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View Full Version : Cheap Way to Sand Blast Large Glass



Keith Outten
09-14-2012, 8:03 PM
The goal is to sand blast several glass panels that are 35" wide by 55" tall then paint the text before removing the mask.

The glass panels were sent to a local company to have a blast mask installed and the text vector cut.
Once weeding of the text was complete an inexpensive means of sand blasting was required.
We built a 13" square box from 3/4" thick PVC and covered the top with clear acrylic after cutting a 4" diameter hole.
We then cut several 8" acrylic disks with a 5/8" diameter hole to fit the blast nozzle. These would allow a 4" radial movement before the box would have to be moved.
We drilled a hole in the edge of the box to fit our shop vac hose and a couple holes on the opposite side to allow air to flow. The vacuum holds the box in place with just enough force to allow it to slide, it also captures all of the sand and dust. The glass beads are recycled several times by transferring it from the Vac to the blast pot.
After blasting we spray painted the text (first picture), the first coat was a khaki color primer, the second coat was Rustoleum Copper Hammer Paint.
In the last picture Art Edwards is blasting the second of four pieces of glass.

You can sand blast large pieces of glass using this technique and the seal is suitable for engraving installed glass.
The size of the box you build will depend on your equipment (vac and blasting pot), you must adjust the box and the cross-vent holes to suit your situation.
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Mick A Martin
09-15-2012, 12:30 PM
Great idea Keith, do you have a picture of the finish project.

Joe Pelonio
09-15-2012, 2:30 PM
Great creative solution.

AL Ursich
09-15-2012, 5:17 PM
That idea would work with smaller signs too..... what a Novel Concept.... Fantastic !!!!

Thanks,

AL

Keith Outten
09-15-2012, 11:18 PM
Mick, my track record taking pictures of glass is less than impressive but I will try to get a decent picture on Monday.

Joe, necessity is the Mother of Invention and we were under the gun to get this job moving. The deadline to have all four pieces of glass on the wall is September 20th.

Al, basically this is a poor man's sandblasting cabinet that can be portable :) Some of my wild haired ideas don't hold water but this one works so well I felt it was worth sharing. The system works well enough that you don't need to wear a mask, safety glasses are only a necessity if you make a mistake and remove the gun from the box before you cut off the air :)

I've been using medium grit glass beads on the glass panels. There is glue residue at the edges of the letters from laser cutting that needs to be removed so the lines will be pristine when painted. If I was not going to paint the glass I would use fine grit glass beads.

The next box I build will have a V-bottom which will help move the sand down to the bottom of the box since my vac is a $29.00 cheapo unit...but it works pretty good.

We started out blasting with the glass laying flat on the table which worked good. My back started to ache leaning over the panels so I decided to set the panel up on an angle. I had the top of a shipping crate so I decided it would hold the panel securely and the ledge at the bottom works good catching any beads that escape when I remove the blast box when we need to transfer beads from the vacuum back to the blast pot.

While I'm sure this would work with a siphon system the blast pot only requires about 30 psi to blast the glass. Our Home Depot air compressor isn't a big rig but it works good with this setup.
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Keith Outten
09-15-2012, 11:24 PM
Hold onto your hats,

We requested several local sign companies to give us quotes to blast and paint five pieces of glass.
Only one company sent us a bid, it was over $75,000.00

My boss decided that we would do the job in house :)
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Mike Null
09-16-2012, 8:11 AM
I am impressed. What a clever solution. Jeez--such high tech equipment!

ray hampton
09-16-2012, 4:49 PM
Hold onto your hats,

We requested several local sign companies to give us quotes to blast and paint five pieces of glass.
Only one company sent us a bid, it was over $75,000.00

My boss decided that we would do the job in house :)
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that bid are too low-
way to go

Rich Fennessey
09-16-2012, 10:56 PM
Were the masks laser cut? Can you use the same technique that is used for sandblasting monument stones? You just need a really big compressor for that and you may not be able to collect your abrasive.

Way to go Keith. You really show that imagination is the best tool.

