Etching Glass
Contents
Chemical Etching
(Dangerous, the chemicals required are NOT at MakeICT)
Glass can be etched chemically, usually with the aid of a PVC mask, the most common being contact paper. That can be cut on the Cricut in the FabLab, then applied, followed by the chemical or substance. However, this can not be cut on the Laser, due to being made out of PVC.
Hydrofluoric Acid
WARNING: UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING DO NOT TRY THIS, EVEN A SMALL AMOUNT OF HYDROFLUORIC ACID CAN BE DEADLY.
We do not have a safe space to do this, nor the chemicals. Information on the safety of Hydrofluoric acid: Wikpedia
Armor Etch
This has not yet been done at MakeICT, and is probably safe enough to do.
Composed of a few chemicals. This is still a somewhat dangerous thing. It can be purchased at various locations, such as Michaels and Hobby Lobby, and you apply it to the Glass and Mask, then wait about 1 minute, followed by washing it off in Lukewarm water. Instructions for one of the manufacturer's products: [1]
Sandblasting Etching
This can be done at MakeICT.
This uses a similar mask to the Chemical etching, contact paper being the most common. That can be cut on the Cricut in the FabLab, then applied, followed by the chemical or substance. However, this can not be cut on the Laser, due to being made out of PVC.
Instead of chemically etching, it uses sandblasting to etch the glass. This can be accomplished in the sandblasting cabinet in the Metalshop.
Laser Etching
This can be done at MakeICT, and is probably the easiest method.
The Laser Cutter can directly etch the glass via engraving on it, in a similar manner to any other items. The settings are in the spreadsheet which can be found Laser_Cutter#Materials here on the Laser Cutter page.
It can be used with the rotary axis for the laser cutter to do glasses, mugs and cups. We are looking to redesign the rotary axis' attachment, as a simple mistake resulted in some damage, to the rotary axis' control. (Which has been fixed.) Once that is done, we will see about classes.
Glass should not be cut on the laser. While occasionally successful in tests run by some people, more often it results in a nice crack and break, or in some cases a small shattering. There are some ways that might work, but nothing tried as of yet has worked. Best method, would be to do a shallow scoring with the laser, then continue with normal methods of 'cutting' glass (which is normally, a score, and then controlled breaking of the glass along that score).
