Engraving/Etching Glass

[Matt Meiser]

My parents' kitchen that I'm currently building has two cabinets with glass doors with glass area roughly 12-1/2x38-1/2. My mom wants to have lines like a divided light window etched/engraved/whatever on the glass. We are using regular double-strength glass in them. I contacted one local laser engraver who said he could do it, but that we probably wouldn't be happy with the results because it would come out rough. He suggested finding someone to chemically etch them. Someone else suggested sandblasting.

Any recommendations on a good way to do this?

Also, if there's anyone local to me that would like to take this on, please PM me.

[Darren Null]

Any of the 3 methods would leave a roughish surface, but lasering would be the roughest. A 4th method -and possibly your best option- is to find a local signwriter with a vinyl cutter. There's a translucent vinyl that mimics engraving. Cut & stick.

[Matt Meiser]

I'm familiar with the roughness of sandblasting with fine sand (so is she--my dad once sandblasted a chipped edge on one of her pyrex bowls.) That type of finish is what we are looking for. The sandblasting places I know of though use very coarse sand for stripping metal or doing headstones so I've discounted them as a source for this project.

How durable would the vinyl be? The main reason we aren't doing wood divided lights is because she is concerned about cleaning. One will be over the sink and will require regular cleaning.

[Scott Shepherd]

I agree, we put the etched glass look vinyl up fairly often. It's very nice and you'll never know it's not etched, plus you can have it look like anything you want.

[Darren Null]

Put it on the inside of the glass- less ferocious cleaning required. It's fairly durable- good for outdoors- but may not stand up to a determined mother with a scourer.

[Tom Bull]

I would check with stained glass studios or art glass studios. I think the Yellow pages have it as: Glass, stained or leaded. Someone should be able to do a nice etch that will be "permanent" and have a traditional look.

[Matt Meiser]

The first choice was leaded glass but the quotes came in too high and my dad nixed the idea.

[Scott Shepherd]

Matt, we've done the frosted vinyl in some high end places. Put logos, etc, on solid glass doors in the corporate headquarters of some Fortune 100 companies, along with many other complete designs that covered glass doors from top to bottom. The stuff is really excellent stuff. If you didn't tell the person it was vinyl, they would never know.

[Rodne Gold]

Go with the sandblast vinyl , cleaning sandblasted or etched glass is a bear ..

[Real Mercier]

I do a fair amount of etched glass. I much prefer sandblasting to vinyl. Much more permanent. I have seen doors done with the etched vinyl and over time some pieces come off.

I use 000 sand from the local building supply. About $6-$7 dollars for 100 lbs. See if your local guy could use it if you buy him a bag.

Here's a picture of the glass over my kitchen sink. It is etched and glue chipped.

Real Mercier

http://realmercier.home.att.net/glass12.jpg

[Scott Shepherd]

Real, the vinyl coming off is either a poor product on a poor application. I'm in commercial office buildings every day that have been using it for quite a while. In fact, I installed it on 2 glass doors, top to bottom, with a design in it for a customer. Once I did it, they called the next week and said their boss didn't like not being able to see out the doors and asked if we could remove it. It took me 3-4 times longer to remove it than apply it. It's the strongest vinyl product I've ever used.

Only way a good application peels off is if it's applied wrong, meaning people touch the actual product. An example would be putting it on the inside of a glass door that pushes to open, where people would typically be touching and pushing on the product. Normally that doesn't make it come off, but it does wear off the etch effect and make it go clear.

[Rodne Gold]

What is glue chipped and how do you do it..I assume its the background of the glass panels?

[Keith Outten]

I've had success blasting glass with very fine glass beads, it leaves a beautiful etch that is very smooth.
.

[Dan Hintz]

What is glue chipped and how do you do it..I assume its the background of the glass panels?
I wondered the same thing myself, and my initial search turned up a lot of text, but little in the way of images. Once I dug into it, all became clear... as mud. In a nutshell, you apply a mask and give a light sandblast as normal. This is followed up by application of an animal-based glue (my short search showed numerous comments about how it must be a certain type of glue to work properly... possibly due to the fact that this stuff shrinks so readily). As the glue dries over 24 hours or so, it tightly grips the freshly sandblasted pores and rips them apart as the glue shrinks, giving a more "chunky" appearance.

Not my style of look, but whatever. Also search on Asphaltum Method.

[Martin Boekers]

Rodne, here are a few sites on glue chipping.

Basically from what I understand, is after the glass is etched you apply a specific glue to the surface and let it dry, it shrinks as the drying dehydratesthe glue as this happens it pulls up a layer of the glass with it.

This can put quite a bit of pressure to the glass so precautions should be taken.

Here are a couple web pages to check out;

http://www.theletterheads.com/lhparts/gluechip.html

http://www.kerseyglass.com/resource-center/articles/article1.asp



Marty

[Dan Hintz]

I assume this would have the same effect (roughly speaking) on laser-etched glass...

[Martin Boekers]

Dan,

I haven't had a chance to work with this, I did research it over a year ago
when a client brought in a piece and wonder if we could recreate it.

Do to the process each piece is individual so a match couldn't happen.

I believe as long as the surface is etched (something for the glue to grab hold of you can do this process) Sand blast, laser or even acid etched.

Like everthing else there is just not enough time to work with all these specials processes and get the daily work flow out too.

Someday.......


Marty

[John W. Love]

You can buy glue chip glass from basically any glass shop, it's a decorative glass, but it's kind of expensive. Very interesting to know how it is done considering I think the effect is quite beautiful. Although I think if I wanted glue chip glass I would just buy it that way and do the etching over it...but I get a discount if I just go to Houston to get it lol. I used to work for a glass company and I had this type of glass in my tub enclosures. It is harder to clean than regular glass, I'm guessing for the same reason that the etched, lasered, or sandblasted glass is...stuff gets into the "pores" and is a devil to get out. However, typical application is that you would place the smooth side out so that the surface most likely to get dirty would be the easiest to clean. The inside of the door is less likely to get anything on it besides maybe regular dust which shouldn't be hard to clean.

~Alicia

[Real Mercier]

Glue chipped glass is very popular with stained glass artists. Any stained glass shop will carry glue chipped glass. They sell it in sheets fully chipped. However I like to chip my own and incorporate designs as you see above.
Basically, the process involves coating the glass with asphaltum, and applying your pattern. You then sandblast your pattern including the glue chip areas. Clean up your glass and then you apply an animal hide glue on the areas you want to chip. There is a little bit of cleanup to do to keep the glue off those areas you don't want chipped. Then you let it sit a warm area, something with a lower humidity and let it chip. the glue sticks extremely well to the etched glass, but it shrinks a lot. When it shrinks it curls up taking a chip off the top surface of the glass. Clean up the glass, remove the asphaltum and you are done.
Obviously I am giving you Reader's Digest version. It is a fairly simple process, but execution can get tricky. The is an excellent article on how to do it on the Signcraft site. Check out the Archives, How To articles. You will find a step by step article on the above method by Mike Jackson. It's how I learned.

Real Mercier

[Rodne Gold]

Thanks , it was something I had never heard of , I will try it someday when our workshop is quiet -- which will probably be next year..in sept/oct/nov/dec we get insanely busy.
It's trophy and award season in our country then and we often have to triple production those months ...it's JIT JIT JIT (just in time ...like finishing an order an hour before due collection....argh)
I just wish it was like that all year long , despite offering a myriad of services that are not trophy and award related , I can't seem to buck this seasonal thing...