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View Full Version : Engraving photo on Home Depot Ceramic Tile???



Kathy Moore
06-12-2011, 4:05 PM
I am trying to put pictures of my grandchildren on Ceramic Tiles purchased at home Depot.
For some reason the etching is not cutting through the black finish. Any Suggestions?:confused:

Neil Pabia
06-12-2011, 4:24 PM
I have had some great luck with white tiles and cermark, haven't tried the black ones. The only black tile I did was a white one painted black.

Dan Hintz
06-12-2011, 5:50 PM
The colored cap is both too hard and too thick for a laser to cut through within any reasonable amount of time... go with the white and add some color fill.

Kathy Moore
06-12-2011, 7:51 PM
Thanks guys, I guess I will just have to sandblast them. What color & type of paint do you use on the white tiles?
Thanks Kathy

Joe Pelonio
06-12-2011, 8:09 PM
There is one kind of tile they had there called Calypso White that engraves photo images beautifully in a dark brown color. I still have a few upstairs in the shop, I think. They are the only ones I found at HD or Lowe's that work other than absolute black granite and marble.

Jeff Belany
06-12-2011, 8:47 PM
I was just at Home Depot yesterday. For a couple years I have used white and brown Marble tiles fom them. Both lasered great. Now I find out that HD has discontinued the 4x4 tiles. And I have 2 orders for whitre tiles right now. Not sure what I'm going to do. Sure wish I had known a month ago when I had a trip that took me by 3 or HD storee, I could have bought them out. Going to have to look for an alternate suppier. Of course it has to be something that is heavy and will cost a bunch to ship. I may try the Cermark on ceramic and see how they look. I've got a can here to try.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

Dan Hintz
06-13-2011, 6:42 AM
Jeff,

Have them check supplies in other stores, they should be able to ship what they have to you... buy them out that way.

Terry Swift
06-14-2011, 6:14 PM
Cermark makes a tile & glass solution in a few colors. Have the solution - just never tried it on either. I bought some regular ceramic tiles (black / blue) from Lowes and they wouldn't laser at all. Like Dan said - coating too thick to laser well. I like doing the glass tiles, but cutting thru the backing it a pain, but color filling looks pretty good. Unfortunately Lowes only carries 3 / 4 colors of 4 x 4's. I've gone to Emser and a few other suppliers that offer a greater color choice; but they require a case buy and I don't need that many untried tiles laying around collecting dust.

Dee Gallo
06-14-2011, 6:28 PM
I like the Cermark on HD/Lowes tiles, it gives me a nice black mark and consistent results. LaserTile is a good product as well, just don't expect black-black marks, more like dark grey. The Cermark is more economical, the LaserTile is easier to use.

~ dee