BLUE T4

BEER MUGS

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That definately settles it! I'm getting the cabinet soon!! LOL. I love all the work you did! Very good job!!!

Where do you get your crystals and stuff?

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The crystal items came from a site I found:

http://www.crystalbydesign.com/

Every now and then, you can get REALLY GOOD deals on some of their "close out" items. The trophies pictured there sell in the local mall for $80 blank. I got thme there for $2 apiece (I bought every one they had). This was a couple years ago, but you can still get really good deals there. I till have a ton of the paperwieghts, which I acquired for $1 each.

I just checked.....they have SEVERAL items in their closeout section for $2 and up....

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The NBM show had a booth with Rayzist.com sandblasting crystal ( they made a vinyl screen/decal out of light sensitive vinyl printed with a regular printer & light ) . They had a big stand up cabinet . the pressure was low enough that it did not bother my bare hands . Is there an optimum pressure/volume to buy in order to not destroy the vinyl before finishing blasting ? They had a couple pieces of Crystal that had 1/4" deep that I would call carving instead of blasting .

BTW , USCutter just started selling sandblasting vinyl  :thumbsup: .

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Rodger, I wish I knew you were going to the NBM show, i would have liked to meet you and shake your hand. Maybe AC in December.

greenie

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That would have been nice for me also  :thumbsup: . I posted on the Baltimore NMB show thread Friday night in hopes of making " first contact " ( I watch alot of Star Trek & think that is the saying they use :D ) . I went to AC 2 years ago & would like to go again . My buddy who has a storefront sign shop took me & also went to the Baltimore show . IF things are a bit more comforable financially , we will go to AC  :thumbsup: .

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I use between 75 and 110 psi. Additionally, I hold the nozzle about 10" to 12" away from the item I'm blasting. If you are too close, it can penetrate the vinyl. For the most part, I use regular vinyl and it works great. I have used the vinyl specifically designed for blasting, but didn't notice an difference. Before I acquired a cutter, I had friend who would cut masks out of whatever was available, including scraps.. As long as you flatten any bubbles, you're okay.

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Guest kenya

That's settles it Randy...... my next purchase is a sand blasting cabinet. :thumbsup:

Awesome work !! :thumbsup:

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That's settles it Randy...... my next purchase is a sand blasting cabinet. :D

Awesome work !! :thumbsup:

They have talked alot of us into getting blasting equipment.  :thumbsup:

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I am sure it would make money , but just doing the Crystal 2" X 3" plate Saturday was very fullfilling .  :thumbsup:

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me personally i think sandblasting looks better  there are so many people doing signs now adays and t shirt it is tottally crazy around here in fayetteville NC no one is doing sandblasting of any kind

my one uncle does sandblasting of high rise buildings and sky scrappers i bought a sandblast cabinet and pressure pot back in 2006 just to mess around with and was told by several people that are around the country that does sandblasting even my uncle said that to do small items that will make more money than some huge item Ive been doing mirrors glass mugs coffee mugs and passing them out as samples hoping one day i might get a huge order as i said hoping one day i wish i was like most of you all making millions of dollars a week lol

my personal opinion is sandblasting looks better than the vinyl stuff not to say its not important it is but around here there are so many people doing it it is ridiculous

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repodon,

Fayetteville is a HUGE racing community. You have Fayetteville Motor Speedway and Fayetteville Motorsports Park, with dirt, asphalt and drag racing all right there. Drivers and crews REALLY like their beer, so naturally really like beer mugs. Many I've given away are not even used, they're placed on a shelf for display with their trophies. These guys are big on this. I have many friends in the racing community and I enjoy doing things for them and being a part of it all. I've never sold any of the mugs I've created, but I've had offers of $20 or so. I suppose if I did sell them, I'd ask $12 per....maybe $15. At $1 a mug, plus the small costs of the vinyl, that's around a 1000% profit.

You would probably fare well if you paid for a pit pass (usually around $25 to $35) and wandered around, telling drivers how bad-ass their cars look and handing out your business cards, featuring your Customized Beer Mugs. At a 1000% profit, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't pay for your set up with the business generated from ONE visit. Additionally, most tracks have 50/50 girls running around selling tickets of chance. If you donated a few of the mugs shown below as additional handouts to be given out as additional draws AFTER the 50/50 drawing, you'd not only gain track management favor for supplying additional, crowd-pleasing hand-outs, but you'd also reap free advertisement as the announcer could broadcast who these nice, high-quality racing beer mugs were donated by ___________. You could even blast the track's name on the mug and really impress them.

I dunno....you make a sign, put it out up, and you have HUNDREDS of people reading it. With beer mugs, each person wants THEIR OWN. Just a thought.

Anyways....good luck with your endeavors.

beermug.jpg

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Razpewton  Ive tried that up in winston Salem as i was in the tow trucks towing the wrecked races cars but i will try it here in fayetteville as compared to winston Salem as my girl friend at the time she owns the tow trucks and was well known  by most every body in winston Salem but yea i will try it here may be a different type of people  thanks  for reminding me 

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Sure thing Repo....  I mostly go to North Florida Speedway. I take the pictures there and maintain their website. Good people....good fun.

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Rodger, I wish I knew you were going to the NBM show, i would have liked to meet you and shake your hand. Maybe AC in December.

greenie

I'm gonna start looking for a room . We stayed outside of the city a ways past the big airmills . I was not impressed with that motel . are you making it a day trip or spending a night ?

