THE FLORISTS MANUAL 



from slipping down is the Peerless glaz 

 ing point. It is a small double staple 

 which has a shoulder in the top or end 

 that both holds down the glass and at 

 the same time prevents its slipping. 



There are, however, several other 

 brads or points used for lapped glass. 

 If you have found any one of them satis 

 factory, stick to it, but to save a trifling 

 expense to use the points and brads from 

 your local shoemaker is unwise. 



Houses that are glazed with putty 

 should have a coat of paint after the 

 glass is in, regardless of how many 

 coats the bars have had before they 

 were put up. One-eighth of an inch is 

 usually allowed between the bars; this 

 allows only one-sixteenth of an inch on 

 each side between the glass and the 

 wood. 



Butted Glass. 



The unfavorable reports and condem 

 nation of this system are largely from 

 two sources, mostly by men who never 

 tried in the right way, or perhaps tried 

 it on an old house that was formerly 

 glazed with putty, and the other people 

 whose houses were not built accurately 

 enough and made straight and true. 

 Square cut glass will not fit crooked 

 plate and bars. 



In the first place you must use the 

 cypress cap and bar that are especially 

 made for the purpose and your bars 

 must be put on true and parallel. One- 

 sixteenth of an inch is all you want 

 for play between bars. It should be 

 just that and nothing more nor less; this 

 is very particular. Some carpenters mark 

 out 011 the ridge and plate the place 

 for the bars; others will cut strips of 

 hardwood, one to be used at ridge and 

 one at plate. If the strip is one-six 

 teenth inch longer than width of glass 

 and the bar is nailed up to the stick 

 carefully every time, top and bottom, 

 you can t go very far wrong; yet every 

 ten bars or so you should prove by a 

 rod that you are keeping the bar at top 

 and bottom parallel. You can make up 

 any discrepancy with putty. Putty, like 

 charity, covers a multitude of sins. With 

 butted glass you must be correct, and it 

 is just as easy to be so. 



Don t trust to any carpenter, how 

 ever many houses he has built; prove 

 for yourself that he is right. When 

 the bar is nailed to the plate see that 

 the face of the bar on which the glass 

 rests and the slope of the plate are ex 

 actly flush. If the bar is a trifle below 

 the plate it is difficult to remedy. If 

 it is a trifle above it can easily be 

 taken off with a chisel. The bar can 

 always be straightened on the purlin 

 when you lay the glass, or straightened 

 by a straight-edge and fastened in place 

 before you begin to lay the glass. 



The glass should not be lapped on 

 the plate more than half an inch; the 

 less glass there is resting on the wood 

 the less likelihood of breakage by ice. 

 The glass should always be laid with 

 the rounding part up; all glass is more 

 or less convex and concave. The thin 

 edge of the glass (if there is a choice) 

 should always lead up the bar. If you 

 were to put the thick edge up and it 



Gladioli in a Stone Jar. 



butted against a thin one there would 

 be a small space for the water to lodge. 

 The man who lays the glass, if he has 

 any brains at all, will be able to see 

 these points at a glance and lay it 

 about as quickly as a boy can hand it 

 to him. Bemember that is all he has 

 to do; there are no putty and no brads, 

 no squeezing and thumbing, no squinting 

 and swearing; it is only to lay the glass 

 in, and so you go on to the top. 



In laying out the length of the bar 

 we try to make it so that a certain 

 number of lights just fill up from plate 

 to ridge. If that is not convenient you 

 can always make it so that a half light 

 will finish at the top. When you know 

 exactly what size of fraction of a light 

 you need (if any) you will have them 

 all cut ready; it is just as well to use 

 the small piece at the bottom. 



Before we lay any glass we drive in 

 two wire 6-penny nails, half an inch 

 below the edge of the plate, but only 

 drive them in a small depth, just enough 

 to hold the lights while you are laying 

 them. This can be done before you be 

 gin to glaze and by a man standing on 

 the ground. When the whole run of 

 glass is in and before you screw down 

 the cap the man nearest the bottom, 

 with the end of his chisel handle, gives 

 the glass a good push up, closing up 

 any space, however small, and then 

 drives in his bottom nails. They should 



be driven close down to the glass or 

 they will impede snow and ice slipping 

 off. Now this effectually prevents the 

 glass from slipping, and if the bottom 

 light does not, how can the others? 



We have found with further experience 

 that if the roof is any length, say six 

 teen feet, that the weight of glass on 

 the nails will cause the nails to grind 

 themselves into the glass, affording the 

 chance for a slight space between some 

 of the lights, so instead of the two nails 

 at the bottom we now prefer a strip of 

 wood (cypress is best) half an inch wide 

 and an eighth of an inch thick, well 

 painted. After all the glass is tight, 

 nail down this strip and you will be 

 bothered with no slipping or cracks be 

 tween the lights. 



One and one-eighth inch round-headed 

 brass screws are used to fasten down the 

 cap. Be sure you use the brass screw. 

 They cost more than the iron but never 

 rust, and when the iron screw rusts it de 

 cays the wood and very soon the cap is 

 loose. We used to put a screw at every 

 joint, or where the two lights butted. 

 We found the middle of the glass a bet 

 ter place; the glass being laid with the 

 convex up if they are tight on the bar 

 in the middle they are bound to be at 

 both ends. A boy can get these caps 

 ready because you will have one cap as 

 a pattern, and with a ratchet drill the 

 caps can be ready with the screws al- 



