What is the difference between etching and engraving when it comes to glass?
Can I use the Epilog Mini, to etch a picture on a flat piece of glass, like a Christmas Ornament, or would I have to sandblast?
I do a lot of photos on glass they turn out very nice I find the best way to do this is to paint the glass black first then engrave it inverted. Very nice product.
The laser hits the glass with a pulse and the localized heating fractures the glass, sandblasting hits the glass with a particle and chips the glass at that point.
Lasering glass does not have the same effect as sandblasting, the sandblasting is a lot smoother and can achieve much greater depths. The whitesness of sandblasting is better as is its texture and overall consistency. There are various strategies to make lasering emulate sandblasting, but it’s never the same. Apart from which, the laser acting on lead crystal or some expensive glass does run the risk of actually damaging the glass or cracking it due to the heat and the composition of the glass, which blasting doesnt do. For large format work or on expensive items like crystal decanters, we rather use the laser to ablate or die cut polyester vinyl masks and then we blast, for smaller stuff we laser.
Lasering production stuff compared to sandblasting is hugely expensive in terms of time.
This is not to say the laser is useless in terms of lasering glass, it’s NOT, you can do stuff on glass with a laser, detail wise, that a blasting or etching can’t do and for your application, like a kids photo on an ornament will work just fine.