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Glass etching

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I'm wanting to get into the etching off glass.

I'm wanting to get the air eraser from HF.

What kind of compressor should I be seeking?

Found a 3 gallon 125PSI?

Or a

15 gallon 100 PSI?

Looking to get started on this, but don't want to break the bank if I'm not going to keep doing it.

Any help is this area would be fantastic and I would greatly appreciate it.

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What are you wanting to etch? Small items like glasses or large items like mirrors? The air eraser is a very precise tool but covers a very very small area....

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Sorry, wanting to etch glass squares, drinking glasses and some other smaller stuff.

Instead of air eraser should I look into blast cabinet from HF that comes with blast gun?

I also would need aluminum oxide correct? Seems everyone recommends 220 grit if it can be found.

Thanks for all your help.

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I would just get one of the small table top sandblasting cabinets.....I've been using 150 grit White Aluminum Oxide with great results in the cabinet.....If you go with the Air Eraser you will need 220 grit

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I personally prefer the coarser grits - the 220 leaves a very fine etch that can be hidden just by wetting the glass, or dragging an oily fingertip over the etching.  A coarser grit will leave a coarser etching that stands up to more abuse and remains visible.

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Understood, so the lower number on the oxide the coarser the etch.

Would the 15 gallon/150psi compressor work? Looking at a craftsman

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Correct,The lower the number the coarser the grit , but if you go with an air eraser you will have to use the 220 grit.....yes that compressor will work

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I personally prefer the coarser grits - the 220 leaves a very fine etch that can be hidden just by wetting the glass, or dragging an oily fingertip over the etching.  A coarser grit will leave a coarser etching that stands up to more abuse and remains visible.

People are much more impressed with a deep etch too. When they can feel it with their finger it seems to really catch their attention. 

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One big complaint about the HF cabinet is that you have to assemble it which leaves lots of room for gaps and leaks. For a little bit more you can get a cabinet that is injection molded plastic which has no seams or places to leak outside of the holes that are suppose to be there. I have a Cyclone E500 it was about $75 more than the HF one, but I have been very pleased with it and didn't have to worry about trying to seal it up.

 

As for compressors, both the ones you mentioned would work although the 3gallon is pretty small. For most blasting you'll be in the 40-60psi range. The larger the tank and higher the HP on the compressor you can get the better. Reason being, the larger the tank, the less often the compressor needs to run. The higher the HP, the faster the tank will fill. If the compressor can fill the tank faster than you drain it then you never need to stop. If the compressor is not fast enough, you'll need to take short breaks to let the tank fill back up. Not a big deal either as you are rarely blasting non stop.

 

The other thing to note, the blasters all have a suggested or min. psi usage. That, for the most part, can be ignore. I believe mine says to run it at 100psi or something, but it works just fine as low as 25psi.

 

The other thing you want to look at is a vacuum for the cabinet. Ideally a dust collection system with good filters, but a simple shop vac or household vac can be used to clear the dust in the cabinet. It can get dusty very quickly and be nearly impossible to see what you're working on.

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Before you invest in equipment, check your housing development HOA /CCR's to see if your not violating any rules. Some don't allow you to run home based businesses out of your home.

If your going to etch glassware with names, images, and photos you should consider a photomask by Ikonics ( old Chromaline I think) or stencils by Raysist. I was using a liquid photo emulsion by Chromaline in the 80's to do large windows but it had its limitations. Since then they have come out with a photomask.

A Photo mask is daylight sensitive film (mask), so use it in red light conditions. Basically, you create a b/w transparency for artwork. Use camera-ready artwork to create a transparency or print a transparency with a laser printer. Inkjet printers don't create a dense black image suitable for transparency.

The image is transfer to the mask by means of exposing the transparency to a UV light source. Everywhere there is black, will be blocked when exposed to the UV light. Different thickness Photomasks have different exposure time, different blast depths.

Next, you washout the image (Under pressure) exposing your design and creating your sandblast resist. Where there was black does not harden under UV light; hence, it washes out of the mask. You let it dry then apply to glass via carrier sheet provided with mask. Blast it under low pressure to desired depth using 180 silicone carbide grit. (If you blast with to high pressure, you will begin to loose detail in the mask edges like small fonts and could blast the mask away ruining your glass item. Mask will develope blackish color on mask if you blast concentrate the blast in one area to long. After blasting, The photomask is removed by soaking in warm water. Don't let mask go down drain, clogged pipes after a while.

That's a rough description of the process but that's it in a nutshell. Experience with the mask is the best teacher. look online at www.Ikonics.com they offers classes and more info too. You can blast people's business card, logos, Names on wedding toasting glasses, tiles, trophies, mirrors or even a b/w photograph in dpi format for the more advanced user. Lots of uses for different substrates.

There's the good olde sandblast mask you can use to do flat glass panels, wall mirrors, glass signs. It comes in various thicknesses, depending on how deep you want to blast. The one I used years ago was like a rubberized vinyl. You apply this to the glass, draw directly on it with a pencil, pen or transfer the design by burnishing from a pencil drawing onto it. Easy to cut with X-acto knife and I used this for multi-stage blastIng. Or you can simply buy a vinyl cutter from USCutter designed to cut sandblast mask, do your design work, and cut as many as you want! ( I wish!)

