Has anyone engraved the new iPhone 4?

[Greg Bednar]

If so, what settings are some good settings to start with. Apple says the new 4 is

"...the breakthrough technology in iPhone 4 is situated between two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass — the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. Chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, the glass is ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever........"

At first blush, it would seem you would use the wet yellow page technique as with regular glass. I've seen a few photos of them engraved with tattoos, but I don't have a handle on the settings. And I can't seem to find any "aluminosilicate" threads. Any help would be appreciated.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Even though I consider my shop an engraving shop, there is no way I am interested in engraving laptops, phones, mp3 players, or basically anything of unknown material but high cost.

I'd tell the people to send it to Apple to have it done or find someone else. $50-75 to engrave a $600 item just doesn't seem worth it to me.

[Greg Bednar]

I didn't look hard enough. I found what I needed to know. Sorry for the short post.

[Ric Taylor]

What did you find out? I have the same question for my iPhone 4.

[David Woodruff]

I am curious, why would you want to do it??

[Greg Bednar]

The material is also known as "Gorilla Glass." Apple at this time is mum on the material and will neither confirm nor deny if Gorilla glass is used on their product, ( at least in my attempts at getting information.) Emails to the manufacturer of Gorilla glass have gone unanswered. The Internet is full of information on the stuff.

As far as why would you want to engrave the iPhone, - you engrave them because people want them engraved.

A place called Artifacture Studios ( Google it because I don't want to take a chance on getting spanked for a link to a commercial site ) has an example of one. The artwork is a little on the Grundge side; but very respectable work.

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

Yes, we did one. My husband and I joked about Apple having an anti-etch material on it. We thought plastic so we started at 100s/30p. Wow, were we wrong! We ended up etching several passes at 100s/ and landed at 60p. If I would have known it was glass, than I would have reversed the speed/power settings. This made us horribly nervous, but we had our customer/friend tell us if it messes up he'd just upgrade his wife's phone and give her this one. ;-) I am including the picture so you can see how it etched.

[Greg Bednar]

It looks like the part of the circle marked up looks good - very clean and crisp. The other is not as crisp. Is this because of the photo, power/speed settings of your initial try or is it the nature of the composition of the glass on the iPhone? I ask because some areas look crisp and others do not. And thanks for taking the time and effort to upload and share your experience.

[Greg Bednar]

This is my endeavor with the white iPhone 4. The customer wanted this particular Cloister font - so here it is. Comments welcome

[Scott Shepherd]

Where did they get a white one? They haven't been released yet and they have had a bunch of set backs on releasing the white one's due to light escaping from the white case.

[Greg Bednar]

Where did they get a white one? They haven't been released yet and they have had a bunch of set backs on releasing the white one's due to light escaping from the white case.

Most of the people I deal with are high end and get what they want. This particular iPhone 4 was engraved how the customer wanted it engraved, including no space between the lower case k the upper case B. How they get them, I don't know. But they are apparently out there because I engraved this one.

[Frank Corker]

Nice job with the infill there too Greg.

[Dee Gallo]

I love that typeface, looks great, especially in gold. So did you treat it like regular glass settings-wise? I must say it does take a leap of faith to do one of those devices for someone... mark one up for your courage!

cheers, dee

[Tim Bateson]

I haven't done an iPhone, but I do have a very large order for the inside padding of a new (not yet released) iPhone Hard Case. A non-disclosure prevents me from saying much about it at this time, except this thing is nearly indestructible. The local manufacturer demoed it for me by throwing his phone across the room, then stepping on it (he's a big man).

BTW: I do not own an iPhone & I have no stake in this company.

[Greg Bednar]

Thanks Dee & Frank,
Dee, I did not treat it like regular glass. I did remove the back of the iPhone. There are two small phillips head screws on the bottom of the phone. Unscrew those and set them aside. The back is scooted up towards the top about 1/8" and then simply lifted off. Replacement is the reverse. No problem there. I am always afraid of damage to the inside of any phone and the remote ( very remote ) possibility that something goofy will happen to the RF components. So in the case of the iPhone, I am happier with the removal of the back. Getting back to the treatment of the glass. I ran it at recommended settings for glass from the manual, but I did not coat the glass with liquid soap, or water, or the yellow pages. I ran the job through twice to get a little depth for the gold fill.

I explained to the customer,to think of that little chip on the windshield from a small stone. It might not look like much but if you press against it, it will throw a crack across the windshield. Some people like to carry these phones in their back pocket ( I guess it's cool or something ) and then they forget them there and sit on them. IMHO, I thought it if was dropped and you've introduced a flaw into the material, it would be more prone to cracking. A far cry from the wine glasses we lift to our lips. The white needed the fill because it is almost invisible since it is white glass. The customer wanted the font, so what the customer wants, the customer gets. The black back is far easier in terms of visibility.

I also had a hold harmless agreement signed so that reduced the pucker factor a little.

Tim, that is some nice demo there. I hear the iPhone folks are buying "bumpers" to help delay collision time in the event of a drop to the floor. I was curious if the case was a silicone/rubber type material. In any event, great score!

Frank - thanks for the Skype demo of color filling some time ago.