# Forum Home Renovation Leadlight  Reinforced cames?  (Cames??  What's with that?)

## Skew ChiDAMN!!

Looks like you'd be the bloke to ask, Al... 
About 10 years ago I rebuilt the kitchen for my oldies and the overhead cupboards were s'posed to have leadlighted doors; panels about 400x550mm, in frames made from 70x19mm crapiata.  Now, I knew they'd be slammed and thumped and generally abused as is generally the wont with kitchen cupboards.  Somehow, I couldn't see any leadlighting (especially any done by _this_ li'l black duck  :Tongue: ) staying intact for more than few months under those conditions and the ol' girl is still adamant that she doesn't want ordinary doors, so for the last decade or so the top cupboards have been doorless.   :Rolleyes:   
(Hmmm...  I wonder if I can still find the frames I made?  Or did I recycle 'em into some other project?  [ponders]) 
Is there any form of reinforced came(?? Is that really what the lead is called?)  for this sort of job?  Should I tell the ol' gal to forget about it and settle for ordinary cupboard doors? 
Or maybe I should just hang some twee curtains in the openings and mark the job off the to-do list?  [more pondering.  scratches asre.  scratches chin] 
Sorry to have interrupted you Al, I think the problem's solved!   :Thumb Yello:  :Biggrin:

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## ozwinner

A reinforced came is an ordinary came with a steel rod running down the guts of it. 
Al  :Smilie:

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## rat52

There are soft closing hinges available, a bit like the doors on a rolls royce

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## flynnsart

Leadlighting is much stronger than you think. You could put one reinforced peice of lead through the middle of the design if you were worried. Or you could make each door with two panels, ie with an extra rail across, so each door has two small leadlight panels. A lot more work though. 
You could always enrol mum in a leadlight course :Wink:  
Donna

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## Skew ChiDAMN!!

> A reinforced came is an ordinary came with a steel rod running down the guts of it.

  Can they be bent like ordinary cames to suit the pattern, although with a bit more difficulty, or should the design allow for straightish runs where the reo'd go?

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## ozwinner

They can be bent to any shape you want, although it is harder to bend. 
Al  :Smilie:

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## rhancock

What about a laminated glass layer and then a leadlight layer in front or behind it?

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## Skew ChiDAMN!!

Yeah, I thought about that, Richard, but it doubles the weight and nearly doubles the cost.   
I've also been thinking about some leadlighting to each side of the front door and I think that will be laminated as you suggest.  *If* I ever pull my finger out and get started...

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## ozwinner

Leadlight contrary to belief is quite strong. 
The re-enforced came was mainly used on b-i-g projects, like you see in old cathedrals. 
Al  :Smilie:

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## Skew ChiDAMN!!

Don't you mean: "Leadlight contrary to belief is quite strong _when correctly done_."??   
It's this ham-fisted woody who'll be mangling it...

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## GrantE

In another life, I was a leadlight worker. The standard method of reinforcing a pane is to put a bar across the back (in your case inside) of the light, from jamb to jamb. We'd solder some wire to the inside of the glazing cames, preferably at a joint. Fit the pane and then the stiffener bar which we would secure to the jamb. 
If I was doing the job you have in mind, I'd use some stiff steel pipe, (fuel pipe?) flatten and pierce the ends so they could be screwed to your frames. You'd probably only need 2 ties for a 400mm wide piece, twitch the embedded wires around the pipe, usually underneath, snip the ends.  
G 
I love the sounds of breaking out glass.

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## Artiglass

For cabinetry work where the leadlights arent huge, the use of steel reinforcement bars would be OVERKILL and would any lead with steel running through it. There is a reinforced lead with brass strips running through used for this purpose. Best reinforcing is done over the shortest distance and necessary that the reinforcing runs as straight as you can not used for going through intricate curvy patterns and definitely no cuts and rejoins.

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