How It's Made: restoring stained glass at Bernie and Max Stained Glass Art Studio
CHILLICOTHE― Bernie Evans opened Bernie and Max Stained Glass Art Studio after working at the papermill for 29 years. He gives his thanks to his pacemaker, lovingly named Max.
He suffered "a little hiccup" in his heart in 2005, which led to three pacemakers (with the fourth on the way), three stained glass store locations and displays of art across the county.
While recovering from his first pacemaker surgery, he "needed something to do to keep me from going crazy." He started making stained glass art and never stopped.
He operated his shop out of his garage for two years before moving downtown in 2007. He then made his final move to 65 N. Paint St. in 2014. Walking into the first floor of the shop, small but detailed pieces line the walls and shelves, including wind chimes, coasters, lamps and more.
Pam Hatton, a glass maker at the shop, described Evans as a renaissance man.
"He does everything," Hatton said. "He does the wood and the painting and the glass... I've never made a mistake that he wasn't able to fix."
The basement is where Evans focuses on his work. He specializes in repairing and restoring large pieces of stained glass. The workspace has beautiful sheets of glass in every color and shade imaginable, along with buckets of broken glass saved for reuse.
"That's actually one of my favorite parts, to be able to put my hands on something that'll bring it back to its initial beauty," Evans said.
Restoring Stained Glass
When restoring a piece, Evans cleans every part and puts new lead in. Evans' goal is to make the piece look "just like it did 100 or 150 years ago." Because of modern techniques, Evans said restored stained glass creations last much longer than antique pieces.
The piece is taken into Evans' studio for a makeover. The glass is placed flat on a table and covered with a large piece of carbon paper. Evans makes a tracing of the window to have an exact pattern of the window he can use to remake the art, piece by piece. Each piece of glass is numbered to match the corresponding piece on the tracing paper.
Restorations use as much of the original stained glass as possible. The replaced glass is cut by hand to ensure it is the exact shape to fit the window. Using the pattern from the tracing, Evans makes a template for the piece and gets ready to cut.
A glass cutter looks and acts like a precision crafting knife. There is a small cutting wheel, like a pizza cutter, that rolls across the glass. The tool works by scratching the glass, giving the piece a breaking point.
Then, glass running pliers are used to squeeze the glass. The pliers cause the glass to break where the piece was scratched.
Evans said he doesn't get nervous when making his art.
"Whatever gonna happen is gonna happen... Things don't always go the way you want them to," Evans said. "If you break a piece of glass you can cut another one."
After each piece is hand cut, Evans starts to construct the piece.
A soldering tool is used to fuse metal together and creates the "seam" of the piece that holds the glass together. With the soldering tool, the stained glass can be constructed in two ways: either with lead came or copper foil.
For lead cane, Evans takes a long, skinny piece of lead with notches on each side. The glass is slid into the lead like puzzle pieces. The lead can be bent around the glass, then soldered to keep the pieces in place. Finally, the piece is cemented to help with waterproofing and structural stability.
The cooper foil method uses a thin, ribbon-like strip of copper foil wrapped around the edges of each piece of glass. Evans then solders the pieces together for a lighter final product- this is often the method used to make lamps.
Flux is a liquid applied to the solder to prepare the copper to solder and cleans any oxidation from the piece. Then, patina can be applied to the solder to change the color of the metal.
Although the process is oftentimes painstaking, the final product is a restored piece of historical art that can last for hundreds of years longer thanks to Bernie and Max. From restoring historical church art to creating custom designs for homeowners, Evans' has left his mark on Ross County with art that will last for years to come.
"I'm not going to be remembered for the papermill, but the work I've done here will be around for hundreds of years," Evans said. "It's a lot more fun than making paper."
For more information about Bernie and Max Stained Glass Art Studio or stained glass classes, visit bernieandmaxstainedglass.com or call 740-775-1054.
About the Series
How It's Made is a series highlighting unique products and services in Chillicothe and Ross County. If you have a suggestion for a future business to feature, email Megan at mbecker@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: How It's Made: restoring stained glass in Chillicothe at Bernie and Max
