Hi everybody,

I haven't been to this forum for a long time. I don't do any engraving but I do dye sublimation and some other transfer type printing and do visit here occasionally.

I have a friend who called me the other day to see if I knew anything about glass etching -- in particular, how to make masks for doing text plus a graphic. Well, I didn't know anything about it but told her I would do a little looking around so I posted on the DSSI forum. One of our mutual members suggested that I should post over here since etching is engraving "in" something and isn't really printing "on" something.

My friend wants to etch on 30 glasses for her nephew's wedding but she can't figure out how to make a mask that will allow her to do this in a production line way.

I read something about using a laser printer on a release paper. It involved printing a mirror image of the mask on the release paper, adhering it to the glass and heating it to remelt the toner, and then burnish it down and remove the release paper. The very short write-up that I found mentioned that that part of the process might have to be repeated in order to get a good coverage of the toner. Once the mask was completed, you used the etching cream according to instructions and at the end, the mask would be removed along with the etching cream by washing.

Do any of you know about this process? If so, is it as easy as it sounds and what kind of paper would we need to get and where would we find some? Will any laser printer work or only certain kinds? (I have an HP.)

Forgive me if this has been discussed before but I would really appreciate any help any of you can offer.

Thanks a lot

Hi again,

I forgot to ask is anyone knows of a better method for a small little, one-time project like this one.

Gayle,

My recommendation would be to hire a professional. If that stretches the budget, there may be some directions that come with the etching cream you can purchase at craft stores. I'm just not familiar with that process.

The pieces can either be laser engraved or sandcarved. If the graphic is a photo, it can be problematical, however. Please look at our website www.magicrouter.com for some examples of glass work.
Let us know if we can be of service.

Update: I found out last night that this friend has a blast cabinet that I didn't know about. But, up until now, she has only used it to etch into the glass beads that she makes so she really doesn't know anything about masks and doing bigger items with it.

So I have two other questions.

Part one: The machine she has is a syphon type with a psi of 90 t0 100. Is that too strong to use on glassware?

Part two: Do any of you make masks for other people? When I was working on the laser mask and etch cream plan, I set it up as multiples on a page (12 on a 8.5x11 with some blank space at the bottom). If so, could you email me direct with pricing info. Remember she is only shooting for about 30 glasses so 3 dozen (maybe 4 dozen to have extras for screwups) would be all she would want. Since I have no enperience in this, I don't know if you would make these individually or in batches that she could cut apart so you could let me know how that part of it works.

Thanks,

Gayle~
There is a process that you can create a resist from a photo sensitive material that is applied to the mug so that your friend can sandcarve it (the artistic way of saying sandblasting). With a siphon system you do need to have a little higher psi because the pressure is having to create the siphon to pull the abrasive into the air stream.

What kind of graphic is your friend wanting to put on it? If it is a simple one another way is to have the resist cut on a plotter.

I do use my laser to make the resists for most of my jobs and that process will not work to make the resists in this case.

You or your friend can email me at russ at warrlightengraving dot com and I will see what we can do to help you out.

They teach classes on this stuff! (I just took one). Anyway, have her contact Rayzist! They make a wonderful product, including the film to make the mask and the resist for the blast. But unless she has the time and interest to invest in learning the process, and wants to spend the money on the materials, she's much better off to sub it out to someone who actually does this. Yes she can blast glasses with her equipment, but she needs all the parts including the film, an exposure unit, and the resist.

www.rayzist.com
they are wonderful and can set her up if she wants to spend the time and money.

Thanks. Right now, I think all she is looking for is some place to get some masks so she can give this a try. Her design isn't simple form the standpoint of simple lines -- it is 3 or 4 lines of text (short lines -- one word on each of 3 and a date on the last line) plus a double heart design. Because of the letters, it isn't simple (at least I don't think it is). Anyway, I know there is material out there that holds everything together until you start "carving" and then the thin film that is over the open spaces is blasted away and leaves the opening to etch inside of.

We just want to find someone who will give us a price on making about 40 of these small masks (about 1.5 x 2") and info on how to order if she wants them and how long it will take to get them. She has about a month to get the work done.

I don't think my friend is ready to go that far -- she just wants to get some masks made so she can try this. I didn't realize how hard that was going to be.

Thanks for the info.

Gayle,

You could contact Photobrasive and they would likely create the resists for you. They would send them to you on silicone release paper so that you could peel them off and apply.

I would order some extra, as there is a learning curve to getting them applied squarely and without damage.

Hi Gayle,
This is another idea. Up until recently I often sandblasted glass. I used cheap sign vinyl. I cut it with my plotter and make my own stencil. Picked out the parts that would be blasted, applied, taped off, blasted and threw in the sink. The mask and tape would just peel off. Very cheap way to do this. Unless she is looking for very detailed images. I used to do beer steins, James line 1 Best man line 2, date line 3. Time consuming but cheap.

They say you can use contact paper too. I am not good enough with a xacto blade for that.

Good Luck.