Your very limited using an air eraser. I used it for subtle shading on glass. I forget what grit size I used, maybe a 400-600 grit (white) aluminum oxide. Very low, low pressure. It was almost a baby powder consistency. It frosts the surface. Very soft effect to the air eraser.

There is a solution called Armour Etch that does a surface etch on glass. But I wouldn't recommend using it. You don't get any depth on the glass like sandblasting achieves.

You can use regular contact paper to hand-cut your designs. I've been experimenting with printing images right onto the contact paper. You tape the contact paper to a carrier sheet (on all sides to prevent it jamming in printer) before printing. A heavy paper stock or thin card stock is good. Print then before releasing from card stock, cut the image out. Apply transfer tape to hold everything together, then transfering to glass just as you would transfer vinyl. (Note: on a scrape piece of glass, I suggest you experiment with depth of blast until contact paper either looses its edge or shows signs of deteriorating. The contact paper will turn blackish from the silicon carbide grit hitting the surface, in areas where you concentrate the blast. This tells you it's time to move to another area or the mask is deteriorating. This method works on flat glass, not to well on curved surfaces or for small details. Sometimes I would apply two layers of contact paper for deeper blasts. Poor man's way to achieve what a cutter could do! It's a time consuming method but cheap. Good for starter.

ALWAYS WEAR A RESPIRATOR TO PROTECT YOUR LUNGS! The dust is nasty. Read safety instructions for sandblasting.

I could go on forever, but I won't. Lol There's lots of videos on YouTube about both these methods. Look under photo etching on glass, glass etching, Raysist, photo engraved glass, sandblast cabinets for equipment info, etc. Recently saw an outstanding site that blew my mind. Karenbarnardstudio.com. Check it out, you'll be amazed. Good luck.

I'd be interested in hearing about cutting on USCutters SB mask for flat glass. Can you transfer designs easily, if you don't have a vinyl cutter, by burnishing pencil into mask or do you have to draw on mask? The mask I used was called buttercut. Can't remember who makes it? This is a close up of the detail u can achieve with a photomask. I've had it around forever, so the etch has oil on it, giving it a smudged appearance. Guess I should have cleaned it better. Oops.

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Nice write-up Icomstock

 

I have used the USCutter sandblast mask. It works pretty good on flat surfaces and comes up easy afterword. It's fairly thick so you might have trouble cutting with some of the value cutters. I don't like to strain my expensive Summa so I just make a couple passes at a lower setting. Takes a little playing around to figure out what pressure to run for a double cut. You will need a 60deg blade to get through the thickness. It's a little tough to get small designs so for glass I just use the Green Star (GS) vinyl now. The adhesive is easier to get off than most of the Oracal vinyls and it cuts easier while still being heavy enough to handle glass work. (I don't do a whole lot of blasting but do occasional 1-off work)

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Thanks WG. What is the surface like on US SB mask? Rubbery or slick like vinyl? Can I burnish pencil into it to transfer designs or is it strictly for cutting with machine? Until I get plotter, I have to do by hand. Bye.

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Thanks WG. What is the surface like on US SB mask? Rubbery or slick like vinyl? Can I burnish pencil into it to transfer designs or is it strictly for cutting with machine? Until I get plotter, I have to do by hand. Bye.

It's sort of rubbery but more like a non-metallic exhaust gasket. Hard to explain. If you want to PM me your address I'll send you a small chunk and you can handle it before you buy it. 

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I just use Oracal 631 scraps to make my masks.  It holds up well with my air eraser and comes off very easy.  Just run the glass under hot  water when you are done and the vinyl, and A/O dust comes right off.  Also, I've noticed that my air eraser's spray pattern is widening the more I use it.  I like it better now than when it was new.

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Just watched some YouTube videos on photomask resists. Surprise! ikonics (photo systems) has a mask that needs no washout. Just expose, apply, and blast! There are two kinds, rapidmask for line art and less complicated artwork and rapidmask for fine detail ( half tones). Not sure on the laters name, but you get the gest of it. How wonderful! The washout with the old photomask could cause you problems and wasted a lot of mask. Check out their videos.

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I have the smaller Harbor Freight cabinet, and it came fully assembled.  It did come with a tube of silicone that you should apply around the seems.  It works great with a small shop vac attached.  Without a shop vac, the dust makes it nearly impossible to see what you are doing.

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I have the HF cabinet.  just gotta silicone it up when assembling 

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I recently purchased a decent blast cabinet. I'm wanting to learn how to Etch glass. I made the mistake of getting 80 Grit Glass Beads. They were to aggressive for small lettering on glasses. Will I be ok if I went with 150 Grit Aluminum Oxide? What pressure should I be at? I was running 80#. I think I was probably using to high of pressure and to aggressive grit. What are your thoughts? Am I thinking right or do I need to go with an air eraser. Thanks. Steve

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I am using 150 grit White Aluminum Oxide in my cabinet with great results....The pressure is something you will just have to play with to get your desired results...

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That looks good. I'll try and locate 150 grit AO in my area. Haven't been able to locate any close to me online. How far away do you blast. I have read everything from 2"-12". Thanks for your reply.

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