Hi
The tools used for glass etching can be from the very basic; marking pen for drawing and a scalpel for cutting, right up to the design software and a cutting machine.
It may be best for a beginner to start with the basics to see if they enjoy what they are doing and you may even stick with the hand drawn and hand cutting approach as many very artistic professionals do.
Glass
This could be a whole subject on its own but we shall look at the basics.
The most common glass for beginners and more advanced, is ordinary household window glass; it is all around us and is readily available from glazing businesses in your home town and a word with the owner may get you a load of scrap for practise very cheaply.
Window glass is predominantly 4 mm in thickness which is a perfect thickness for strength and beginners alike also it is perfect for cutting, it is known as float glass because during manufacturing the molten glass is floated on a river of tin which gives it its perfect finish.
Check out the manufacturing process from Pilkington glass.
This type of glass is known as green glass and you can see why by tilting the glass to look through the edge, you will see a distinct green colouration, this is caused by impurities of iron from the glass making process.
This green glass is fine for normal work and definitely is the most used around the world as the alternative has eye watering prices. It comes in a variety of thickness primly 4mm 6mm 8mm and 10mm, it can also be toughened with a heat process which is known as safety glass and has an etch on the bottom corner to show it has been toughened.
By law in the UK tough glass must be used for door glass so children and adults alike can't be cut to pieces by falling against it. Tough glass when broken breaks into many small segments with if not smooth edges then less sharper than normal glass, it is also not the best for deep carving as it will shatter into many pieces. This is not to say that it can't be used for glass etching and is certainly suitable for etching cream, but care should be taken that it is surface etching and as with everything glass etching get a few smaller pieces and give it a try. There is of course a thicker type of safety glass that can and is used for deeper work and that is Laminated glass, this comes in 6mm thickness and is 2 pieces of 3mm with a plastic insert in the middle. On breaking; the Lam glass will not break into pieces but will hold together with lots of cracks.
Clear glass without any colour to it can be found as trophy blanks, wine glasses or crystal glasses but the best and most expensive is Starfire glass.
Our first tools
Glass cutter,
I have owned a lot of glass cutters in my time predominantly for cutting stained glass and have found that these types have a much harder TCT cutting wheel that tends to chip the top surface of the float glass leaving a ragged edge and difficulty in breaking in a straight line. Maybe due to the different composition of stained glass or the manufacturing process it has a harder consistency.
I use a quite expensive glass cutter called a Silberschnitt 5000 by Bohle and has a oil filled handle that lubricates as it cuts.
Store bought multi wheel glass cutters are readily available and as one wheel dulls you can advance to the next.
I use a quite expensive glass cutter called a Silberschnitt 5000 by Bohle and has a oil filled handle that lubricates as it cuts.
Store bought multi wheel glass cutters are readily available and as one wheel dulls you can advance to the next.
These are easy to use and the blades are design to cleanly score float glass.
Cutting glass video
Cutting glass video
Cutting square
Using the glass cutter is very easy just place the wheel on the front edge of the glass at a slight backwards angle and with a light pressure draw it back or forwards depending on your technique, unfortunately you will never get a straight line and the glass will break where ever it is scored.
To get a nice straight cut to your glass then a straight edge is required preferably a square type designed for glass.
This square has a raised stopper edge which is only 3mm high allowing the square to sit on the glass edge without touching the cutting mat.
Cutting mat
These are available from craft shops and come in many different sizes and can be used for all of your cutting whether scalpel or glass as they protect your work surfaces.
Diamond sanding block
Once your glass is cut you are then in constant danger of badly cutting yourself so a little self preservation is in order, I have used a number of items for smoothing the edges of the glass and special diamond impregnated edge smoother's are available from stained glass suppliers but the best I have found are diamond sanding pads.
These are relatively inexpensive easy to hold and have a large surface area to smooth the edges easily without slipping off the edge and cutting yourself. (done it).
Cleaning
Whatever technique you use either blasting or etching cream the surface of the glass needs to be dust and finger grease clean, people use different product that are easily available to them which mostly consist of a window spray cleaner. This is ideal for use in blasting the glass but what I have read on a number of occasions, is that the chemical make up of the cleaning fluid leaves a residue on the glass that may or may not effect the finish of etching cream so if you are planing to use etching cream why take the chance. There are other easily available alternatives.
Professional Cleaner
These are arguably the best but very expensive
White vinegar Use a solution of vinegar and water to wash your glass and wear vinyl gloves so as not to grease up what you have just cleaned.
Isopropyl Alcohol Also known as rubbing alcohol, this comes in 2 forms either as a bottled liquid or as a swab, the bottled liquid can be very dangerous if you have children around so for safety and ease of use individual swabs are the best option.
These cost pennies and are available on eBay.
The best I have recently found is from the paint spray industry and is commonly known as paint prep although it is known by a number of names.
It needs decanting into a spray bottle for use and is fantastic and is safe to use, it will remove all grease and dirt before evaporating giving a perfect dry finish, my local car paint supplier sells it in 5lt drums for around £10
Gloves
The gloves I use are not there to protect from cuts but to prevent transfer of dirt especially oils from my fingers to the glass.
These gloves come in boxes of 100 and are either Latex or Nitrile, try to find the best quality and largest as the cheaper variety are so thin they break when putting on.
and for general handling of the glass then a I have a pack of white cotton gloves.
