Etching curved (but not circular) glass?

#1

Hi everyone!

I want to etch a short message onto a perfume bottle for my wife (the bottle’s empty it’s just a keepsake), but the bottle itself doesn’t have a flat front, nor is it perfectly round, so I don’t think I can use the laser cutter even with the rotary attachment (tell me if I’m wrong about that though).

Does the makerspace have any other way of working around this? I’ve etched a shot glass at Kent university makerspace once about 10 years ago where I think we used a vinyl cutter to make stencils and some kind of etching paste on top of that, but I don’t remember the specifics, IIIRC the space doesn’t have a vinyl cutter, but I’m thinking it might be possible to make a stencil with the laser cutter if there’s an appropriate material and then stick that to the glass :thinking:

Any ideas would help, and I’ll be in the makerspace this evening doing an unrelated project if anyone’s free to talk about it.

Thanks

#2

We do have a vinyl cutter…

I am sure there are other ways to do it as well, but if that has worked in the past?

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#3

Hey Andy, thanks for answering.

Yeah, I found that since I made my post :sweat_smile:, it sounds ideal though there seem to be a lot of posts about it going out of action and coming back, do we know if it’s in working order at the moment? I can look this evening since I’m planning on going anyway but I wouldn’t know what to look for to tell honestly.

#4

The tool page should explain it, we have added a little pi server to it so just make sure that is plugged in and it should work… report back… thanks!

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#5

We’ve recently been donated another vinyl cutter, Ni is trying to get it to work, I’m not sure if he’s succeeded yet.

#6

I wouldn’t rule out using the laser cutter. I believe it depends on the curvature and whether focus can be maintained with the depth of field of the lens. If you give the distance from the highest point to lowest, lasertechs should then be able to advise. If it’s e.g. 5mm, that might be doable even though it’s not perfectly flat.

#7

If the shape is somewhat regular, it could be possible to 3d model it, once you have the model surely it’s possible to engrave it with a CNC.

Only question is… can we cut/engrave glass in the CNC? @CNCtechs

#8

I haven’t been able to make it to a desktop CNC induction yet. :cry:

#9

Engraving glass probably comes down to using the right tool. I’d say do some research re carbide on glass.

What is probably more challenging is to clamp and find the datum point on something (irregular?)bottle shaped.

#10

What about the sandblaster? Or acid etching…

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#11

At the moment, despite technically it’s possible, we don’t allow glass cutting with the mini cnc to prevent the dust going everywhere.

If a cnctech is present we can have a test ( with the right tool) on one of the machines, but we need secondary extraction

#12

If this is true we should update the tool page, because it is technically possible we have it in the list of approved materials…

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#13

Yes you’re right