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Etching How-To

Damn, seeing all these cases with their acrylic and lexan cases makes me want to redo my entire case and go with something see through.

Where do you all hide your wires? That's the only thing from stopping me with going to a see through design.
 
Hmm...the long awaited Samus etch is finished :D ... now for that etch guide...that one I need to finish! :p

SamusEtch.jpg
 
Captain Colonoscopy said:
looks good, now post that how-to already. :)
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Right all this hype before you even started writing you have alot to live up to now ;)
 
3am is neither early nor late. It is precisely the right time to finish projects and case mods and do homework and make random posts on forums.

That's a great etch. What are you going to do with it now? It's not exactly part of your anime theme and unless you design another case around it, it's kind of pointless. Auction it off? Raffle it? Make a new how to on making acrylic puzzles?

Nice Tshirt btw....
 
I'm probrably going to be selling it...no clue how much I could get for it , but at least more than $20 would be cool and help me payfor a new HD cooler :D
 
I'd offer my unborn child, but someone else already has dibs on that.
I'd say 50$ minimal for a nice etching of samus done by a girl modder. To top it, I would etch my name or handle or something like X5-452 under a barcode in a corner somewhere.


Told you, you'd end up in the etching business before long ;)
 
LoL! But if I'm in the etching business I don't have any etching orders yet. Boohoo :( Would be nice to get $50 per etch. I could finally pay for more components to go into Project Vash that way haha.

If you want the etch, you better get it before someone else does! :p ;)
 
I'll order a provocative picture of Ms. JessAlba452 for 5$. PM me for shipping questions.
 
Perhaps you should get a website and put pics of everything you do up on it and then link the site to this one. Hell. I'm on several automotive boards I can probably post there too I know a few people would go for etchings.
 
interesting how this etching how to has become an etching business...

I think I may have some nice pics of Max or Dark Angle that would be nice in an etching...
A Dark Angel mod...
or a nice etch of her bike....

wonder how complicated I can make it :-P



sigh.. i mis dasvcd...
 
I deffinately wanna see this guide. My first etching attempt was just AWFUL!!!!
 
She can procrastinate as long as she wants. Since I'm procrastinating my mod as long as I want. She's probably busy playing Real Life: The game that sucks your life away....

Time matters not. I would prefer a clear, concise, well written article over a rushed last minute one anyday.

And if you're that impatient, try etching some stuff yourself. Than you can post pictures and a short step process and we can all try to guess what it is.
:D
 
I'll be going to Lowes here in a few minutes to pickup some plexiglass.

I'm going to install a window in my rig this weekend.
 
Moose777 said:
I'll be going to Lowes here in a few minutes to pickup some plexiglass.

I'm going to install a window in my rig this weekend.
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Post how much it you got it for, I have to head up there too so I have to get some cash out of the bank. :D
 
Ok. I'll probably go after I see the Incredibles though. Well, it actualyl depends on what time the movie starts.

I should get off my ass and find out.
 
thanks for the link crim it'll be enuff to get me started. i've done etching on glass but plexie is a lil diff
 
CrimandEvil said:
Post how much it you got it for, I have to head up there too so I have to get some cash out of the bank. :D
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Okies, I went to Lowes after seeing the Incredibles (which I might add was a kickass movie) and I got an 18x24" sheet of Acrylic for $7.27 it's I believe an 1/8th of an inch thick, I'll measure it with the caliper tomorrow when I can actually spend some time to find it.

With it I picked up a plastic cutting knife and an etching tool (Dremel).

Tomorrow I will pick out a design or a picture and measure out how big I want the window and I'll start my project.

I'll get pics up when it's done and possibly more than likely write up a how-to for y'all.
 
Sweet, prices here will probably be different but it gives me a round number to work with. :D
 
I did some reading on etching too, most peeps use a Dremel but they don't use anything to steady the Dremel. I happen to have an router adapter for mine I think that'll come in handy for etching. We'll see. I've got plenty of acrylic to test it on.
 
is etching in plexi anything like etching in stone?

