustrating and time-consuming to learn, but it’s so rewarding to make something beautiful that is completely non-toxic. To me, it is more than worth the work to learn to not be paranoid about getting lead poisoning whenever I’m making art. Especially since I do work from my apartment and have pets! Plus, being able to handle all my pieces without washing my hands immediately is a nice bonus. I promise you’ll be proud of your finished pieces once you get the hang of it! 

I hope this article has been helpful and saves you some trial-and-error frustrations as you get started on your stained glass journey. I’d love to see what lead-free artwork you make using these tips - tag me on Instagram or TikTok @funkyfractals!