Best Glasses/Most Consistent for Lasering

[Bob WrightNC]

I know Best Glasses/Most Consistent is an oxymoron of sorts. But in you guys experience, which glasses give you the most consistency, knowing it's not going to be sandblast quality. Libbey, Reidel, etc.? Walmart just as good?

[Bert Kemp]

Not that I've done them but from what I read most here is the cheap walmart glasses


I know Best Glasses/Most Consistent is an oxymoron of sorts. But in you guys experience, which glasses give you the most consistency, knowing it's not going to be sandblast quality. Libbey, Reidel, etc.? Walmart just as good?

[Mark Sipes]

$ Store.



.

[Bob WrightNC]

That's where I bought all my test glasses! Dollar Store and Walmart!

[Keith Colson]

Every glass from cheap to expensive has come out perfectly for me. I kinda get the feeling that its hard to get glass wrong. Is there a case where glass comes out bad that I should know about?

Cheers
Keith

[Joe Hillmann]

The only glass I have ever had real problems with are high end glass like Pyrex, or crystal but regular glass usually engraves well. I have also found that cold glass engraves much better than warm glass.

[Don Corbeil]

I've had good success with 16 oz pint glasses from anchor hocking: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NG9G4I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've sold a few cases that I engraved, and the customer is very happy with them. I found that they engraved very well and reliably, using techniques I read about on this forum (ie: grayscale). At about a buck thirty a glass (delivered), it's been my go to source for engraved beer glasses. I used to be able to find a similar glass in the local dollar store, but they always ran out and I couldn't count on them having the quantities I needed.

[Bob WrightNC]

I've been playing with settings and working on the setup. Hey Don, do you mind sharing your settings since we have the same machine? Thanks.

[Don Corbeil]

Sure Bob. As far as image processing, I always prefer working with vector images, so I'll often use Vector Magic to convert any bmp/jpg files to this format. In Corel, I then convert that image to between a 70% -85% grayscale. There is no pure black content in the image. I have used images with shades of grey, and they have actually transferred quite well to glass. I always use my rotary for glasses, which I consider essential for uniform engraving around the glass. The settings I use are (typically) a two pass, with the first one being a lower power, the second a higher power 'burn' in. In trotec job control, I set the ppi to 1000. If the image is a grayscale, I'll use the relief setting at 333 dpi. So for example using the anchor hocking pint glasses I referenced, I'll do a 1st pass @ 65P 45S, followed by a second @ 90P 45S. I sometimes will use a light dish soap coating, but have found that I don't necessarily have to. I apologize for not having pictures to attach, but I am away from the shop for another week.

[Bob WrightNC]

Gonna stick one in the machine with these settings and see what I get. Thanks Don!

[Martin Boekers]

I use Libby, I had problems with Anchor-Hocking (mainly letters not engraving all the time.) I only stock about 4 style glasses
now, I buy from a local restaurant supply, as I know they will always have what I need 24-1000... Plus I can drive
to the warehouse so no shipping costs... ;)

[Bob WrightNC]

Didn't think of that one. Thanks Martin.

[Don Corbeil]

I wish I had a restaurant supply nearby for glasses...