Switching gears from “lasered” gifts to “laser alternate” gifts. Ordered some glassware and etching cream from Amazon on Monday. Started making some gifts using my Silhouette Cameo.
Forgive the lousy photo, tried to find a clean space and get everything in the shot. The letters are sharp and straight. Fifty percent of my time was weeding the stencil. The rest was creating, cutting, and etching.
I’ve yet to try glass etching cream, I just use the sandblaster after the stencil is applied. My Cameo has been a great distraction while waiting for the GF.
The only two things I was concerned about using the etching cream were… the amount of time to leave on to get a good etch and the fear that while rinsing it off some of the diluted cream would etch the sides of the glass.
The worst part was the weeding, I made fours sets of stencils to get two. I lost the center of the “a” on one and the center of the “b” on the other. I had to transplant them from a “donor” to get a complete stencil.
If there was a material that the laser could vaporize totally that could be used as a stencil, that save a ton of time.
The first time I applied etching cream to a glass project, I managed to splash a bit onto the mirror in the guest bathroom while rinsing the item. It was very dilute and didn’t etch deeply, but boy howdy — it made permanent marks fast!
My spouse took it like a trooper — I now have the choice of creating a set of decorative etchings to cover the boo-boos, or buy a new (wall-sized) mirror. Going with the decorations… if I screw them up, too, I still have the new mirror “option.”
There are other similar products, and I have no experience with any of them. I can’t say the more expensive product is any better or worse, but I can say that depending on how complex the weeding job is, the time saved may justify the price.