Chapel rose · c. 1897 · TLC-0418
Trinity aisle re-leading new
620 linear feet of 5/32" round H-came for an eight-lobed rose. Alloy matched within 0.4% tin to donor samples from the original 1897 glaziers' scrap.
Est. 2011 — Upper Midwest
Hand-drawn lead came for the people who still care how a panel holds together.
A one-person channery milling round, flat, and colonial H-came, plus restoration-grade zinc and brass, for stained-glass conservators working on windows that intend to outlast us.
Recent work
A small selection of pieces milled over the last two seasons. Each entry notes the studio I worked with, the profile drawn, and the original window's approximate date. Project numbers match the shop ledger.
Domestic transom · 1923 · TLC-0421
Foursquare entry set
Colonial U-came in 1/8", cold-rolled and straightened to the studio's jigs. Short run — 48 feet — but the profile was out of commerce, so I cut a new die for it. The die lives on the rack now.
Museum loan · c. 1880 · TLC-0415
Aesthetic-movement apse panel
Three profiles drawn simultaneously to keep tension even across a curved apse. Reclaimed lead from the panel's own failed sections, re-alloyed with virgin pig at 1.8% tin.
Industrial sash · 1940s · TLC-0409
Mill-house quarry lights
Plain 3/16" flat lead, in quantity. Nothing romantic — just straight, consistent, and square. 1,812 feet delivered over three months, tagged batch-by-batch so failed sticks never had to be guessed at.
Library dome · 1908 · TLC-0402
Sixteen-ray oculus
Tapered came to accommodate the narrowing wedges toward center. Drawn on the bench in pairs and tagged by radial position (R1 through R16). No two sticks interchangeable.
Parlor window · c. 1915 · TLC-0398
Bungalow-era restoration
Mixed metals: zinc border channel 3/8", with 1/8" flat lead internal. Shipped tied in bundles of twenty, labeled to the studio's cartoon in red china-marker.
What I mill
- Round, flat, and colonial H-came in lead, widths 3/32" through 1/2"
- U-channel in matching profiles for panel perimeters
- Zinc and brass restoration channel, square and round-face
- Tapered and custom-die came for curved, radial, and tracery work
- Reclaimed-alloy came matched to historic spectrographic samples
- Pre-stretched came on request — crimp-rolled at the bench, not the mill
How I work
Work is by the job, not the catalog. A studio sends cartoons, a six-inch sample of the original came if any survives, and a deadline that respects how slowly a one-person shop actually draws lead. I reply within the week with a mill schedule and a stick count.
Most jobs are 40 to 800 linear feet. Anything larger, we talk about splitting delivery so the came doesn't sit and oxidize on your bench.