Out of all the different forms of art that are practiced these days, I'll take stained glass anyday of the week. If you travel around the world, you will see breathtaking examples of stained glass throughout the world. It doesn't matter if you are in an old victorian home, a school, or a religious building, you can see wonderful examples of this spectacular art no matter where you go and where you are. Fortunately, this art form has stood the test of time as many artists continue to tradition of creating spectacular art pieces. Many people seem to think that getting started creating stained glass is hard, but with a few pointers anyone can get started for little time and little money. Here are some of the tools needed to get started with a basic project.

Obviously, you need stained glass in order to create stained glass! Spectrum Glass is the standard in the glass industry. It's the most widely used glass and for a good reason, it's quality and is easy to work with. They also come in a wide variety of textures and colors so you always have a lot to work with. One of the neat advantages to working with Spectrum is that as you progress, you might begin using your own stained glass patterns. Most software programs come loaded with Spectrum glass built in so you can design your piece, see it on screen, and then go out and buy the glass if you like it. Its like seeing a preview.

The next tool you'll likely need is a good stained glass cutting tool. The name is somewhat misleading because the tool doesn't do the actual cutting, it only scores the glass which you will break eventually. The amount of money you can spend on stained glass cutters varies widely, you can spend a little for a basic one or a lot for a more specialized cutting tools. You basically use the traditional ones for your standard cuts, but you can also get higher end cutters that can cut shapes, are easiler to work with, and ones that have different sized blades.

One useful tool that I would recommend as you advance through the hobby is a stained glass grinders. You can get some basic models that are for starters for under $60 dollars and they work really well. The grinder smooths out rough edges after you've made the cut and this allows you to shape the piece. While it's not exactly necessary to have a high end stained glass grinder early on, its a nice thing that most hobbyists will invest in off the bat.

Other than those tools, there are some minor supplies that you probably want to pickup when you progress. The best recommendation I can make is to buy a starters stained glass kit and that will give you all the small tools you need to get started. Once you are far enough along, you can also look into some handy tools like the ones that Morton Glass puts out. They have a number of tools that make the glass artists life a little easier. So there you go.Sometimes when you look up at all the amazing glass produced by stained glass artists it's easy to get intimidated, always remember though that every needs to start at the beginning and as long as you keep practicing, then you will improve!