Worden and Odyssey Lamps

Both are good, depends on what you want. If you want a lamp that is pretty and colorful and you don't particularly care if it looks old and collectible, build a Worden and enjoy the glass choices and have fun with it.

If you want a very accurate Tiffany reproduction, in pattern, and use glass that is appropriate to the design and era in which it was originally conceived, then go for the Odyssey.

Which ever one you chose, use a full round mold, the sectional things are a PIA to work with, but can be done, just takes more fooling around to get them accurate and straight.

I have built a few hundred lamps, don't count or keep track in particular, but have a scrapbook full of pictures.........

Home shopping network..... 800 pieces of art glass, not the best but not terrible craftsmanship..... $59.95.... including the base! OUCH...

Have you already finished that transom window?

Pay attention to what javahut told you about forms. He knows his stuff...

If you decide that you want to use Worden forms and you want the sectional, then buy enough sectionals to make a 360 degree mold. Otherwise you can run into a lot of pain trying to get each section to line up with the next one. Might cost a little more but it'll make your lamp building a better experience. With the Worden molds you have the ability to make several different designs on one mold. I prefer the Odyssey because of the durability but with some care the Worden molds can be used many times. I think everyone who's doing stained glass should build at least one Tiffany style lamp.

What about those Rainbow/Studio Design one piece plastic lamp forms? I made lots of those in years past.

Well then, what about the reverse mold that used to come from Whittemore -Durgin? those made nice lamps too. and were easy to work with, just had to be careful with the soldering iron.

You can take a shape you like, create it with a stiff material like paper mache and build on that, use wood if you have a big-azz lathe too. The possibilities are endless, but the easiest have been mentioned. Why re-invent the wheel? but then if you are the curious, ambitious type, there are methods to the madness.....

I have built a few hundred lamps, don't count or keep track in particular, but have a scrapbook full of pictures.........

************* Wow! That's impressive. Especially considering the major amount of work that must go into each one.

And thank you for the comparison between Worden and Odyssey. I think I'll start with a small Worden with a fairly simple design and decide where to go from there.

Thank you, Michael

Have you already finished that transom window?

*************** Thank you for asking! The short answer is no. I was over at the local stained glass store the day after we got back from Florida. I had to order the white, the red, and the blue. I had enough yellow and green from way back when. It's going to be about four weeks.

for a light box. I was amazed they didn't have it in stock and had to order it. Be about a week.

I've been killing time putting together some new designs and learning some of the intricacies of Glass Eye, but I got impatient and decided I couldn't wait four weeks to make something so I settled on a Glass Eye example that I can put in one of the glass-paneled cabinet doors we've got over an island in the kitchen. I came home with the glass today and tomorrow morning I'm going to try my luck at printing out the pattern. Wahoo! I'm excited. I've also got to get a small work bench built to cut and assemble on, but I'll improvise until that's done.

Thanks, Michael

Something to keep in mind while choosing a pattern, especially the first one. If the pattern that you chose has so few pieces as to make the pieces large, "left to right" then you will have to center them to make them go around the curve/circumference of the lamp, sort of "balance" them on the curve. There are easier ways to learn than to chose a pattern where you need to do that. AN example is the 13 in Worden WOODBINE or the Odyssey 16 in Woodbine, a certain balance of the pieces must occur. As a beginning pattern I would chose something that has more pieces and forego that part of learning, it is frustrating to tip them all the time instead of concentrating on your glass and its design.

The important thing of lamp building is to learn and to enjoy the process...I have yet to build one where I wouldn't do something a little different to improve the one I just finished, when I do it again.

=========================================================== I have built a few lampshades over the past 25 or so years.

about 1,080 or so, many have been one to three hour start to finish time panel lamps

about 150 have been Odyssey about 200 or so Worden, many before the "full form" styrofoam was developed

what shade do you have in mind?

how deep are your pockets?

do you have a follow up shade (same size) in mind?

worden's can have the pattern exchanged odyssey tend towards using the same pattern only for the given form

For me (re-sale) Odyssey is only way to go as most of the retail purchasers' need the reinforcement of seeing the expensive shade they are buying illustrated in any of about 3 major Tiffany Shade Art books.

