Tempered Glass

[Amy Shelton]

I've been researching this, and I think I have found three ways to etch glass. Laser, sandblast, and chemical etching.

I have a customer who called and wants a glass shower door etched. She said everyone else she has contacted won't call her back. I told her I'd research it and get back to her. I immediately told her about a vinyl frosted "glass" option and she doesn't want that.

A friend of ours installs glass, and he told me a while back not to sandblast tempered glass; he said if you go over the same place twice, it would shatter.

Do any of you have experience or ideas?

For now, I'm thinking about buying a chemical etching paste, cutting out a stencil. I will charge more than what a glass door would cost in case I have to replace it. I think she wants me to supply the glass door also.

Thanks,
Amy

[Mike Null]

I can't think of any reason not to sandblast the door. The typical sandblast depth won't be more than a few thousandths of an inch and shouldn't present any problem. They can also be laser engraved if you have the space.

[David Takes]

You should be fine to sandblast tempered glass as long as your depth is less than 10% of the thickness of the glass. I have seen it done over and over again with no problem.

[Braden Todd]

I've sandblasted tempered doors deep enough to guild with no problems at all. The newer tempered glass is more even than the older stuff and allows for sandblasting better. But with caution don't get crazy with your depth!

Good luck!

[Steve Clarkson]

And the chemical etching cream does not work well at all.

[Scott Shepherd]

You should also look at the chemical etching part of it. I agree with Steve, the creams they sell for it in craft stores would be useless, but there's a chemical method you can use that looks like it does a great job. Do a little research online and you'll find plenty of information on it. You basically masked it, leaving the pattern you want, then you slather on the chemical (it's one of the chemicals that sounds really nasty to deal with), you let it sit and then you rinse it off with water and it's done.

[Michael Hunter]

(it's one of the chemicals that sounds really nasty to deal with), you let it sit and then you rinse it off with water and it's done.

The serious glass etching pastes are based on hydroflouric acid.
This is REALLY nasty stuff and you would want to think hard before getting into using it.

It is not a "strong" acid, so it does not hurt particularly if you get some on your skin - but it eats skin away until it gets down to the bone.
So full protective gear and a supply of the antidote readily to hand (I think it is calcium glutomate).

You would need to think carefully about disposing of the residue too - you can't just wash it down the drain.

[George Brown]

I had used all sorts of chemicals in a previous life, but would NOT play with hydrofluoric acid. Here is a link describing the stuff
www dot biosci.ohio-state.edu/~safety/SOP/SOPSHF dot pdf

And how to dispose of
www dot chess.cornell.edu/safety/chemsop/hydrflrc dot htm

Really Really Nasty Stuff

[Joe Hillmann]

Buy a small piece of tempered glass and try and brake it by sandblasting. You will be surprised at how deep you can engrave it before it breaks on the first piece I ever tested I was nearly half way through the glass before it shattered.

[Francisco perez]

Hi Amy, this happens to be what i do, i sandblast custom designs on to shower doors, i sandblast tons of tempered glass and have never had one shatter, i have done deep carving on to tempered glass with no problem, you got a few thousands of an inch before it shatters, sandblast is the best way to go, chemical etching is a lot more time consuming and you really have to know what you are doing and the chemicals use are pretty nasty as well and have to be disposed of properly, i have also done laser etching on shower doors but its so time consuming that its not word it, to bad we are not close by other wise i can help out.

[Joe Sanchez]

I agree with most of the posters on the site, sandblasting is the way to go. I have sandblasted with great results, not only that, unless you are carving into the glass (which is sounds like you are not) you will not be carving deep into the glass and therefore you should be fine.

Most blasters today can be dialed down in pressure to help your job look great, if you are concerned about blasting with too much pressure.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes for you.

[Steven Cox]

A little bit off topic, but whilst you are all talking about Tempered Glass I thought I'd share this tip which may be a little earner for some of you guys out there...

As you all probably know, if you try to cut Tempered Glass with any mechanical tool it just shatters. A few months ago i was talking to a local tiler who asked me if I could cut tempered glass tiles. At first I said no, but he gave me some tiles to experiment with. I was more interested in trying to engrave them with the laser, anyway in my experiments I knew the laser wouldn't cut the TG Tile but I thought "would it score it enough to snap it on the line". Well sure enough it works, with my 60 watt machine I found 2 passes at 95% power does the trick.

Anyway that was several months ago, and since then I've had a number of tilers come to me to score their tiles (the word got around fast), I charge 2 bucks a tile with a minimum charge of $20, and they keep coming back! I don't snap the tile for them I simply run the score line and 8 out of 10 on average snap cleanly on the line.

BTW, I didn't pursue the engraving of TG Tiles I wasn't happy with the results.

[Joe Hillmann]

Steve, that is a great trick to know, thanks for sharing it.