Glass Etching…. what equipment and cost?
Hi All,
I noticed a chap down the local market the other day who was selling the etched glass portraits and offering to take pictures off of your phone to do this…. what equipment would you need and how much are the costs….???… just interested
Thanks for the answers received so far. I am not looking for the traditional ways to etch glass but more the equipment to carry out Laser etching where pictures are placed in the middle of glass/plastic blocks.
Hope you can help.
I am really just looking for an item you wire up to the computer that laser cuts it for you.?
thruthelookingglass
on February 8th, 2012
original glass etchings are expensive, it is done with screen printing and acids. You would need desktop publishing for the art work, screens and development equipment for negative and screen printing equipment to print it = around £10thousand pounds. ex hubby was a printer.
Bullfrog
on February 8th, 2012
Depends what kind of glass etching he was doing. There is acid etching which involves nasty chemicals and expensive screen print stuff.
Wheel engraving which is traditional and highly skilled and I assume the equipment would be expensive because it’s specialized, but you can get a range of cut depths which gives beautiful images.
You can use a special scribe so yo can almost ‘draw’ on the glass, but to make an image is extremely time consuming, so is only for the ones with patience!
I do a little bit of etching my self, andI use a hand helld electric rotary tool like a dremel. Prices vary but about £50 or £60 would suffice. You use diamond tipped burrs (often shaped ) to take the surface off the glass. I bought my diamond burrs in a set off ebay (make sure you know the shank width that will fit your drill) which are great and work well. Its not expensive. I also look for unusual glass in charity shops – pitchers, vases, brandy glasses.
You should be able to find a rotary drill of multi tool in a good DIY store
hope this helps!
GoneFishing
on February 8th, 2012
Are you in the UK? Check out W.Hobby Ltd in London. They do hobby stuff and that includes simple glass etching kits. I think they start at about £25 for doing about 6 to 10 small items. Just big enough to try out and maybe sell a few items or do as gifts for friends.
http://www.hobby.uk.com/
OldFriend
on February 8th, 2012
You can use a product called Armour Etch. Acting ingredient is Ammonium, sodium bifluorides. Cost US is around $26 per 12oz, that will do about 150 champagne glasses with a design area of 1′ x 2′
It is thick so would work like an ink in screen printing process. It would not work for pad printing
It does work with vinyl stencils, brushing it on with a sponge brush, stipple style.
You’ll require appropriate art programs, a plotter to cut vinyl, and a healthy knowledge of the screen printing process if you are going the printing way.
There are several different photo emulsions out there, you’ll have to find one that stays stable while using the chemical during the printing process.
Also, when using this type of stuff, make sure you have good ventilation, it’s very dangerous to human mucus areas such the nose, throat and eyes.
On the much safer side, the word you should be looking for perhaps, is a CNC router set up for engraving
Hope this helps some
HappyCake
on February 8th, 2012
I have seen the glass photographs you are talking about. In fact I bought one of the cubes, it had a tiny farm scene inside the cube. They use laser to etch those photographs and make the cubes. I think its a very expensive process and not many people do it.
This is the link to the shop I bought my cube from ‘The Gift Experience’ in UK : http://www.thegiftexperience.co.uk/gifts/Personalised-Gifts-Presents/personalised-glass-gifts/index.html