Stained & Fused Glass
Glass by the sheet, kiln firings, and finishing per piece.
Art glass is expensive by the sheet, and the process wastes a lot of it — every cut leaves scrap, and complex shapes waste more. Fused work adds costly kiln firings; stained work adds foil, solder, and came. Between cutting, grinding, foiling, and soldering, the labor is substantial and easy to undercount.
CrafterBy costs glass by the area you use plus a waste allowance, adds kiln firing cost per load, tracks foil, solder, and came, and pays you for the hours of assembly — so suncatchers and panels both carry a fair price.
The challenge
- Not costing glass by the area used per sheet
- Ignoring kiln firing cost per load (fused work)
- Forgetting foil, solder, came, and frit
- Undervaluing cutting, grinding, and assembly time
How CrafterBy helps
- Cost glass by the square foot used, with a waste allowance
- Add kiln firing cost per load for fused pieces
- Track foil, solder, came, and frit
- Add studio labor per piece
How to price your Stained & Fused Glass work
- 1Add each art glass as a material priced per square foot.
- 2Enter area used plus a waste allowance for cutting scrap.
- 3For fused work, add a firing cost per load, divided across pieces.
- 4Add foil/solder or came, and grinding and assembly labor.
- 5Set a margin for overhead and profit.
Worked example
Stained-glass suncatcher (12 pieces)
- Art glass, ~0.9 sq ft used$11.70
- Copper foil + solder + patina$3.40
- Waste allowance (cutting scrap)$3.90
- Labor — cut, grind, foil, solder (2.2 hr @ $27)$59.40
Glass waste is real — a 12-piece design uses far more sheet than its finished area.
Common pricing mistakes
Costing glass by finished area and ignoring cutting scrap.
Leaving kiln firings out of fused-glass pricing.
Undercounting the hours of grinding, foiling, and soldering.
What you'll cost & track
Materials you'd track
Equipment run-cost
Price products like
Frequently asked questions
How do I price stained glass?
Cost the glass by the area used plus a waste allowance, add foil, solder, and patina, then pay yourself for cutting, grinding, foiling, and soldering. Assembly labor is the biggest cost in most stained-glass pieces.
How do I price fused glass with kiln firings?
Add a firing cost per kiln load and divide it across the pieces fired — some work is fired multiple times. CrafterBy lets you add per-load firing cost and spread it across the pieces.
How much glass waste should I assume?
It varies with design complexity, but cutting always leaves scrap. A waste allowance (often 20–35%) ensures the glass you buy — not just the glass in the finished piece — is covered.