My dad had a Model 44 that I used to drive on the farm.  I thought I would make a stained glass window showing the old Model 44.  I went online and found a picture of a Model 44....

I imported this file into Google Sketchup, so I could draw the stained glass pattern close to scale.


Next, you have to add glass cut lines, because glass can not be cut certain ways, including 90 degree cuts.  Since I have a 1/4" diameter grinder wheel, I made all 90 degree intersections a 1/4" blend diameter.


I have no experience designing patterns for stained glass, so this was a new experience for me

The other design factor is the width of the solder joints. They are typically about 1/4" wide, or 1/8" on each adjoining piece of glass.  The green piece below the steering wheel may not show any green at the bottom because it may be completely covered with solder. We will try it and see.

When I started cutting the glass, I decided to make the grey muffler a straight piece, versus the smaller diameter at the bottom.  Because of the solder width factor, it won't show up anyway.  I selected a nominal 8 inch high and 10 inch wide design size for the stained glass pane.

Below are the stages as I cut and fit the glass using my grinder.........






Little pieces are harder to handle and grind. The muffler and air intake pieces took some time!

The brown wheels are as close a color to black as I could find at Hobby Lobby's glass selection.

Foiling and Soldering Complete



Black Patina Completed and Project Finished





This one really turned out nice!  There is a board holding it up, which obscures the tractor wheel in the photo above.

Lessons Learned

For my 1st attempt at designing a stain glass pane, this came out pretty good. I probably should have made the air intake on top a little bigger, because the solder reduces its final size, but you can make out the red breather in the sun.



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