Keith Outten
09-17-2012, 12:01 AM
Rich,

The masks were laser cut on a 4 by 8 Kern laser engraver.
Honestly I could have cut vinyl masks that would have been easier because I wouldn't have had the burned adhesive from the rubber mask to deal with and the blasting would have taken less time. We outsourced the laser work and then had the panels sand blasted by the glass company but they didn't blast hard enough to remove the adhesive. In order to save the job I decided to make the box and use my blasting pot to do the final cleanup.

The blast pot requires less pressure than a siphon system because it uses pressure to force the sand to the hose. You can get by with a small air compressor using the pressure pot.
I have never sand blasted stone so I don't know if this system will do the job but I wouldn't hesitate to give it a try. The only thing I would do differently for stone would be to use another kind of blast media.

We found that removing the rubber mask worked best if we let the paint dry at least 24 hours, then we placed the glass in the sun to warm it up before we started stripping the mask.
Northern Tool sells a 50 pound bag of recycled medium grit glass beads for just $9.00
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Keith Outten
09-17-2012, 9:22 PM
Here are a couple of pictures of a completed glass panel.
We placed a piece of white board behind the glass so there would be some contrast.
We will take a complete set of pictures next week when we hang the signs.
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Rich Fennessey
09-19-2012, 10:38 PM
That looks great. Can't wait to see the final pictures.

Mike Null
09-21-2012, 7:39 AM
Keith

what font did you use?

Scott Shepherd
09-22-2012, 2:36 PM
Looks like Trajan to me.

Keith Outten
09-22-2012, 6:23 PM
Steve is right the font is Trajan.

I'm running late this week because I caught a cold and have been in bed the last few days.
I have to get back in the saddle tomorrow or I'm gonna drown in my work backlog. Monday morning I will start the last piece of glass, so I'm already way behind on this project.
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Rich Fennessey
09-22-2012, 9:31 PM
Keith, you take care of yourself.

Jamie Schmitz
09-22-2012, 10:06 PM
I really like the look of sandblasting on glass.I wonder if there also acids/chemicals that would produce the same effect w/o lifting the blast mat?

Keith Outten
10-07-2012, 12:06 PM
Below are pictures of the last four glass panels installed in the Ferguson Center for the Arts.

Keith Outten
10-07-2012, 12:10 PM
My Glass Hauler in front of the Ferguson Center.

Here is the link to the Ferguson Center for the Arts web site in case you are ever in our area.

http://fergusoncenter.cnu.edu/

Jim Underwood
10-07-2012, 12:32 PM
Great job on those signs! And what a great solution! Affordable and doable.

Scott Perry
10-07-2012, 7:06 PM
Nice job, Looks good.

I would be happy to do the job for the $75k or even $60k. I would even come up there and install them as long as you buy lunch. ;-)

Rich Fennessey
10-07-2012, 10:06 PM
They fit in that room nicely. I'd like to give that a try some time - at least on a smaller scale.

Baxter Gamble
10-20-2012, 4:06 PM
Pretty dog gone smart idea. Good Job.

Keith Outten
10-21-2012, 8:51 AM
These types of jobs are certainly viable for almost any size business. You can outsource every step of the job or do any step you feel comfortable doing in your shop. Don't let the glass size scare you, large or small its the same process except the large projects keep the majority from bidding because they don't have large equipment.

With exception of the laser cutting we did the job outside on a patio :)

I'm all healed up from my bout with the common cold and ready for Monday morning......we start another big sign install. This building is the second one of three we started fabricating signs for in January. The third building install is next April, I'm gonna miss this one because I will retire from CNU January 9th :) I have just five weeks left to work at this point because I have scheduled vacation the first two weeks of December, the last two weeks we have our Christmas break.

I start marketing in my local area the first week of December and I'm real happy to return to my sign shop full time again :) :)
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Tucker Alford
10-26-2012, 1:50 PM
Any reason to not etch in the reverse to protect the paint?

Keith Outten
10-26-2012, 6:02 PM
Tucker,

The paint we used has a texture and we had to use a primer coat to get the final color we wanted. Given the location of these panels they are probably safe from abuse so the front side engraving should be ok in this case. I hope so :)
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Mick A Martin
10-29-2012, 8:45 PM
Great job on the glass signs Keith did you install them yourself?

Sotos Patistas
10-30-2012, 10:07 AM
Those look really great Keith! And right on the site of my old high school's auditorium. Looks way better now than it did back then. Homer L should be proud.

