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. In churches, beautiful homes, and national monuments there are so many examples of the possiblities of this wonderful art form. 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 difficult, 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. The other advantage to using Spectrum is that most pattern software programs that you can work with have spectrum glass loaded in, so you can design your pattern using the available colors from Spectrum.

One of the first tools you want to invest in is a good stained glass cutting tool. You use this tool for scoring the glass before you apply pressure to make the break. You can spend a little or a lot on a stained glass cutter and they will vary in size and shape. 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.

A stained glass grinder is another lifesaver that most artists will invest in relatively quickly after they've started their first project and determined they are in it for the long haul. You can get some basic models that are for starters for under $60 bucks and they work really well. The purpose of the grinder is to smooth out any rough edges right after you've broke the glass with a rough cut. While it's not exactly necessary to have a high end stained glass grinder early on, its a nice thing that most artists will invest in off the bat.

Once you get the basics down, you'll begin slowly finding more tools that will help make your life a little easier. The best recommendation I can make is to purchase a beginners 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, but remember that everyone has to start somewhere!