Anyone know where I can get this design?Quote:
Originally Posted by Full Metal Modder
Etch For Mom - gotta luv er - done with engraver and roto zip - about an hour
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Anyone know where I can get this design?Quote:
Originally Posted by Full Metal ModderEtch For Mom - gotta luv er - done with engraver and roto zip - about an hour
heres my etching tool :D
and if that one is messed up...ive always got...
in backup
sorry im a smartass
Wow, do you really have all that equipment right at your disposal? From work or geez, i hope you dont have those in your house. (That would be awesome, I would just be exponentially more jealous lol).
Nice equipment! My cases wouldnt have that rushed handmade look if only I had more than a cheap rotary tool and a drill lmao. JK
I'm planning on using a Laser cutting machine thing what I have access to in school. You can adjust its power so I'll be setting it to just cut through half of the Plexi/Acrylic that I'm going to be using
I just use a hammer.
Kidding. I have an idea for a neat paint job that is similar to etching in its own way: bend a wire all crazy and have it laying on your case, just loop it around, etc. and lay it there and spray paint over it and then after it's dried, pull off the wire. As soon as I find some wire and get some paint, I'll post some pics.
Full size "dremel" (black & decker) rotary tool without a flex shaft. Pain in the wrists but worth the effort.
My first etch this summer when I was sick waiting for surgery. Hand drawn from a reference.
I loved doing it, like a million times more than any other artform I have partaken in. I just haven't gotten around to doing it again for fear of arthritis occuring. Lol not really true, just had surgery. Lost a month or so of my life and just havent gotten around to it yet.
My case should have a couple pieces that I can incorporate it into though.
Is the dremel engraver everyone been talking about a cutter to a dremmel or a complete differnt machine all togeather...
Also what cutters do you recommend, ive seen heeps of types
The term dremel (at least around here) refers to the multi-speed rotary tool, and not necessarily the brand. :)
The cutting tool I believe is called a Roto-zip, with is different from the rotary tool.
I actually heard a real good beginner way of etching is finding cut outs in cardboard or plastic and basically using that as a stencil, makes it really really easy.
I did it with a piece of paper, but cardboard could be ok. The problem is to find the templates. Making them in hard plastic or even cardboard, it's a new and different problem at all. So you would have to make (or find) the template and then etch the plexy... Too many problems, maybe.
Cardboard it's a nice aproach (printable, easy to cut) but it is a soft material against something like a rotatory tool. Only, it could be useful, for example, if you do the etch with a cutter or such us, by hand.
I realize the last post on this thread was 2 years ago, but it was featured and didn't want to go making a new thread in case you folks get antsy about such things.
I know you can etch metals and glass with various chemicals. Is it possible to do it on acrylic/plexi as well? Or does it not do it very consistently?
Depending on what exactly you're trying to etch, the best thing I've found for plexi, especially for uniformity, is a spray-on frosting from Plasti-Kote:
I used it for the side panels in Project: Onyx and was very happy with the results.
I'm not sure what I want to etch yet, but I remember seeing this stuff (or similar):
Where you could put a stencil on, smear this stuff on, wait a few minutes and then wash it off and you had a nice etching done.
I've never done any etching of this sort. But I have had excellent results at some "fake" etching ... having a sign shop cut up my design in frosted semitransparent vinyl then applying to glass.
I've heard good things about sandblasting to get a nice even etching finish. Of course you're severely limited by how precisely you can mask off the areas you don't want marked but having just bought a hose-fed sandblasting gun, I'm going to have a go, intially on stuff I want completely frosted....
I recently purchased a laser cutter/engraver. If anybody is interested, I could do etching on plexiglass for them. Look for White Light Laser on Facebook or contact at whitelightlaserengraving@gmail.com
The laser opens up some cool combinations of things to do. I can lightly frost an image, or can do a heavier etch through the protective paper and 1/32" into the material. This can then optionally be filled with paint prior to taking off the paper. I have also done etching into the surface of white plexiglass, then laid a piece of frosted clear over that, and the etching shows through and is very subtle.
Currently my size is limited to 8.5x13, but should be building a larger laser soon.
How much do you charge?
$1.50 a minute for machine time, plus materials and shipping. For people on here, I'd be willing to discount that rate a bit. Average case side window with 75% coverage graphic should be about $30-40 for time. Better than doing it by hand, and the result is dead flat even engraving.
There's some photos of stuff I've done on the Facebook page. If you don't Facebook, I can toss a couple pictures up here as well.
I'll be sending a pm your way within a month or so :)
TLH, can you post some pics? I don't have a FB account, nor am planning to get one. Can you do it on metal and plexi too?
I can etch onto anodized aluminum, which burns the dye out of the anodizing leaving it white. The laser won't cut metals. Plexiglass I do all the time. It's my favorite material. I can easily cut up to 3/16" plexiglass and can etch it very nicely. Once etched, you can either just peel the paper off or you can fill the etching with paint. I can also peel off the paper and do a light frost etch. I can even do it on both sides for a multi-layer effect.
As my work log on my current system progresses, you will start seeing some multi-layered etching with lighting.
Looking forward to seeing your work :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by TLHarrell
Here's a few etchings, just so you can see the capability of the laser. Both are frosted acrylic (frost on the back) which are etched on the back side.
And a shot of some cutout work in cardstock that I did just for the fun of it. Could do the same in 0.020" styrene...
Dude! That's some amazing work there! Especially the Enterprise NX-01...awesome! Thanks for posting them...
I will definitely keep your info around...going to need it soon ;)
