Etching Plexiglass?

[JadedMaple]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone has ever etched plexiglass? I was thinking about doing it to a upcoming case mod, but I'm not sure.

Would I just use the regular Glass Etching stuff?
How does it look?
Have you done it?
Do you got pics?


Thanks alot.


JadedMaple

 

[mukow]

http://www.thepcmodshop.com We etch quite a large ammount of plexiglass. A laser makes it much easier to do so. There are pictures enough on the site to get a feel for it, nothing beats seeing it person though.

 

[dracos]

I've done it.. sorry no pics... they were lost during my move a few years ago... here somewhere.....

but yeah it can be done, but PATIENCE is the key, and i'm talking A LOT of it....

You can do it by hand, which I have done small etching that way, with an xacto knife and assorted shapes and style of blades, Radio Shack carries a nice 'starter kit', but I wouldn't recomened it for large projects..

A dremel is the way to go,WITH FLEXI-SHAFT, but there again, you will need various blades/tips of assorted shapes and sizes.... the easiest way is to draw what you want on with fine tip marker,Fine sharpie works best, and then etch away...

I would consider making a template, I do my drawing etc on computer, and then transfer to card stock or clear plastic, and cut it out with xacto knife and trace the pattern, use pencil first, then go over with sharpie, pencil is easier to clean if you make mistake...
tape the pattern to the plexi with clear scotch tape or painter's tape, i've found they leave little residue....

I would also recommened getting two pieces of plexi, one for practice......

that's all I can think of right now....

as for etching solution, dunno, never tried it, but I would think it would just screw it up, melt it.....

of course you could go for the easier way and have someone else laser it for you, but I find it is more satisfying to do it yourself....

 

[JadedMaple]

Alright thanks, I was thinking about etching a small Autobot logo on the side of my case window.


Thanks alot.

 

[Tiny]

The liquid etching that you can get from places like Micheals(sp) and such....will give you that frosted glass look rather than the full-on etched-depth look that you may or may not be looking for. Just a FYI.

 

[TGO]

The key to etching is to go to home depot. Pay $3 for the biggest piece of plexi you can get with said 3 dollars and just practice however you wish to etch your window. I recommend a dremel, but what u want is fine just practice.

 

[WillowHawk]

its easy to etch...just get the right bits or make ur own, whichever is easier... you can do it with or without the flex shaft. contrary to what some people belive...its very easy to etch with the dremmel directly. of course you may need to take a break, but if you are smart, you let the dremmel cool down anyway. ive managed to do an hour or 2 of etching with very precise results. an achy hand, but patience is a very valuable virtue

i just print out the image, and trace it with a sharpie. if you make a mistake, take some rubbing alcohol, and dip ir pinky in it, and very carefully rub it off...it will come off with one wipe. (you PCB etchers out there know what i'm talking about)

the key to it all is keeping one perspective AT ALL TIMES...
plexi has depth, and being transparent, persepective IS VERY IMPORTANT...so either stay directly over it, or find a marker that you can keep lined up at all times..

mistakes can happen, but depending on how complicated ur work is, it shoudlnt be that noticeable...i'm talking about small variations, or a slip here and there....the simpler the work is, the more precise you have to be.