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What
is Glass Etching?
Custom
Glass Etching of Los Angeles specializes in etched crsytal products.
What is glass etching? In short, Glass Etching is a method of decorating
or personalizing glass, crystal, marble, stone, and the like. Glass Etching,
often referred to as "sandblasting" has been used for many decades
in the decorative and architectural industries. Glass Etching Stencils
for this industry began with designing, tracing, and then hand cutting
or machine plotting in order to produce the image being engraved. Photo
resist technology was first introduced into the market in the early 1980's.
The ability to create stencils photographically instead of manually began
to revolutionize the Glass Etching industry. Now businesses could create
their own Glass Etching stencils in just a fraction of the time it used
to take. Although photo resist film often costs more than traditional
hand cut vinyl and rubber mask materials, the labor and skill involved
with hand cutting cannot compare to photographically reproduced images
able to hold much finer detail.
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How is Glass Ething
Done?
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Glass Etching is achieved by propelling
abrasive (usually aluminum oxide) onto a surface (usually glass) under
compressed air. Wherever the abrasive contacts its surface, it roughens
and subsequently erodes the surface it comes in contact with. When used
with a photomask (a.k.a. a photo resist mask or photo resist stencil)
Glass Etching can quickly and effectively reproduce a wide range of
personalization, designs, and logos on numerous surfaces with phenomenal
detail.
Industries Utilizing Sandcarved Products:
| Ad Specialty |
Stained Glass |
| Trophies
& Awards |
Glass
Blowers |
| Engravers |
Architectural Glass |
| Signage |
Restoration |
| Monuments |
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Why is Glass Etching
so Unique?
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addition to consistency and detail, Glass Etching with a photo resist can
create simple to complex multi-stage carvings in just minutes. Glass Etching
removes different portions of the photo resist one after the other to carve
a beautiful, three dimensional effect. Alternatives such as acid etching,
hand cutting, engraving tools, diamond cutting, wheel cutting, and laser
engraving are either limited in depth, time consuming, expensive, require
much skill on the part of the engraver or all of the above. In contrast,
with just a minimal investment of time and money, the look and feel of Glass
Etching offers a much higher perceived value to similar items engraved by
these other methods. Becoming increasingly more popular each year, sandcarved
glass, crystal, marble, granite gifts, trophies and awards are quickly replacing
the demand for wood, metal, and other engraved products.
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