Glass Etching

[Gabriel Rangel]

Hello,
I am trying to etch some glasses I got
for a company call Elegance by Carbonneau.
For some reason they are not etching it looks
like the glasses is melting. I back off on the power
and no luck. I took a regular glass and it worked fine.
I was wondering if anybody has used glasses for this company
if so I anyone has had this problem.
thanks

[Dan Hintz]

As I always say... pics will help a lot here.

[Gary Hair]

I'll say it again, sandcarving is the only reliable way to etch glass. Use your laser to cut the stencil/mask/resist, but leave the actual etching to something that is appropriate for the job.

Gary

[Steven Cox]

I'll say it again, sandcarving is the only reliable way to etch glass. Use your laser to cut the stencil/mask/resist, but leave the actual etching to something that is appropriate for the job.

Gary

I disagree, I engrave glasses a lot with the laser using the water soaked paper method the tricks I've found is the paper it must be thin like phone book paper and be soaked in a small bowl of water with a few DROPS of cheap dishwashing consentrate added and soaked for a min of 5 minutes but no longer than 10. I will admit though the result can vary from different brands/types of glass but then it's usually only a mater of tweeking the settings for different glass types.

The theory behind the water method is that the water instantly cools the glass to help give a frosted effect.

[Gary Hair]

I will admit though the result can vary from different brands/types of glass but then it's usually only a mater of tweeking the settings for different glass types.

That's one of the big differences between lasering and sandcarving, sandcarving works the same way every time with every type of glass. I don't have to soak anything, add anything, tweak anything, I just blast away.

Sandcarving is a bit slower for small quantities, less than 5 or so, but for anything more than that I can etch twice as fast as I can laser. There are trade-offs for either method, it's just a decision we have to make as to which works best for our customers.

Gary

[Steven Cox]

That's one of the big differences between lasering and sandcarving, sandcarving works the same way every time with every type of glass. I don't have to soak anything, add anything, tweak anything, I just blast away.

Sandcarving is a bit slower for small quantities, less than 5 or so, but for anything more than that I can etch twice as fast as I can laser. There are trade-offs for either method, it's just a decision we have to make as to which works best for our customers.

Gary

I do a lot of small jobs and have a while U wait service so time is a big factor. I can see though for the large jobs using the same template that sandcarving might be the way to go. So 3 questions....

Whats the material used for the mask?

Can the mask be used more than once?

What's the equipment you are using for the sandcarving and is it done it a blast cabinet ? (ok that was 4 questions).

[Bill Cunningham]

if the glass looks like it's melting, and almost looks like it was plastic, and when you run your finger over it it gets stabbed with shards, what you have is borosilicate glass and it can't be laser engraved. You can mask it, engrave the mask and then sand blast it.. I've run into this stuff on Avon distributed flutes, and Bongs that are heat proof. borosilicate glass is heat resistant

[Gary Hair]

Whats the material used for the mask? I have two types, one is a photo-resist and the other is laserable tape. The tape is quick but the photo-resist is much better for larger jobs since I can expose and washout many at one time.


Can the mask be used more than once? No, when you finish blasting the resist is removed and there is no way to reuse it.


What's the equipment you are using for the sandcarving and is it done it a blast cabinet ? (ok that was 4 questions). I have two compressors, one gas powered and one electric. The gas powered puts out 3 times the air than the electric and is mainly for larger pieces, rocks, boulders, big paver jobs, etc. I have a blast booth, 8' x 10', and two blast cabinets, one for rocks and the other for glass. I have two 40# pressure pots, one with #70 aluminum oxide (for the booth or cabinet) and the other with 30 mesh silica sand (onsite only). I also have a 20# pot with #180 silicon carbide that I use exclusively for glass. Lots of equipment, but for glass only you really just need a cabinet, small pressure pot and a fairly large electric compressor.

Gary

[Gabriel Rangel]

Yes that is what it is doing

[Braden Todd]

Finally a post that I can have knowledge in! I have been blasting glass for 9+ years and bought a laser to help with production and to create less hands on tasks.

Using my laser I love using the laser mask from Photobrasive, this allows me to use my laser to place the design perfectly on the glass and then sandblast with pretty high psi to end up with the higher end sandblasted look. I do agree that a laser can be used on glass and for some low budget customers it is great, but the look will never be that of a sandblasted piece.

If you want to get into blasting on the cheap side I would reccomend buying the laser mask (roughly$75) and then visit Harbor Freight for a smaller pressure pot (20lb pot would do for minor use) and a benchtop blast cabinet. You can even get away with using a shop vac for a dust collector, and then you will need a decent air compressor. If you get a small one you may need to blast, take a break to allow the compressor to refill and then blast some more.

Good luck!

[Bill Cunningham]

I do agree that a laser can be used on glass and for some low budget customers it is great, but the look will never be that of a sandblasted piece.

Depends on the 'look' your looking for.. I can get detail on glass with the laser, that I would never hope to get with a sandblaster.. The laser is particularly good at getting high detail photographs into ordinary plate glass..

[Braden Todd]

Depends on the 'look' your looking for.. I can get detail on glass with the laser, that I would never hope to get with a sandblaster.. The laser is particularly good at getting high detail photographs into ordinary plate glass..

I would love to learn how to do photographs with the laser! I have seen a few that were done on glass and they were amazing looking, tried to hack at one once but it did not turn out to well lol.

Attached is a photo I sandblasted onto a bottle of wine for a friends wedding, seems everyone now wants their toasting glasses to match with a photo too (quite a pain in the neck to place the resist on the glasses without distorting the picture!. The second photo is another halftone I did, I scanned the image from the birth announcement and sandblasted into a piece of glass I scalloped and used LEDs on.

226856226854

[Martin Boekers]

(quite a pain in the neck to place the resist on the glasses without distorting the picture!. The second photo is another halftone I did, I scanned the image from the birth announcement and sandblasted into a piece of glass I scalloped and used LEDs on.

226856226854

Nice work! Are you doing the resist then applying it to the glasses? I believe some here apply the mask then laser it, then blast it. Haven't had much time to explore this.

I will say Bill Cunningham is a pro at photos on glass. I have never been able to achieve what he has.


Marty

[Braden Todd]

Nice work! Are you doing the resist then applying it to the glasses? I believe some here apply the mask then laser it, then blast it. Haven't had much time to explore this.

Marty

For the photos I use a 4mil washout resist from Rayzist and then place it on the glass to be blasted.

I have also been using a lot of the laser mask you mentioned, it is great and allows for a higher psi when blasting. Plus it is far cheaper than the photoresist!