He shared this photo of what he is experiencing. Click the photo to see it closer up.
A subscriber, Steve D. wrote to me asking about an issue he was having with sandblast etching. It produced a whiter frosted etching around the edges of the stencil on colored glass.
He provided the below information:
Can you help me understand why I’m getting a frosted outline in the blasted area? Depth is same as darker area. I used a vinyl mask on a glass beer bottle, silicon carbide. 1/8″ nozzle, 25psi.
My response and thoughts were below:
This is interesting, as it hasn’t really happened to me, but I don’t blast a
lot of colored glass. The only thing I can think of is the below possibility:
- abrasive might be escaping to the side and is being stopped by the stencil edges, resulting in a curling effect where it etches at a different angle on the sides. Does blasting the edges after you blasted the center help so that the abrasive spray overlaps the stencil edges a little?
I promised him that I would post this here and get everyone’s thoughts. Do you all have a suggestion? Has anyone experienced this before?
Please post us your thoughts in the comments below.
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I have done glass coloured bottles as much as you can do trying different techniques it is almost impossible to get away from it
I find it as a attractive design to the bottle to which people find interesting and like that. Something about it draws the eyes to that design.
@Scott, I was thinking that too. The white edges creates a better contrast between the design and the brown/colored bottle so it is probably standing out better.
Hi Steve/Eric.
One important piece of info that could prove critical is – How thick is your vinyl stencil? 3,4,5 mil? Also, other items to consider are
1 – (degree of tackiness of your stencil – is it adhering the vinyl to the glass effectively? And while on that point…how clean and free of oils/debris are your bottles; better said, what solutions are you using to completely clean each bottle allowing for a strong adhesion?)
2- (are you blasting at an angle that lifts up your vinyl when sandblasting near the edges? This question would generally not be an issue with a thicker vinyl w/ appropriate tackiness.)
3- Remember, in some cases, if not most, certain glass products are as hard as denser rocks and metals; and when you consider you are blasting on a concave surface (beer bottles have a smaller circumference anyway), your blast material will have a tendency to want to “quickly” slide or shift outward/inward – depending on your spray pattern – more readily than a flat surface, larger bottle, or softer material creating the lighter spots.
4- Finally, often forgotten is the blade sharpness – whether hand cutting or machine assisted vinyl cutting. If your cutting tool is dull it will not have sharp enough lines to demand a clean blast media cutting pattern and in some cases will inadvertently lift when you least expect it to or want ito to.
Possible Solutions:
a – Thicker Tackier Vinyl;
b – Hold your blasting nozzle completely straight up & down;
c – Start with a clean cut and super clean bottle.
Hope this helps…
Happy Blasting!
I sure wish I had an answer for you, and I’ll be keeping an eye out here to see if you come across a solution.
Sand is too dirty with dust rince bottle under water let dry. Or oil on fingers while checking depth but mostly sands not filtered
I like the effect on that type of design. I have done a photo once on a dark bottle without that effect.
Have you tried other colored bottles from different origin? maybe that particular bottle has a darker color layer in the surface and lighter inside, I think this, because we tend to concentrate the spraying in the outlines, I dont see a distortion in the outline shape, makes me think that if you blast more in the center you may obtain the same white tone.
Thanks to all for your input. I’ll be experimenting and offer updates as things progress. Keep the thoughts coming.
These are all great suggestions. I think Fred might be on to something. Maybe try scrubbing it with a brush under water and seeing if that helps.
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