Question Hi Sue - I am building a lead-came panel for my son for a house warming and am using a mixture of 1/4" and 1/8" came. How do you deal with the different heights of the came? The 1/4" lead is slightly higher than my 1/2" zinc border came, and the 1/8" is quite a bit lower. Seems like if I soldered the back first, everything would be flush on the front side. I'm thinking about taping the front with painters tape after soldering the corners of the border came, the 1/8" joints and the 1/4" joints (just not soldering the different sizes together on the front yet). Then sandwiching the panel (about 16x24) between two pieces of sheetrock or plywood and gently flipping. I'm thinking all pieces would then drop to the bottom (which would mean they'd be flush on the front). Does this make sense, or do you have a better way? Thanks in advance!
Answer Hi Claudia,
The different heights have never bothered me. To me, they give the panel some character. It's no different than using different thicknesses of glass or different textures. Once the panel is soldered and the lead is darkened, I can assure you that nobody else will notice that the lead is different heights, nor will they care. We are our own worse critics!
However, if it concerns you, and you feel uncomfortable leaving it as it is, doing what you described would be perfectly fine. I wouldn't say that if the panel was much larger, but it's small enough that you shouldn't end up having a disaster.
