I started out with the idea of making a fused glass dome, which I found was not possible, however it meant I still had the wax dome form that I had made as part of that process. This came in useful in designing the stained glass version of the dome. I started out thinking about what shapes would best fit an acorn and taped them to the wax form.
After trying various designs, I decided it would be best to go with larger pieces, both for ease of assembly and so that it would make better viewing windows for the acorn inside the reliquary. I also chose clear glass for the dome section for better viewing, and to refer back to the glass reliquaries that I had seen in my research. I would make the base out of brown glass so that it would still retain the aesthetic of an acorn. The medieval reliquaries were all very embellished, however I knew that I wanted to embellish the acorn inside, so I decided it was best to make a relatively plain design for the reliquary so that its contents would stand out in comparison.
An early design for the dome. I re-thought it in order to have larger glass pieces since this would be very tricky to solder.
Final design for the dome section.
Once I was satisfied with the design, I drew up a pattern of the pieces to be cut, ensuring that the measurements were as accurate as possible. I could then use this pattern to trace the shapes onto the glass for cutting. To get straight and accurate cuts, I used a ruler, held the cutter straight at 90 degrees to the glass, and ensured I did not put too much pressure on the cutter. This meant that I did not need to grind the pieces too much, but just clean up the edges on the grinder.
I then wrapped the edges as evenly as possible with copper foil tape, and burnished the edges so they adhered well to the glass. The pieces were then ready to be soldered together.
My cutting pattern for the glass
After cutting, I ground the edges and wrapped them in copper foil ready for soldering. The clear pieces will form the dome and the brown pieces are the base.
The completed base with gilded acorn inside