Trouble engraving on glass

[John W. Love]

I'm trying to engrave basically a single letter on glass, using a piece of flat glass just to make sure I have the settings right before I start engraving on the glassware that we purchased. I'm using the dishwashing soap as I've seen you guys say to do on here...but what's happening is that it appears to have the image and then when I pick it up and wipe off the dishwashing liquid the image wipes away. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, and this glassware is for a gift that I need to get finished for Christmas. I chose a mostly flat set of glassware because I didn't want to mess with the rotary attachment (it has a slight curve but not much).

Laser specifics: Pinnacle M Series, 40 Watt
Speed: 100% Power: I've tried from 25 - 35 DPI: 500 PPI: Auto

Any help you guys could give would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, and Merry Christmas to all!

John Love

[Frank Corker]

I'm trying to engrave basically a single letter on glass, using a piece of flat glass just to make sure I have the settings right before I start engraving on the glassware that we purchased. I'm using the dishwashing soap as I've seen you guys say to do on here...but what's happening is that it appears to have the image and then when I pick it up and wipe off the dishwashing liquid the image wipes away. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, and this glassware is for a gift that I need to get finished for Christmas. I chose a mostly flat set of glassware because I didn't want to mess with the rotary attachment (it has a slight curve but not much).

Laser specifics: Pinnacle M Series, 40 Watt
Speed: 100% Power: I've tried from 25 - 35 DPI: 500 PPI: Auto

Any help you guys could give would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, and Merry Christmas to all!

John Love


John you have way too much speed. Set the dpi to 300. Speed should be in the region of 25 to 30 and the power at 100%. Put washing up liquid on the glass, put a single piece of newspaper over the area so that all the paper is wet and then engrave. That should do the trick.

[Albert Nix]

I have a 40w MII also and have been running glass at 100S 60P and 300DPI then rub the area down with a piece of news paper and they turn out pretty good. Sometimes I use manual color fill and get less banding. I tried with and with out soap and do not see any change. Frank I know it has the same effect as increasing the power but other than that does slowing the speed down effect the quality of the engraving?
Al

[Stephen Beckham]

I'm with Frank - I've got the 45 Watt Mini and I engrave my glass ornaments at 35 speed and 100 power at 400 DPI. The only difference is that I do not use dish soap. I use wet brown paper towel. You know the stuff in bathrooms that doesn't seem to work well when trying to dry your hands. It holds moisture a lot longer for the longer etchings. Just make sure you don't get the quilted paper. I never liked the newspaper because there seems to be some ink residue left behind in some cases.

Also - when doing text only - I use 600 dpi (45 speed, 100 power) - seems to give more of a sandblasted effect with the sparkles of a crystaline effect.

If I'm doing photo's I convert them at 200 DPI in PG2.1 and then engrave them at 400 dpi.

I don't go below 400 DPI on glass except in extreme cases - I just don't think you get a good etching - personal opinion. I consider an extreme case to be a photo that is so bad that I have to drop down to 150 for PG2.1 to convert it, then I'll etch it at 300 DPI.

[Albert Nix]

I will have to try the slower speed and see what happens. I have been using the recomended settings that came with the MII. I have tried increasing and decreasing the power some but havent strayed to far. But i will give it a try.
Thanks

[John W. Love]

Thanks all :) That's working MUCH better! Unfortunately I am going to have to buy another set of glassware because I set the laser to go on the first piece and instead of staying put and watching it like I should have I went inside and checked my cookies lol...oh well, we live and learn! Apparently when I auto-focused I did not allow enough room for the curvature (slight though it is), so it did not clear the top and moved the piece. Second try came out great though! This is Mrs. John, btw

Alicia Love

[Frank Corker]

Well done Mrs John.... should have let you do it in the first place! ;)

[Phil Garcia]

John, I have done hundreds of pieces of glassware with a my Epilog 35 Watt system with 100 speed and 25 power/ freq. 2500 with excellent results. I have tried with and without the soap and at that setting it did very well just with wet newspaper(without print). It could be a focus issue, just double check.

[Lisa Walter]

I promised to try the dish soap method so I tried it on some glass mugs I was putting photos on. I thought the result was worse than just using nothing. I don't use soap or wet towels.........but I prmoised I would try it. I didn't like it. Later on as things will be dead now (sales) I can play and see if I can get the dish soap to work again......but as of last week I just lasered plain.

Lisa

[Rags Alan Ragland]

I have been doing glass for two years now and have not used soap, paper, or anything and get good results. What am I missing with this soap and paper advice?
I do glasses, plates, bottles, vases, etc. I use S94, p93 and I do everything with 600dpi on my 75w Epilog.
Please help I must be doing something wrong, why am I getting such good results without the above.
Dr. Rags

[Lisa Walter]

I have been doing glass for two years now and have not used soap, paper, or anything and get good results. What am I missing with this soap and paper advice?
I do glasses, plates, bottles, vases, etc. I use S94, p93 and I do everything with 600dpi on my 75w Epilog.
Please help I must be doing something wrong, why am I getting such good results without the above.
Dr. Rags

Dr. Rags,

I also do not use anything. It has been recommended that to get the finer details of things to come out clearer and nicer, you can use a thin layer of dish detergent (the sink kind, not the dishwasher kind) over your glass, or a wet paper towel or both (everyone seems to have their own technique). I tried the dish soap last week with a photo I was putting on a mug and I actually thought it looked a little worse, but I didn't want to be giving my opinion on one try, so I tried another photo on a mug and then did the mugs without the soap and I liked the one without the soap better. I still want to do some experimenting because many people here at the Creek really like the soap/wet paper towel technique and if that many people are liking it, then it's worth trying again to see what I can come up with. I want to try it with text yet and see how it comes out.....I just didn't have time to experiment with all of the Christmas business I had (and that is NOT a complaint haha). It's usually dead here after Christmas and I can get back to trying out new things without being under so much pressure.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Lisa

[Frank Corker]

Well I was only suggesting to people what I used and as can be seen, some are getting different results. I use the washing up liquid that you hand wash dishes with (some people still do that!) and not the stuff you bung in the dishwasher.

