Project by Patrick Van Ravenzwaaij from Cedar Park, Texas. Patrick moved to Texas from his native Holland, seeking the "American dream." These days he and his girlfriend have an etching business using sandblasting equipment. In this project, Patrick makes an etched glass photo. Materials: 12" x 12" mirror tiles
photograph *
sandblasting equipment
safety glasses
leather gloves
particle mask
sand specially refined for blasting glass * When choosing the photo you plan to use for this project, make sure that there is a lot of contrast in the photo. For example, if the person has dark features, make sure that the picture is taken with a light-colored background, and vise versa, if the person has light features, use a dark background. Steps: 1. Scan your photo into your computer and convert the image to pure black and white (not grayscale). Some programs will do this automatically, but with some you have to adjust the contrast of the photo manually to make the photo black and white. We typically will make adjustments on the photo as well to make certain the important features are obvious (such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc.). 2. When you are satisfied with the black and white picture, save the image to disk and take it to your local vinyl sign shop. They will have the equipment to trace your photo and cut it in the vinyl. Have them cut the image into a vinyl that is 3 mm thick or greater. 3. To prepare the vinyl for use, you must remove the image that you plan to sandblast into the mirror (or have the sign shop do it for you). Start by removing the part that is the facial skin, leaving the eyes, nose, mouth, and other features. It is very beneficial to have a printed copy of your black and white image for this. If the skin is white on your printed image, you will remove all parts that are white. 4. Once all the excess vinyl has been removed, cover the entire remaining image with transfer tape if available (the sign shop should have some of this) or masking tape. 5. Remove the image with the masking tape from its backing and center the image on the mirror. If you are concerned about getting it on straight, you can mix about 1/4 teaspoon of liquid dish soap with 12 ounces of water in a spray bottle. Spray enough of the liquid on the sticky side of your image to cover the entire thing and then place on your mirror. You should then be able to move and adjust the image. Take a vinyl squeegee (an old credit card will work the same) and rub the image down. You can then slowly remove the masking tape from the mirror and leave the image on the glass. If you used the soapy water and find that the image does not stick to the glass, let the image with the masking tape sit on the mirror until it is completely dry. You should then be able to remove the tape easily while the image stays in place. If your image does not fill the entire mirror, you may want to tape off the parts of the mirror that you do not want sandblasted, such as around the edges. 6. Hook up your compressor and sandblaster. We suggest setting your gauges to 50 or 60 psi or less if you are just starting. Sandblast the exposed mirror, paying careful attention to the facial features. 7. When you have completed the sandblasting, you can remove the vinyl. Beware however that once it is removed, it cannot be placed back on. If you have trouble removing the vinyl from the mirror, you can soak the mirror in warm water and gently scrape off with a razor blade.
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