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my 1st window-carving.

B

bob

2[H]4U
Joined
Feb 13, 2002
Messages
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I noticed that if I put my CCFL to the edge of a peice of glass and carve into it, the carving illuminates, and the glass stays plain. I looked this up on google, and sure enough, people are doing this and it looks F'ing awesome.

Im making a router/server that ive modified, welded, cut, drilled out rivets. Nothing really fancy, but I think something needs to be done to liven it up.

bird.JPG


Ive edited out the text. Its the album cover off Lynyrds Skynyrd's album "Solo Flytes". Dont complain about the crappyness of it, I used software desinged for windows 3.1, I did the best I could. Im looking to make this thing about 6" in diameter.

I have 2 ideas:

2 layers of glass. Brigher color on top later, and the bottom layer with a blue CCFL. Or maybe I was thinking, a line of LED's along the bottom of the glass, different colors, and have them cycle from different colors.

or, use maybe 3 stencils layered right so I can make a gap to give this image some shape.

I have an indoor cabinent sandblaster avalible to be, with glass-bead stuff. Looks like sand, but its green. I figure, if I turn it down to 20Psi, I could do this without breaking the glass or tearing apart the stencil. Ive made stencils before, for inking images, but never for anything like this. Im not sure exactly how I would do the flames at the birds feet either. I will be using glass, and not plexi-glass. I need something that wont be scratched up. Plexi-glass is too wimpy.

Any ideas? I am a complete noob when it comes to glass etching.
 
I've been glass etching for about 8 years...what do you want to know? :p

Seriously, sounds like you've got everything you need to etch. Personally, I prefer sandblasting to acid-etching myself, it comes out much more even and professional looking.

Mostly the glass you use can be bought VERY cheaply at places like Home Depot. Typically, the basic workflow is something like this:

1. Cut glass to size using glass cutter (don't do this after you etch, or Murphy will be living large and you will break your finished piece).

2. Lay down a layer of contact paper on the glass, and mask the edges (or buy a couple boxes of band-aids if you don't).

3. Glue your stencil down to the contact paper. I use an aerosol spray glue for this...same thing people use for yearbook layouts in highschool classes and whatnot.

4. Grab an x-acto knife and cut out your stencil. Take breaks or you'll cramp your hand and have "da claw."

5. Etch the surface with the sandblaster. Wear gloves and goggles (duh!). Your PSI should be strong enough to remove the stencil paper, but NOT the contact paper.

6. Remove contact paper and clean it up. I usually grind down the edges with a wet wheel at this point...again something that would be better done as part of step 1.​

Example:

jesterzero.tripod.com/portfolio_files/art_objects/dragon_glass.jpg

jesterzero.tripod.com/portfolio_files/art_objects/lotus_glass.jpg​

The dragon is sandblasted, the lotus is acid etched. Please excuse the fingerprints...it's just a quick pic.

You mentioned multiple pieces of glass...that might be interesting with lights, but most of the etchers I know who do really advanced work just do multiple stencils on a single piece to achieve a layered effect. Each layer is blasted to a different depth...one of my formers teachers did a fish piece where he did a DEEP etch of the fish, then a shallow etch of seaweed in front of them...it was very well done. You do need higher quality glass for something like that...single strength window glass won't cut it.

If you have any other specific questions, I'll take a shot at answering them.

Welcome to etching...have fun!

edit: Can't display images from that host...so I'll just put in the link.
 
I have a glass pane out of the bottom of a flatbed scanner. I dont know how good the glass is, but its fairly thin. Its the perfect size to use. (length and width size).

Im not quite following the 2 layers of etching. I understand, that I will need to use about 2 stencils for the fine detail like the flames, but im not quite sure exactly why or how.

I do have an indoor sandblaster cabinent. I didnt want to use chemicals, because I dont know how to use them. Ive done a lot of sandblasting on computer parts, engine peices, and motorcycle frames... just never glass.

Edit:

Its nearly 3:00Am, Ive sucked down 4 cans of mountain dew... ive been at this since about 11:00, here is what ive come up with:

_11.JPG
_22.JPG


I havent quite decided which one I will go with. Once I got all of the color erased out, the actual stenciling and sandblasting wont be so bad. I was thinking, heavy sandblasting for the lines that define the shape, and a very light dusting to fill in the color of the wings.
 
Sounds like you've got a good handle on the process, so I'll just go into more depth (no pun intended), about multiple layers.

Depending on how thin your glass is depends on how deep you can etch. I've never used scanner glass, although I can attest that photocopy glass is some of the best glass I've ever worked with. (My cousin works for Xerox and was kind enough to let me come down one night and take all the glass out of some machines destined for the junkyard.)

Essentially, the shallower the etchings will have a whitish-grey cast to them, and the deeper etchings will have a greenish-aqua cast to them (much like the side of a glass pane, if you put it on edge and take a look.

I really have no idea how (or even if) that would show up under illumination. It might be awesome, or the light might just recast everthing is a single colored tone. I've never tried it.

Since you're new to glass etching, I'd recommending doing a few pieces with just a simple, even design. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing inherently hard about the art at all, it's just good to start basic and get some experience/confidence after a piece or three.

As far as your designs go, I personally prefer the one with the circular halo around the firebird. I'm not a huge fan of the flames either, for a couple reasons. The first is that the line widths on them are much thinner than anything else on the piece, and the second is that they break up the symmetry of the piece, the way they extrude from the bottom. But hey, it's not about what I like, it's about what you think looks good. Regardless, I'd recommend making a few variations, getting a few 8x10 pieces of glass from Home Depot for $0.99 each, and just etching them for practice and preference. The stencil can give you an idea of what it will turn out like, but you never really know until you crank it out. And it's a simple enough design that it won't take you ages and ages to cut.

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!
 
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