Glass engraving or etching?

Anybody know anybody who works on glass? Today I got a call from a nice young lady looking for someone to put logos on glass decanters. She was not certain about the specific method- laser, acid, blasting, copper wheel, etc.- and could use some guidance on that, as well. I told her I'd ask around.

Let me know and I'll pass along the contact info, thanks.

Glass etching, I've never done, but have used my Gravermeister with the diamond stippling tool GRS sells for the purpose. Results were not to be spectacular. . .much more practice. A friend mine, who passed away a few years ago, was quite skilled at sandblasting, and could do layer work, almost sculptured. I read of a technique, using hide glue of the type the woodworkers use, that is available in about some seven strengths and an old article in Fine Woodworking had the article. The glue was so strong, that when it dried it actually shattered the glass in the areas it was applied. I read they used to do this, at one time. With sandblasting, heat is your enemy, so there's a certain amount of skill involved with the process. It might be something to experiment with!

Way, way, way down on my list of things to experiment with... maybe #3,746?

This Mandarin Chinese thing I'm attempting is quite enough, thank you!


Brian

I used to work at a store than did very high quality work. The logo was scanned into the computer, making a high resolution black and white image. The image was printed onto a special paper in which the black images were etched into the paper. Not sure what the paper was or how this was done but looked like a normal printer was used. The paper was then hit with a high pressure hose so most of the black images were removed although there was some picking over the stubborn bits with an xacto knife to get it out what black image was left. Then the paper, which actually was two layers, was peeled apart leaving a stencil with a tacky background. The stencil was applied to the glass to be engraved. Then a plastic bag or taped onto the rest of the glass. The glass was then sand blasted, the sand cutting deep into the stenciled areas. When it was done the stencil and plastic bag was removed and the glass washed.

Sounds complicated but once an employee got used to it they were able to churn out a sizable amount of work from glass windows to engraving inscriptions on tiny glass beads.

If you find some one with a CO2 laser they should be able to engrave in glass. Regular lasers like YAG etc can't. They are very good for metals but cant do glass. CO2 is the way to go. No danger of glass breaking from pressure of a tool or sandblasting going places it shouldn't

Isn't there someone on Steve's site that shows calligraphy on glass? Perhaps?

Use a Cricut stencil cutter to make a stencil with a sandblasting mask.
Stick Mask on glass and remove parts of the mask to be etched.
You can use an air brush type sandblaster to etch. You can also etch different depths by taking off one piece and etch and then another and etch longer. I realize this is not a clear explanation

thanks to all. i'm pretty sure she was just looking for the name of a person or company to handle the job. i'm not going to get into glass- i've got my hands full trying to figure out to work with this dang metal. one of these days i hope to get the hang of it...

Keep trying Mitch...I am told there is hope even for us old fa...fellows.

there is a guy in Florida that I bought my pc from has a store a google search should turn up something

Mitch,
I know some folks in the little town of Dayton, Va. who have a business doing glass etching/engraving with a sand blast system. They do nice work and would be something the gal might be looking for for her pieces. Here is the link to their shop. http://www.braithwaitestudios.com/
Mark

THANK YOU, Mark!!! that is the sort of reply i was hoping for. i've passed it along to the young lady with the decanters.

I've been doing glass etching for a couple of years. There are a few ways to approach it.

1. Armour Etch Cream

This was my first foray. I found a 10 year old unopened bottle in the blister pack my mother had bought and never used. It is all lumpy and stuff, but it worked. I cut a stencil on my KNK Zing and went at it. The final etch isn't very deep. One of the mistakes people make is to slop it on really thick and leave it for 5-10 minutes like the instructions say. But that usually leaves an uneven etch. I found that a thin to medium coat works well. Use a stiff paint brush and move it around, up, down, left, right. And keep repeating that for about 5 minutes. You'll get an even coat. You may have to dip back into the jar for more cream, but keep it light. In the end, I recover the cream with the brush and put it back into the jar. The stuff is reusable.

2. Air Eraser.

Air erasers are basically modified air brushes.

Harbor Freight sold one for really cheap and Badger also has one. I own both. The Harbor Freight one is better. Thing is, they use #220 Aluminum Oxide, which is hard to find in small amounts and isn't cheap. I was lucky that I got the last 1lb. jug of the stuff half price at my local HF when it was discontinued. I used the same jug of grit for over a year because Aluminum Oxide doesn't break down easily.

The etch is a bit better than the cream. I did a test a while back. 2 pieces of glass, I cut 2 of the same stencil and went to work. I spray painted the back of the glass when I was done. The cream looked a silvery grey while the air eraser looked a little more white, but not by much.

I did a lot of photo etching using PCB film. The 220 was perfect for it. But using the air eraser is very time consuming. It would take 45 minutes to an hour to do one 8x11 piece of glass. Let's not forget about the clogs and such.

3. Sand Blasting Cabinet.

I recently got one but I haven't had the chance to use it yet. I will be taking it for a ride in the next week or two. I'm assuming life will be much better and things will go quicker.

Some examples:

Armour Etch Cream:



Air Eraser:





This was my first foray into photo etching. I still had some more to learn about halftones.



And...before I knew about halftones...

These two Eddies were stenciled with screen printing emulsion.





The dark spots on the etching are where it hadn't dried after washing yet.



I kinda like Iron Maiden.

I also own a high speed rotary tool (dentist drill) but I haven't gotten around to using it yet. That should be a lot of fun when I get grinding.