Back at It

[Ted Calver]

Helping my son in law, Tim install a forty foot diameter stained glass dome in the new Oklahoma State Capital Museum. The panels were removed from the old Capital dome during renovation several years ago because they had deteriorated and were replaced with new glass. The old panels have been in storage and Tim was awarded the contract to reconstruct the old dome as part of the museum display. The process involved saving as much glass as possible, replacing the missing/broken pieces and reconstructing the panels with new lead and zinc. Helped him install the first few of the new panels today. It's going to be really nice.


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[Darren Wright]

Very cool project!

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

That's going to be epic!

 

[Mike Stafford]

My favorite aunt lived across the street from a man who did stained glass work. He made lamps, doors, windows and other common items. I don't think he would have touched a project this large with a 10 foot pole. In this case you would need a 20 foot pole.

Amazing! Congratulations! I hope you will provide progress updates. I do so enjoy seeing master craftsmen ply their skills.

 

[Bob Gibson]

What an impressive project. I would love to see it !!!

 

[Ted Calver]

Got six more panels up today.

 

[Jonathan Shively]

That son in law is going to keep you busy! He must be a go getter for sure!

 

[Ted Calver]

We finished up the dome exhibit today, with a marathon install of seven of the largest panels. Each of the stained glass panels sits on a piece of tempered glass, and for all but these last panels we were able to install the tempered glass first, and then place the stained glass panel on top through an adjacent opening. There was no room to do this for the last opening... both pieces had to go up through the opening and settle down into place at the same time. To make this possible, back at the shop the tempered glass was first framed in zinc and then the stained glass panel was placed on top and soldered to that frame along the edge to create a tempered/stained glass sandwich weighing roughly 80-90 pounds. The A Team, consisting of my son-in-law Tim (the Boss) and my grandson Ethan and me took just over three hours to wrestle the final seven into place. The stained glass looks great, the gaps between the stained glass pie sections not so much. We are speculating something will happen to rectify what most viewers see as an eyesore. Here's a few pics of the job:
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[Bill Satko]

Some things are just meant to be finished.