More questions? ask here or try direct to me

Howard

Thanks to everyone who has posted on the subject. I've been polishing my glasscutting skills. They were pretty darned rusty. I've got a Worden Tulip mold coming. I was careful (I hope) to not get one with too big of pieces like javahut suggested. I could just wait until it gets here and read the directions first, but I do have question. A book I was recently looking at showed the only thing supporting the lamp as a metal cap soldered onto the top. Is that really enough to support a lamp? I notice that the Odyssey lamps have got a cap, a ring, and something else supporting the lamp.

The people I ordered the mold from recommended that I get the 4" cap for the top and support it from the bottom with a slightly larger cap, and somehow squish them together. Does this sound valid?

Thank you, Michael

Sure it will work, but keep in mind the forces on your lamp, that method will work IF you do some things similar to what they did back in the good ole days, that are brought forward with methods similar to what Odyssey is doing.

When you build your shade, at the aperture ring, or top opening, solder in a heavy copper or brass ring. of some kind. Years ago we used number 10 copper wire, bent around a propane tank, or something similar. Use 1/8 in welding rod or brass rod from the hardware store, bend it around something slightly larger in diameter, and squeeze it into size just before installing it, and solder it in place.

I want to emphasize this, but not be mistaken for yelling, ONLY TACK IT IN

3 PLACES equidistant around the circumference of the ring until the shade is off the mold. attach the bottom rim to the shade THEN level the shade by the aperture ring. If you run into trouble when you get to that point, post but DO NOT fill that gap between ring and glass before you post that you are confused. The solution is very simple, but if you fill the solder area in first, it is much more work.

Once that ring is in place, if you want to use a "wheel" as does odyssey , or use another cap under with one over it, you can do so easily without fear that the upward pull of the bottom cap, and the downward sucking of the earth,(gravity) along with the weight of those 3 lbs of solder pulling downward, won't pull the bottom cap right up thru your fine tight lines on the lamp shade.

Is that detail enough? Feel like somebody asked what time it was and I told them how to build a watch, sorry about that, I must be "jonesing" from no activity on the board in so long!! not even a good catfight.

You forgot to tell him to use 900F soldering tips....LOL

Is that detail enough? Feel like somebody asked what time it was and I told them how to build a watch, sorry about that, I must be "jonesing" from no activity on the board in so long!! not even a good catfight.

*************** Thank you! I do have an additional question. Is the copper or brass ring something that should always be used in addition to a single cap, or are you saying this is an additional piece I should use if I am using two caps, one on top and one on bottom?

Michael

A copperfoil lamp with a cap is enough for most. We solder a thin wire around the skirt as well to keep it from separating years down the road.

Should always be used......think about it for a second, the glass at the top is only attached , to anything, by the single solder line attached to a thin piece of tape. the ring acts a unifying structural element so that a cap or wheel or what ever is exerting pressure on the whole area instead of one spot.

It looks good too, if done with some finesse.

Thanks, JK and Javahut. I have been giving the support a lot of thought, and the idea of just the cap soldered to the top of thin copper tape with adhesive holding it onto a few small glass pieces is scary, even if they are reinforced with a fat coating of solder. I am going to be inclined to reinforce as much as I can without impacting the aesthetics. I would probably go with the ring/wheel/cap Olympia setup except the combo for a 4 inch set is over $50. At least on my first few lamps I'm not going to be concerned with matching originals, so that's just a little heavy on the cost.

I am going to go with your suggestions. A wire ring soldered in the center and maybe the second lower cap sound like a sturdy but low dollar solution. I also like the idea of soldering a thin wire around the skirt.

Thanks again, Michael

I've made not hundreds but thousands of lamps. All had one cap on top soldered into all the meeting leadlines. Haven't had one come back in over

30 years. But..................... I fix about 1 lamp a week that was made overseas where the cap popped off. The most common reasons are: the cap was tacked in only a few places and the customer used a 200 watt bulb. By all means do what you like, overkill is a good thing when you don't need to make money on it.

I got a big (for me) glass order yesterday. I was really excited. Like a child on Christmas morning. My 16" Worden tulip lamp mold came, too. I about passed out from shock when I saw it uses over 500 parts. Darn! I never imagined so many pieces. None of the cuts are difficult. Just small pieces so accuracy will count.

I didn't see any recommendation on copper tape size. Maybe I didn't look close enough. I figure 3/16". Does that sound right?

Thanks, Michael