Resist Application
Application tape squeegee
To get a bubble free finish to your resist application requires a smoothing tool, these come in different width from 100mm 4" wide to very wide ones for large applications. For the work that we shall be doing then the standard 100mm is more than adequate.
This type has 2 different edges, a hard plastic and a smooth felt covered edge, as the resist is being applied you then squeegee the resist flat so as no air bubble are trapped between the resist and the glass. I tend to use the felt side on paper tape so as not to risk tearing the tape and inadvertently breaking the resist pattern underneath.
Rolling tool
Once the application tape is removed we then need to ensure the resist has not lifted when the tape was pulled, to do this we need a tool that won't have a chance of pulling any edges up. The tool used is a simple roller, these come in a variety of sizes and designs, so you can have one for small work and a wider one for the larger projects. I have a set of rubber wheeled as opposed to the hard plastic.
Cutting blades
I use 2 different blades for working with resist, the first being a Swan Morton scalpel these have replaceable surgical steel blades
These come with a variety of blade designs and in boxes of 100 which should last a long time.
The other blade is the safety edged razor, these have a lot of uses apart from cutting resist and I use them a lot to scrape the glass of any excess paint or whatever is stuck to the glass.
and of course don't forget the invaluable pair of scissors.
Weeding tools
There are a whole bundle of tools out there for the removal of resist from around your pattern and you may as I have; try everything out there that's got a point on the end. I have a couple that are my main choice but after a while you will find what you prefer.
Dental picks come in mixed packs which have a variety of shapes and ends so nearly everyone will find a one best suited for themselves.
Pointy picks are invaluable for getting into the very small cuts but do have a draw back in that they are very pointy and tend to pierce into the resist base and make it a little difficult to pull the resist.
Tweezers are also used and as I have found are invaluable for the smaller work which I tend towards these days: magnifying glasses scalpel and tweezers to remove peices of resist.
This are by no means a comprehensive list of what will be required as I have missed out a lot of the basics such as rulers pens etc and of course there will be the bits that I didn't even know I needed. Ha
Paul
Cleaning
Whatever technique you use either blasting or etching cream the surface of the glass needs to be dust and finger grease clean, people use different product that are easily available to them which mostly consist of a window spray cleaner. This is ideal for use in blasting the glass but what I have read on a number of occasions, is that the chemical make up of the cleaning fluid leaves a residue on the glass that may or may not effect the finish of etching cream so if you are planing to use etching cream why take the chance. There are other easily available alternatives.
Professional Cleaner
White vinegar Use a solution of vinegar and water to wash your glass and wear vinyl gloves so as not to grease up what you have just cleaned.
Isopropyl Alcohol Also known as rubbing alcohol, this comes in 2 forms either as a bottled liquid or as a swab, the bottled liquid can be very dangerous if you have children around so for safety and ease of use individual swabs are the best option.
The best I have recently found is from the paint spray industry and is commonly known as paint prep although it is known by a number of names.
It needs decanting into a spray bottle for use and is fantastic and is safe to use, it will remove all grease and dirt before evaporating giving a perfect dry finish, my local car paint supplier sells it in 5lt drums for around £10
Gloves
The gloves I use are not there to protect from cuts but to prevent transfer of dirt especially oils from my fingers to the glass.
These gloves come in boxes of 100 and are either Latex or Nitrile, try to find the best quality and largest as the cheaper variety are so thin they break when putting on.
and for general handling of the glass then a I have a pack of white cotton gloves.
Resist Application
Application tape squeegee
To get a bubble free finish to your resist application requires a smoothing tool, these come in different width from 100mm 4" wide to very wide ones for large applications. For the work that we shall be doing then the standard 100mm is more than adequate.
This type has 2 different edges, a hard plastic and a smooth felt covered edge, as the resist is being applied you then squeegee the resist flat so as no air bubble are trapped between the resist and the glass. I tend to use the felt side on paper tape so as not to risk tearing the tape and inadvertently breaking the resist pattern underneath.
Rolling tool
Once the application tape is removed we then need to ensure the resist has not lifted when the tape was pulled, to do this we need a tool that won't have a chance of pulling any edges up. The tool used is a simple roller, these come in a variety of sizes and designs, so you can have one for small work and a wider one for the larger projects. I have a set of rubber wheeled as opposed to the hard plastic.
Cutting blades
I use 2 different blades for working with resist, the first being a Swan Morton scalpel these have replaceable surgical steel blades
These come with a variety of blade designs and in boxes of 100 which should last a long time.
The other blade is the safety edged razor, these have a lot of uses apart from cutting resist and I use them a lot to scrape the glass of any excess paint or whatever is stuck to the glass.
and of course don't forget the invaluable pair of scissors.
Weeding tools
There are a whole bundle of tools out there for the removal of resist from around your pattern and you may as I have; try everything out there that's got a point on the end. I have a couple that are my main choice but after a while you will find what you prefer.
Dental picks come in mixed packs which have a variety of shapes and ends so nearly everyone will find a one best suited for themselves.
Pointy picks are invaluable for getting into the very small cuts but do have a draw back in that they are very pointy and tend to pierce into the resist base and make it a little difficult to pull the resist.
Tweezers are also used and as I have found are invaluable for the smaller work which I tend towards these days: magnifying glasses scalpel and tweezers to remove peices of resist.
This are by no means a comprehensive list of what will be required as I have missed out a lot of the basics such as rulers pens etc and of course there will be the bits that I didn't even know I needed. Ha
Paul
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