Etching Tile

[Livein3D]

Ok you all got me distracted with tiles…I’m learning Illustrator at the same time. I made 4 today. The all blue and all black tiles are set with “convert to dots” on the grayscale option; the other one is the “vary power” with 2 passes. Manual engrave, speed 1K, full power, 225 lines per inch.

All black is with acrylic paint rubbed in.
Blue is a bright blue sharpie.
Red is a Painter Pen (mine are old and are not working well).

Had to do the winter tiles…we went from 78 degrees on Thursday to SNOW (flurries) Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday! Brrrrr

Thanks for the distraction!
Sharon

[Jules]

Chuckle! Those are some cute phrase choices!

[Dia]

So what do you guys do with the tiles after? Any display ideas?

[shop]

I did make a box that has a lid for lasertiles. you may have to check measurements to see if your generic 4" tile would fit, but the lasertiles fit perfectly here.

Box with a Laser Tile Lid

For those of you who have cut laser tiles and weren’t sure what to do with them, I had the same dilemma with a tile i had made of my brother’s dog who passed away last summer. Wanted to send it to him, but not as a plain tile, since I wasn’t sure what he would be able to do with just a tile. So I decided to make a box lid to accommodate it and incorporate it into a box. [LaserTileBox_Moose_1006][LaserTileBox_Moose_1007][LaserTileBox_Moose_1004][LaserTileBox_Moose_1002][LaserTileBox_Moose_1005] …

[evansd2]

I couldn’t resist.

Tile etching (joining the cool kids)

4” dal tile from Home Depot. Engraved then covered with speedball No. 3400 Black water soluble ink, allowed to sit for about a minute then wiped off. Seems to be indelible now even with wiping with damp towels. Interesting. [image] [image] The overall look is a bit like watercolor (go figure), I’m pleased.

[caribis2]

I’ve made two. One is a coaster and the other I made a little stand for: sort of like a picture on a table. I’ve been considering a shadow box as well.

[smcgathyfay]

I made some simple stands, I’ll try to remember to post them tomorrow.

[caribis2]

Here is a basic stand that should work for a 4-inch tall tile with medium proofgrade ply or draft board. It’s a little loose with hardwood.
LargeTileHolder.zip (5.1 KB)

[Livein3D]

So lasertiles – where do you get them and how are they different than say the ones we pick up at Lowes? What size are they?

Would like to put together a box and put one of those 4" tiles from Lowes in it if it would fit for a presentation at work on Wednesday. I am supposed to be giving the Technology Club ideas of ways to use a laser cutter in their home…this is a really nice looking gift.

I would like to get some laser tiles and cut one with our first dog’s picture on it. It seems fitting to put in some of his items that my son kept. He would be really happy to have something like this. Thank you for sharing.

[shop]

lasertile is a tile with a special coating that will darken with laser etching. they cost more than regular tiles (not surprising). the web site is slow and the company that sells them sometimes takes a bit to process/ship orders. but many of us have done some pretty nice tiles with them.

Home - LaserTile

here is a thread about it, but you can search here and find even more.

Etched on lasertile

Here is some of the first things that I have done. The picture is of one of our cats [cattile1]

[Livein3D]

Thank you! Will have to check that out.

[bwente]

Just made a box this evening. Getting ready to weed it.

[chris.mouser]

Thanks for all the tips… made a few mandala tiles on the .16 cent white tiles… and had a lot of fun…
(wont bore your with the pics - unless you want)

then went to a 12"x12" black granite tile (lowes) for $4.96… laser etched at 600 speed, full power 225lpi… filled in with a silver sharpie…

[Jules]

Oh yeah, that silver on black is sharp!

[evansd2]

Dangit, I was at Lowes today looking for black tiles, and never saw these. Grr. Yours looks awesome though

[chris.mouser]

@evansd2 - im still trying to find black CERAMIC tile… as it etches WAY better… this was a big piece of granite. i think the laser is kinda “wiggy” on granite… as the particles of stone dont “cut” or “burn” in an even-handed kind of way… so it’s all “grainy”…
porcelain (like those white tiles we’ve been playing with) i think is better… as you are removing the “glaze” (burning off the shiny protective layer) and exposing the porous porcelain underneath… which soaks up the marker/paint/dye - while the remaining glazed part “wipes clean”…

now i gotta google it… someone has to sell black glazed ceramic tile… lol

[evansd2]

Lowe’s sells 4” black tiles but not in store. Irritating.

[chris.mouser]

but i want 6"… or 12"! LOL
menards has 12" but its dark brown…

[evansd2]

There’s a huge tile store in Atlanta that I keep meaning to go to… it’s a flooring store and they carry a ton of stuff. I wonder if a dedicated flooring store would have glossy black large tiles?

[bwente]

Weeded and assembled. I like the thin finger joints, but it was really too tight. I had to use a hammer wrapped in a rag to get it together. The hinge worked better than I expected. I used a box generated from the festi boxes.py site, then created the lid and added the hinge in illustrator. I would like a bit more contrast, so I will try staining or make another one before Mother’s Day.