Starting out in stained glass? The first big money question will be, “Which grinder should I buy?”
Is a grinder really necessary? Well, the answer is yes, and no. But mostly yes.
While it is true that you can work on your glass cutting to hone that skill to razor sharp perfection, and you can dull the sharp edges of your glass with a carborundum stone, the bottom line is that most of us need a grinder to make the kind of art pieces that we want to make in the amount of time that we want to spend making them. My time is valuable, and rather than spending hours filing pieces of glass down with a stone, or re-cutting pieces over and over wasting however many square feet of glass, I firmly believe that purchasing a grinder has saved me a TON of money in the long run. Any skilled tradesperson will tell you that having the right tool for the job is essential. So, save your pennies, ask for early birthday money, scour Craigslist and Marketplace for used ones, but please, make it a point to invest in yourself and your art by buying a grinder.
Here is a link to the grinder that I like best, the one that I recommend to beginners who have a mid-range budget. It’s Inland’s Wizling. It sells for about $130 and is made in the good ole USA. It also has a 5 year warranty. I’ve had mine for nearly 20 years and it’s a little workhorse. I will add a shameless note that this link is to a site called Kit.co, which allows me to put together recommended products through my Amazon affiliate link. And I might get a tiny commission from it but the price to you will be the same. There is also a super budget friendly option in this kit that would be good for people whose studio will be small or need portability for their craft. And if money is no object, check out “The Grinder”. Artists far and wide sing its praise. Happy grinding!
https://kit.co/MGRSG/stained-glass-grinders/inland-craft-wizling