I"ve done semi precious stone etching before, and it took a lot of time. but to etch a whole window... but I'm guessing the plexi is much easier to work with.
 
Well yeah, plastic is a lot softer than stone. Thing is you gotta keep the speed of the etching tool down so you don't overheat teh plastic so that it melts and disfigures.
 
Moose777 said:
Well yeah, plastic is a lot softer than stone. Thing is you gotta keep the speed of the etching tool down so you don't overheat teh plastic so that it melts and disfigures.
Click to expand...

hmm so basically the opposite with plexi (kind of guessed).

I may have to pick up some bits and plexi and try my hand at this.
 
i got a piece 11x 17 1/8" for around $4 and change at HD. started playing with it. ill post pics when im done. while playing with i found the lowest speed i could a chieve was the best ( two clicks in), found the 106 to work the best, a 45 degree angle, and a really lite touch. the first few thing i etched seemed a little sloppy for my taste but were allright. i do think that glass is way easier to get a nice finish on. i have a question tho the 1/8" seemed a little thin is 1/4" the standard for windows?
 
Yes, 1/8" plexi is standard for regular windows. I prefer to use 1/4" for etched windows though. Some of the places on my etchings can be up to 1/16" deep, which would only leave 1/16" material if I used 1/8" plexi.
 
Very cool to see this thread still in action. I have been following it in hopes for a really nice tutorial. Some very nice work has been shown here.

Well To start off Plexi is pretty cheap. Roughly $2.75 sq ft at least in my area, fortunalty the glass shop were I work has loads of this. I started testing a few pieces for texture and lighting techniques. The 1/8 standard window glass is a bit flimsey to me I prefered the 1/4 in material. The 3/8th material was to bulky but gave nice depth. From my test with blue and red led's I found that the 1/8th material the design glowed well and the entire sheet gave off considerable luminescence. The 1/4 in plexi had some sheet glow but the design had more definition of color at the designed areas. I chose to work with the 1/4 because I wanted most color to be at the design and I could backlight my case were needed for affect later on.

I have tried several tools to develope a texture base. The first tool I tried was a wood burning kit with various knives. This left a smooth/shiney surface and worked fast depending on the temp range I set. I found this to offer great textures for things like hair strands or boarders that required shiney surfaces to offer contrast over previously etched places. I still ned to work on this procedure.

Secondly I tried my dremel tool. I used various sizes of glass grinding tips "metal round tip" which worked very well for the lines, created good definition and created good outline. I then moved to stone bits for sanding and etching glass of various shapes. I found these to work well for etching and shading as well as getting in to tight spots. To cover broader areas i found that a wire wheel worked quickly and if used patiently created a nice texture yet a bit rougher. The stainless steel wheels offered a rougher texture were the brass wheel presented a much softer texture.

Well I am a good oil painter and do very well at sculpting and wood carving however i have not mastered this etching process and my first project is a little rough but a good place to start. The plexi has a protective brown film that covers the entire sheet. I freehand drew my picture. A alien head with dragon wings protruding out the top and sides with my clan name top and bottom. I used the burning knives to cut out the basic design then moved to the dremel with glass tips to create definition. I added shading with the stone tips and wire wheels then with a fine burning tip I burnt scales and hairs onto the dragon wings. It came out fairly well however i have learned some things that will help me with future projects.

What I would really love to try next is a mini hobbiest sand blaster I think I could do a lot with this. Since I dont draw to well I will print out the picture of my next project and tape it to the reverse side of the plexi then trace as needed then add in some of my own style.

I have sort of put my plexi etching on hold until this tut comes out so I can gleen better information however I have started working on a "Diarama" to fit into an extra 5.25 bay.
My diarama will be a miniture scene of a mysterious place on an Americas Army or Counter Strike map with action figures and I want to include a red led and smoke.
 
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