PDA

View Full Version : Damascus Tile?



Mark Ross
07-30-2009, 2:24 PM
So the big boss saw the samples of what we could be doing with our Epilog36EXT and asked if we could do tiles like the ones in the pictures I attached.

I don't know at this point if we could. It looks like some sort of gold inlay? Anyone ever seen this style of tile? I never have but would be curious to get some descriptions of how it is done and whether or not we could do it on the laser.

If it is possible to do it on the laser, has anyone run across a pattern like this? It appears that the vines start on one tile and progress to another adjacent one. Kinda fancy shmancy, I am wondering how to get the gold effect and what protectorants would work long term because I am assuming this stuff gets walked on.

Thanks for any input you can provide.

Stephen Kane
07-30-2009, 2:42 PM
Mark

Looks like it may have been done using a waterjet to cut the tiles and inserts.

Stephen

Dave Johnson29
07-30-2009, 2:53 PM
asked if we could do tiles like the ones in the pictures I attached.


Hi mark,

Looks to me like the pattern was pressed into the green clay tile before firing then hand filled with glaze and fired.

Maybe you could raster enough away and then back-fill with gold paint. Not sure how durable it would be as a floor tile though.

I doubt the patterns are inlays as the thin bits would be too fragile when walked upon with high heels. Not that I wear them all that often these days. ;)

Jack Harper
07-30-2009, 3:03 PM
It could be a man made tile and therefor the designs and coloring methods are endless. There is also a chance that it is acid carved. You can see this process on Vyteks website. I know the samples I have are just painted and I cannot see how the paint would last. The process is simple. You just use a liquid mask to paint the surface, laser away you pattern and use an acid like hydrochloric acid on the exposed pattern. Agitate the acid with an acid safe brush until you get the desired depth and then nutrilize the acid, clean, paint (if desired) and then remove the mask. Just make sure you know how to work with acid, have the proper safty equipment, including ventilation.

Mark Ross
07-30-2009, 4:34 PM
Thanks for the feedback, my initial thought was these tiles are too nice to walk on.

I'm thinking maybe I could take marble and make several high power passes on it and attempt to paint it but other than that, I am not sure, I am going to try to get more information from him.

One thing I can say...those tiles look $$$$$$$$$ and then some!

Steven Wallace
07-30-2009, 5:15 PM
I am with the idea of the second picture being some sort of man made tile that is pressed into a mold that is then fired or hardened in some fashion. Then in the glazing process color could be added. Not sure how the ones in the piano shot were done but 2 things are evident. Unless you airlift the piano player to the piano he/she is going to have to walk across that floor. Second thing is, that they would definitely exceed the Wallace budget for any construction plans I might have. Agreed $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Dan Hintz
07-31-2009, 11:28 AM
Mark,

I'm not sure what kind or power of laser you have (it helps if you add that sort of info to your sig line), but if it's CO2 and under a few hundred watts, you don't have much hope in cutting deep into the tile.

Mark Ross
08-12-2009, 11:10 AM
So I went to Menard's and picked up a cheap piece of marble, ran it once, threw some paint on it, in "theory" I should be able to produce patterns on marble with no problem...right? Yeah...sure...

See being an engineer I am thinking about long term reliability with foot traffic. I wouldn't be so concerned if the fill was always black (hides dirt well, dirt can replace the black paint if it wears off etc...).

But gold? I have reservations. I went back through some of the threads but I didn't see anything about marble that was laser etched being used on a floor where foot traffic will be.

Just wondering if anyone has recommendations based on this being flooring tiles, what type of paint would wear best, and what type of sealent will help prevent wear, discoloring etc (if that is even possible.).

Thanks for any input!