I agree that plain paper avoids the ink problem but I suggested newspaper because it still has the same effect. I have always found that the ink residue just washes off afterwards. When I have engraved glass, sometimes I do it at 1200dpi for text and I always get an excellent result, but at the end of every session I always use a synthetic scouring pad over the engraving. It removes the tiny fractured pieces of glass and removes the rough edge, without damaging the engraving.

I found that when I engraved without using damp or wet paper the finish had a roughness which I found unpleasant, using it resulted in a far better finish.

[Steven Wallace]

How was your holiday? Great to see you back at the Creek.

[John W. Love]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would really like to offer my heartfelt thanks to those that helped out my lovely better half the other day. I was at work and not reachable, so she made the best decision and consulted the experts, you fine people.
I do need to teach her to put her name at the bottom of the signature when she posts just so you guys dont think it is the big ugly oaf posting here instead of her lol. We waited till the last minute to do the family's gifts... you know how it is, the cobblers children have no shoes.

One thing about me is I not only want to know how something is done, but I really have this annoying desire to know why it is done a particular way. Yes, I am the kid that took every toy apart to see how it worked then put it back together. So, my question is.... What does the dishwashing soap do to improve the glass lasering process? Why does it make the image sharper? What does the newspaper add to the process? And lastly... Who was the first person to say, "hmm I think I will rub some dishwashing detergent on this before I laser it to just see what it does"?

Here are a few of the items that were made for family members.

[Margaret Turco]

Those came out great. I really like the cat but I don't see what is making the background black. Could you say how it was done? I haven't done much glass yet.....

[John W. Love]

The one on the left is glass, the middle is a Picture frame for my son and daughter-in-law and grandson that says "Michael Tara Luke" repeatedly, and the right picture is a family cat lasered on absolute black granite.

[Frank Corker]

If you need to take a picture of glasswork, the best way is to pop a piece of black cloth inside the glass before photographing.

As far as answering your question, the way I understand it is that when the laser light hits the glass it obliterates the surface and sends minute shards as it does so. The soapy liquid (whichever you have chosen to use) and the wet paper tend to keep the surface cooler at the desired point and across the workpiece. It might seem weird because everyone knows that if you heat up glass and put water on it, it will shatter. This method seems to avoid this happening. I think whoever decided to try that must have experienced the glass shattering when it was being engraved too slowly with too high a power setting.

I do know for a fact that the method was not first originated by Abraham Lincoln because he wasn't born when laser engraving machines was first made and I don't think Richard Nixon did laser engraving either.

[Andrey Anfimov]

I do not use water, the newspaper or soap.
I use a metal brush and I clear the image after an engraving.
There are many small slices of glass which can get to your skin and on your clothes etc. Is better to clean glass under a water stream. Also, do not rub glass very strongly, some grades of glass not so hard and there can be scratches on it.

[Phil Garcia]

I think the cat is done black granite or marble. It really turned out great.:D

[Bill Cunningham]

Yup like Franks says, a dark piece of plastic or or cloth background gives the contrast required.. When I'm doing glassware, I like to put a coloured liquid in the glass so the customer can see what the finished pieces will look like..

[Dan Hintz]

John,

I'm sure the soap came about as the tail end of several experiments. First off was laying paper down (similar to tape) on the lasered item. Next came water to keep cooling even and the paper stuck to the surface. The water dried out too quickly on larger items, so soap was added to cut down on evaporation.

And finally, some stopped using paper all together, bringing us back to square one ;)

[John W. Love]

Thanks Frank and Bill for the presentation advice. Bill the glass looks great! When I grow up I wanna be just like you guys! :D

Yes, the cat was done on Absolute Black Granite. I wanted to do marble, but could not find any locally. The crazy thing is a year and a half ago I was looking for the black granite and all I could find was black marble. Now, I am looking for the black marble and cannot find any to save my life. But, everybody and their dog sells the absolute black granite now. I can order it, but the shipping is almost as much as the product.

[Steve Clarkson]

Same here.....black granite everywhere and no marble to be seen.

[Bill Cunningham]

Brown Marble from H.D. (Empador lite) also lasers quite nice, You just have to spend a bit of time going through the boxes for tiles with a minimum of marbleing.. This is one of my very first brown marble pieces (about 5 years ago), made from a fuzzy coloured .jpg and used only the halftone driver in the laser.. No Photograv..

[John W. Love]

Hey Bill, I saw a ton of the brown marble like you have but I didn't think it would come out nearly as good. After seeing the picture you have here and also one in another post I just saw, I am going to trot down to HD and buy some.
Thanks once again for the excellent advice and suggestions you give!

[Phil Garcia]

Very Nice..... I also did not think the brown would work so well....looks great...but I know it's not the marble but the engraver...right!!!:D