Easy glass engraving!

New updates

Just fyi, all updates on recent engraving work are found at http://www.markchoon.com

slow postings

Hmm life has sent me packing to another country. Need to get accustomed to a new country and won't be engraving any time soon.

Hopefully I'll get settled down soon and get started on the projects that I have in the pipeline

Mini Project 3: Birthday gift, part 1

I've got a set of 3 glasses that I will be engraving as a birthday gift.

I've just completed one and this is how it looks:

A simple border pattern with the initials of the person inside.

The instructions of how this design was done will be up soon. Stay tuned!

Mini Project 2: Candle holder, part 2

Continuing from where we left off for the wedding favor candle holder...

The same process is repeated. This time round, I flipped the image of the angel and marked it on the candle holder. I give about an inch of space in the middle. This space is for the names of the couple.

Once that was marked out, I added the names of the couple right in the center. I also took the liberty to add a pair of hearts right at the top.

The final product looks as such (pls click on the images to see a bigger version)

With the candle lit...

I hope you liked that. If you have any designs you want to be seen engraved onto glass or would like any engraving service, drop me an email mark@markchoon.com

p.s. today is 9/11, please remember to spend a moment of silence to remember those who perished in the collapse of the World Trade Center, NY

Mini Project 2: Candle holder, part 1

Recently, my fiancee and I have been discussing about wedding favors that we need to prepare for our guests. That conversation led to using glass engraving on a number of objects one of which is a candle holder.

So to start off, I bought a small candle holder as seen. Very cheap, just $1 singapore dollar. (I'm sure I can get a much better price if I buy in bulk)

For this wedding favor project, I found a picture of an angel using Google Image search. After converting the image to something I can use, I printed out the design onto paper.

As usual, put on the sticky tape so that it can be placed inside the candle holder. Next trace out the design with the marker.

Ok so engrave away! Took me about ten minutes..and this is how it looks like

This is only one third of the design as I plan to invert the angel and engrave it on the opposite side with the names of the groom and bride and wedding date in the middle.

However I was just so tempted to drop in the candle, light it up and take a shot.

So on to part 2.....

Tools that I use

A friend asked me what tools I used so I thought I should post this up as well.

I use a Minicraft rotary tool. This is a multipurpose tool that can be used as a drill or rotary saw for hobby projects

Next these are the grinding bits (left 2) and diamond bits (right 2)

I use the grinding bits for removing large areas while the diamond bits are for finer work like lines or touching up.

Other equiptment that might be necessary are what you can usually find at home. A damp cloth to wipe away the generated dust. A non permanent ink marker to draw the design onto the glass. Cotton wool to stuff my ears with as the noise might get irritating and loud. A glass cleaning solution to clean the finished product.

You will also need a mask. I use a surgical mask that can be bought from your local drugstore. This is to protect myself from inhaling any glass dust. The other protection that you might need is protective goggles. However if you are wearing glasses, you can skip these, but if you work on a large project, please do protect yourselves.

Always always remember to clean up after you work and work in a well ventilated area with good lighting.

Mini Project 1: A rectangular jar

For my first project, I had an empty rectangular jar. Plain, boring, didn't know what to do with it. It was left in my storeroom. I decided to spice it up a little so that when used to hold sweets or flowers, it'll have a little more "life" in it.

I picked up two patterns from a pattern book, made photocopies of it and cut them out as shown in the photo below:

The tape at the sides are used so that I can attach the designs under the surface that I want to engrave on. That means, inside the jar as shown:

Next, with the help of a non permament ink pen, I trace out the black outlines of the pattern. The end product of copying the design is like this:

What's left to do now is the engraving work. I use a rotary tool with a grinding bit to engrave out large areas and then a diamond bit for finer touch up work. The photo shows the touching up process with the diamond bit.