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Glass etching

7580 Views 41 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  rwl7532
Does anyone use their CNC for etching glass with diamond bits? If so what speed what bits what depth? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thinking about investing in a small CNC foe engraving on small boxes and if possible etching logos in glass.
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I make glue chipped glass by using rabbit hide glue on the glass....Old time recipe...

Michael
oK Michael.... spill the beans... err lets see.

Nothing like a glue chip and some smaltz on a sign.

What I'd like to know is how they can get a nice split within the glue chipped areas.
Theres like a nice inline to say that goes with the flow and chips out from there.



Check out Letterhead Sign Supply
and https://letterheadsignsupply.com/how-to-glue-chip-glass-instructions

I know one thing for sure... my eyes are starting the fuzzies up close.
If I have to get any glasses... they'll be like George :nerd: Burns and I'm gonna glue chip em.
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Very pleased I never read those instructions!

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And the close up.

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oK Michael.... spill the beans... err lets see.

Nothing like a glue chip and some smaltz on a sign.

What I'd like to know is how they can get a nice split within the glue chipped areas.
Theres like a nice inline to say that goes with the flow and chips out from there.
.
You can control the direction of the chips by how you apply the hot glue...The link you included from LetterHeads is a great place to learn.

Michael
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You can control the direction of the chips by how you apply the hot glue...The link you included from LetterHeads is a great place to learn.

Michael
I would be interested in any examples you did that demonstrate this.
Myself, I always used a brush.
Wasn't the late Rick Glawson the guru of the glue chip?
If you want to go with sand blasting, look into Raysist Photo Mask. It's designed to contact expose which turns the part you want to keep into a sand blast resistant surface. It has a peel and stick backing, so it applies to the glass easily and peels off relatively easily after the sand blasting. https://www.rayzist.com/

Charley
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If you want to go with sand blasting, look into Raysist Photo Mask.

Charley
For sandblasting I use 3M Buttercut Sandblast Stencil

~M
If you want to go with sand blasting, look into Raysist Photo Mask. It's designed to contact expose which turns the part you want to keep into a sand blast resistant surface. It has a peel and stick backing, so it applies to the glass easily and peels off relatively easily after the sand blasting. https://www.rayzist.com/

Charley
Nice one @CharleyL
Something to look into and eyeballing that 2034VXA

This topic is getting me into trouble >:)
They make precision dental sand blasters that are ideal for doing glassware, etc. A Google Search brings up a lot of them. Most are small enclosures for lab work and run about $400, but there are also some of these blasters that come without the cabinets. The Raysist sheets are contact exposed with UV light and then washed off, leaving the image that you want. Stick it to a piece of glassware, shield the rest of it from the abrasive, and blast away. The micro fine sand leaves a nice frosted effect.

I almost got into custom carving and engraving 20+ years ago. I bought the modified dentist drill air powered carver (turns 400,000 rpm and uses 1/16" shank bits). I made a few carved/engraved wooden projects with it, but I never bought the micro fine sand blaster unit I had been giving serious thought to engraving VIN numbers in the bottom corners of car windows and such to differ theft. I also had planned on engraving decorative displays such as can now be seen in divider panels of restaurants, etc. where the image is just frosted into the glass. This was a fresh new field for this at the time.

There is a good demand for this, even now, but I got into photo retouching using Adobe Photoshop and other photo enhancing software instead. Don't believe anything that you see in photos, because I can make it in the photo when it never existed that way in real life. None of the women models in advertising photos are as perfect as they look, because I was one of the ones who removed their moles, scars, and wrinkles to make them look younger and perfect.

I had a woman of about 50 bring me a portrait photo of herself, asking if I could make her look much younger. After a bit of discussion about how much younger, she said "do your best". I managed to take about 25 years off of her (a fine looking woman at either age). She came back a week later and when I showed he what I had done, she said "that's perfect. I want two copies, one for me and one to send to my high school reunion, and I'm not going. Let them eat their hearts out". We both had a good laugh over it, and I'm certain that it caused quite a stir at the class reunion.

Charley
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I've worked with Rayzist. Great for small repeated items.
Or learn to cut by hand. I used beige Contact© paper on the attached.

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For sandblasting I use 3M Buttercut Sandblast Stencil

~M
What do you sand blast with this product? How do you cut the image into the stencil?

I've only experimented with the Raysist product, but found it very easy to use since it is much like photo contact printing or like would be used to create printed circuit boards.

Wow, Ralph. I'm impressed.

Charley
I owe a big debt to Peter David of Seattle who taught me the basics in 1982. Glue chipping, pounce pattern work etc.

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Movable mylar stencil

Or this on tempered glass.

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Ralph you've been holding back on us. You should have been posting this years ago.
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Quote:
I had a woman of about 50 bring me a portrait photo of herself, asking if I could make her look much younger. After a bit of discussion about how much younger, she said "do your best". I managed to take about 25 years off of her (a fine looking woman at either age). She came back a week later and when I showed he what I had done, she said "that's perfect. I want two copies, one for me and one to send to my high school reunion, and I'm not going. Let them eat their hearts out". We both had a good laugh over it, and I'm certain that it caused quite a stir at the class reunion.



That is funny, Charley.
Herb
Onsite work. Confidence is key.

I redid the doors at least 3 times. Pounce pattern saves the day.

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More on-site. More confidence.

One day cutting, next day blast and clean up.

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Corner detail

Sideways uploading problems.
Low pressure is the key to the shading.

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All I can say is WOW!!! , and you hand cut the stencils? I could never hand cut them, even it was just following he lines with a knife. I like the photo exposing method better because it doesn't require hand cutting.

Charley
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