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OK, I got bit by the etching bug too :)

Made a couple of mugs already and failed doing a vase.

Do you have any tips on how to apply the vinyl to those little more complicated shapes ?

Got several wrinkles, and that allowed the cream to get under it and etching undesired areas on the vase.

Went to a flea market after I visited HF Today, saw a guy with a small stand selling only beer mugs, mostly reverse etched, he was asking $10 - offered custom work too.

OK, any tips will be appreciated, and to the OP .... you never thought of this much attention right ? :thumbsup:

Nice weekend everybody  :)

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Guest kenya

Finished a batch up today. Sure is nice having my own cutter....makes things a lot easier. Thanks Kenya.

Your welcome Randy.

WOW..... very nice work !!!

I'm heading to H.F. on Wed. to pick up a cabinet.

I've been playing around with my hubby's sand blasting gun, I'm getting the bug- :).

I have a big project planned when I get better at it. We are installing a tempered glass railing around the back patio. It's bronze glass & I'm laying out some horse designs to etch into each panel (there are 8- 40" x 40" panels).

Thanks so much for all the info. Your getting alot of folks very interested in sand blasting.  :thumbsup:

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NICE WORK EVERYONE ON YOUR ETCHED GLASS PROJECTS.BEEN BUZY ON ETHED MUGS NEXT WEEK I GET TO DO A TRAILER THEN I WILL GET MY CABINET AND COMPRESSOR.AND START DOING OTHER STUFF.

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Ok, I got my cabinet today. already assembled, will wait until tomorrow since I'm a good neighbor and don't want to make noise this late.

I got a 5lbs of 220grit A. Oxide, but everything there was around 50-80 grit, nothing finer except what I got.

Will go tomorrow morning to Tractor Supply, seems like they have Black Beauty, gonna give it a try.

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Good luck to ya Pro. Here's a few pointers I'll share with you that I've learned over the past few years.

Use the vinyl mask for your design, but cover everything else (including the back and bottom) with packing tape. I usually put two layers of packing tape around the immediate blast area and one layer in the non-blast areas (back and bottom).

Press out any air bubbles that may appear as you are masking. An air bubble gives the blasting medium a "void" for "blast through", which is to say the grit penetrating the masking to contact the glass, giving you unwanted etching.

Hold the nozzle at least 10" to 12" away from the blasting surface. This prevents blast-through. You get the feel of the process with experience.

I run 50 to 110 psi on my air compressor. The less pressure, the more passes you'll need to make to achieve the desired reults.

For extremely small vinyl pieces, such as the inside of the letter "A, B, P, D", try to blast head on and not from the side. This avoids blowing the tiny pieces off when blasting. I use a rubber printer's roller to press vinyl masking to the surface for a tight adhesive bond and good grip prior to blasting.

I always wear a respirator and eye protection (full goggles). The silica dust is nasty stuff and you should avoid breathing it at all costs and keep it away from your eyes. Keep your respirator on when removing finished items or putting more into the blast cabinet.

Carefully remove masking and tape after completion. I usually cut an "X" patter across the top of the beer mug mouth, then peel the masking/tape down the mug vertically in quarters. Be sure you don't have any grit under your fingers holding the mugs. Maintain a good gripe on your mug as you are demasking. I've dropped one or two. Broken mugs don't look as nice and hold little beer.

I blow off any residual grit after demasking, then spray with alcohol and wipe with a soft, clean rag (cloth diapers are the best). After cleaning, hold up to the light to look for flaws and/or admire your work. Your design will be as detailed as your masking and weeding skills.

When I have time, I will try to run finished mugs through the dishwasher for a super clean shine.

You may want to purchase a pack of 12" mirrored panels to practice on. Experiment with nozzle angles and blast distances.

Completed project should look something like this....

:) :) :):D

beer.jpg

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a little tip I picked up, to reduce costs, and to make the setup a little easier. Pick up a few of the rubber shower/swim caps. slide what ever your blasting a lot of into the cap. Using a utility knife trim the cap so that it can be folded over to the edge of your vinyl design and taped down. This is reusable = less money spent on tape, and faster to install than a dozen pieces of tape and easier to remove, which equates to less labor.

Kevin

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Good tip, Kev! I'll try that myself next time I blast. The de-masking IS the most laborious task of the whole process.

Thanks again!!

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Great tips, thank you guys.

I'm headed to Tractor Supply right now, or ACE Hardware, to see what I can get there.

Will be playing with it today.

:):thumbsup::D

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Tractor Supply has 50 lb. of 180 grit Aluminum Oxide for 50 bucks, DO NOT use anything containing "Silica". Not even low silica. You're gonna have to put at least a 50 lb. bucket in the cabinet to get it to syphon properly. Mine took about 75. I personally don't care for the black stuff. At least not for etching.

One thing I did, was to tee off the airline right inside the cabinet, put another connector on it to use the little air eraser inside the cabinet. 

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Okay, dammit. How is everyone getting a clear photo of their mugs? I have a 12MP digital cam and can't get a clear shot. Ambient light, flash, indirect light - nothing works. It is really annoying. I have made a few with my logo and some give-aways for my customers to try to draw more business. I tried to get photos to show here, but they are always obscured with a glare.

Charlie

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