Keith Outten
10-30-2012, 1:09 PM
Mick, I had a local glass company install these four panels because our work schedule is a bit tight. I have installed several other glass panels in this facility in the past.

Sotos, you know that we saved a large portion of Ferguson High School. The long hallways inside the academic section of the building are still there although they might not be as wide as you remember them.....the hall lockers were simply covered with sheet rock walls so they are still there behind the walls :) I started a thread recently in the CNC Forum that has a picture of a directory I installed in the Ferguson Center, look at how deep the doorway is in the picture. It was taken on what was the first floor front hallway at the center of the high school. Call me, I would be glad to give you a tour of the building but be quick as I only have a few more days left at CNU.
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Sotos Patistas
10-31-2012, 10:48 AM
Keith, that would be awesome. I'm under deadline to get an order finished by Monday, so I'll try and track you down next week, likely Wednesday if that's good for you. Thanks for the offer!

Keith Outten
10-31-2012, 12:23 PM
Wednesday is good!
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Sotos Patistas
11-13-2012, 7:54 AM
Well, the planets finally aligned last Thursday and I was able to take Keith up on his offer of a tour, and I have to tell you all, I was extremely impressed. The university buildings that are adorned with Keith's handiwork look nothing like the school buildings of my day. These buildings are gorgeous! I knew the Ferguson Center that the sandblasted glass signs are in is a stunning building, but I was blown away with how nice the rest of the campus buildings are. These kids don't realize how lucky they are.

More to the point of the visit, had they used the usual plastic or laminate signs, they would have met the minimum ADA and architect requirements, but the Corian signs Keith has designed fit the high end decor perfectly. And all from a small, very clean, workshop the size of a two car garage. As Keith is retiring shortly, the campus is fortunate that the Corian signs Keith and his assistant have installed are so durable, they should last a long time. I'm not sure the people Keith works for have any idea what a huge void he will leave behind, I think they are in for a harsh reality check, very soon.

Thanks again for taking time out of your day Keith, I hope I can visit you in your home shop someday soon as well.

ray hampton
11-13-2012, 8:39 AM
Well, the planets finally aligned last Thursday and I was able to take Keith up on his offer of a tour, and I have to tell you all, I was extremely impressed. The university buildings that are adorned with Keith's handiwork look nothing like the school buildings of my day. These buildings are gorgeous! I knew the Ferguson Center that the sandblasted glass signs are in is a stunning building, but I was blown away with how nice the rest of the campus buildings are. These kids don't realize how lucky they are.

More to the point of the visit, had they used the usual plastic or laminate signs, they would have met the minimum ADA and architect requirements, but the Corian signs Keith has designed fit the high end decor perfectly. And all from a small, very clean, workshop the size of a two car garage. As Keith is retiring shortly, the campus is fortunate that the Corian signs Keith and his assistant have installed are so durable, they should last a long time. I'm not sure the people Keith works for have any idea what a huge void he will leave behind, I think they are in for a harsh reality check, very soon.

Thanks again for taking time out of your day Keith, I hope I can visit you in your home shop someday soon as well.

When you visit Keith home shop I expect a minite by minute account and I am sure that at least one or two other creek walkers will agreed with me

Keith Outten
11-14-2012, 6:33 AM
Sotos,

I'm glad you enjoyed the tour of CNU and the new buildings. Our construction of new facilities has been going on for about twelve years now and we only have three more buildings to complete. The last residence hall is under way now and the demolition and replacement of the existing Admin building is scheduled to start in June of 2013. Our new business school with over 135,000 square feet will open up in April next year.

I have been at CNU for just over ten years and it has been a fantastic opportunity but I am looking forward to returning to my sign shop full time again next month. Lots of very nice people at CNU that I will miss working with but I have only a few years left to work in the industry and I would like to spend them in my sign shop working for myself once again.

Your welcome to visit my shop any time. I hope to finally have some time to dedicate to designing more elaborate signs in the future and will be glad to share what I am able to learn with everyone. My next ADA training session will most likely be in the first quarter of next year depending on how successful my marketing effort is over the next two months :) There is another upcoming event that will help me to keep busy as I transition back to my shop. SawMill Creek's tenth anniversary is just around the corner and I am already working on an event to celebrate the occasion. More on this later!
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