New user in Colorado

[Al Curatolo]

Just wanted to say hello and take a minute to introduce myself.

I found out about you guys from the forum over at engraving etc.

I've been working with lasers for about 2 years now and specialize in stone and glass. I'm located in Parker, Colorado and operate my laser as a part time business called Hands On Imaging.

You can see some of my work in the gallery section of my website:
http://www.handsonimaging.com

I'm currently working with a 35 watt Epilog Legend 32. I look forward to discussing techniques with you. If you have any questions on how any of my stuff was done I'm happy to share.

Al Curatolo
Hands On Imaging

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Al....Welcome to the 'Creek! I don't do those "Star Wars" things but there a lot of members here who do! I do, however, get to Parker occasionally! I have a brother-in-law who lives on Winchester Way there. He's been there for 30 years...back when Parker was a little town and at the corner of Arapaho Road and Old Parker Road there was a sod farm and a small airport!

Again....Welcome to the Creek!

[Mark Powell]

Hi Al,
Welcome to this great forum. I am a relevently new member myself and live in Perth Western Australia. I have already aquired great assistance and inspiration from the members here.
I checked out your site gallery and loved your work. I am intrigued by the granite tiles and the colour work you have done on all the material types.
I have a friend who is starting to import marble and granite from China and after seeing your work it has the old mind ticking over again.
I would apreciate as much info you can give as to the materials you use, art work set-up and settings you use.
Welcome again and enjoy the forum.

Mark

[Thomas Hempleman]

Al...

I've been admiring your work, too. I also engrave stone & glass, but my stuff isn't painted. I'd really appreciate some info on painting, like what kind of paints, how to get the nice colors, how to do the details and shading (especially on your barn photo). Really looks great!

Tom Hempleman

Wildwood Hill Laser Graphics

[Al Curatolo]

Man, you guys jump right to the trade secrets...

Painted glass - here's how it is done:

Caveat Emptor - should probably have air assist to do this or your results will not be good...you could set your machine on fire. Get your piece of glass from the hardware store and get a can of black spraypaint, I use Krylon. Paint one side of your glass black, let it dry, this is the side you will etch. Setup your photograph as you would for any other material and turn it into a negative image in your software. Flip the image horizontally because you are actually etching on the backside of the glass, you'll understand why when we colorize. Etch through the paint and onto the glass using the settings you normally use for glass. In my case 300dpi, 40 speed, 100% power for a 35 watt laser. I don't use dishsoap or wet newspaper when using this method. What you will end up with is a black and white image on glass, it resembles a tin type when you look at it. Rinse your piece when it is complete.

To colorize:

Go to the local crafts store and get yourself some glass paint, used for creating stained glass. On the black painted side color your picture using the glass paint and a brush, the black spraypaint provides your shading. Try to mix your colors instead or using solid colors, it will give your seen more life if there are no areas of solid color. It helps if you have a light table or white paper behind the glass so that you can see what you're coloring. Let the paint dry then bake according to the directions for the glass paint. I have found that the ideal size glass for doing this is 16"x20".

To display:

Build or buy your frame, put the unpainted side of the glass to face your audience. I put a second layer of glass behind the image to protect the paint so the paint is sandwiched between two layers of glass. Use glazing points to hold your glass in the frame. You can put some eyehooks on the frame and then hang it in the window.

Note: This method should also work on acrylic but you'll have to find no-bake glass paint. The black spraypaint generates some nasty fumes when it is burned with the laser, make sure you have good ventilation.

Any questions?

Al Curatolo
Hands On Imaging
http://www.handsonimaging.com

[Al Curatolo]

Mark,

What specifically did you want to know about the granite and marble? Basically I use Absolute Black granite and Ambassador Black Marble. Settings vary per piece. Some things work better than others. The fairy that you see on my site actually started out as a conventional etching that I took out of a book of stock photos. It worked out great because it was only two color, black and white, and was really easy. Almost everything else on the site was a photo taken by me with an olympus e10 digital camera.

With granite I have found that the final piece the better. That waterfall came out amazing at 5'x4' and the 2'x2' pieces work out really well. At that size the image is about 100 dpi and printed at 300dpi. Granite is so coarse grained that you loose a lot of detail when using smaller sizes, you can't use busy pictures at 12"x12". 18"x24" is the perect size for a 4 megapixel digital photo on granite. A local restaraunt had me do a historic beer ad in granite recently and at that size and it came out amazing. I'll try to get more photos in the gallery next week.

My materials are coming from China and I have a guy locally who supplies me.

I use Corel 11 for outputing the muti-tile images, you should be able to use photoshop as well.

What else can I tell you?

Al Curatolo
Hands On Imaging
http://www.handsonimaging.com

[Mark Powell]

Al,

Thanks for the feed back. I will try to get my hands on some 12" x 12" tiles and give it a go. I have some acrylic in my workshop so i am going to try that first. now all I need is to find a Photo to do it justice.
Thanks again Al

Mark

[Al Curatolo]

No problem Mark,

If you come up with anything interesting please post a pic, I'd love to see it.

Al

[Glenn Palhof]

I enjoyed your approach for lasering sheet glass with paint. We have been doing reverse work on mirror,then airbrushing then lighting from back.I will give this a try.you might like to visit my site to view our glass works.
go to members and click on my name. it should take you there.

glenn palhof