learning to glaze through text might be like learning to dance through text so some videos probably help. I watched a few. some are pros and some shouldn't make videos but you can take away the ideas you like. usually if it is some kid whith boom box music cranked then I just hit skip.. you can get some good info this way, just taking in the ideas you want to. I noticed a couple of different techniques and some may like to do it a bit different than others even with lots of experience.
Maybe Jade could comment if the glass should be set into putty. ( back beaded) I would think that would be a better seal? its annoying when they rattle. maybe it's optional to roll out a tiny bead and lay that in and then the glass? I had a pro replace a window in my door and it rattles. Every time I close it I thing gee the guy was a pro, he should have been able to make it not rattle. stuff like that makes me want to do stuff myself.
In lots of the videos they put excess putty in and then on the first stroke they sort of separate the excess and pull it off just by running the knife over the whole bead at about a 45'. It isn't wasted, you can use that next.
in this one he sort of starts at the corner knowing it's easier to get that looking right first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9TYFJA-ByQWhen I was at the glass shop he said to knead in a bit more linseed oil and work it a little. depends how fresh it is or if it's been sitting. he also used a bottle with water and weak soap and did a little spray over when he smoothed it out and that reduced the friction. the soapy water just helped reduce the tendency for the putty to stick to the knife. Of course you dont' want water in between stuff, he just spritzed it a little before the final bead was dressed to shape with the knife.
I guess what Jade is saying , letting it sit, it doesn't dry in that time but it kind of firms up from setting a little, making the tooling easier.. Makes sense. It firms when it rests. this isn't about loosing moisture, other things like Plasticine work that way too. If you grab it and work it it softens up, when it sits it hardens.. I better not make the obvious joke here..
Its probably good to use a bit of blopentine to prep the frame but no paint where the putty goes. leave it dry a while before you paint the bead. allow the paint to just slightly cover very edge of the glass so it helps seal the water but you don't want to see a sloppy mess of paint of course. At first I was scraping the paint up to the putty with a razor blade thinking I was making it "neat" and then I realized that probably isn't the best way, better to have 1/16th or 1/32" of the glass painted so water can't creep under.
the above video made the point to flip it over and have a look to see how it looks from the other side. if the putty shows too much you could adjust your angle a tiny bit I guess. Makes sense to check while it's all wet in case you want to change it.
Maybe Jade can chime in with more info and technique but I dont' think you are too far off and it does take some practice so if you spend an hour or two learning before you accomplish much , that's pretty normal.
