how to etch my window? hydroflouric acid paste adn contact paper?win a window etched

[el]

well I did a couple of window mods on my machines 9x12inch kit from caseetc.com.

well teh plexglass just looks weak! it never shines like glass and with my new cold cathodes(like neon but no heat and smaller size for more light)(read win win)

so I bought some glass cut it and grinded it down to the same size now I have a couple of blanks of glass and want to etch a couple of designs in it. my question is what to use the contact paper adn how to get my design on the paper. I also got printer labels that I could print out and stick on after I cut out the design.


last question what would the the overclockers.com etch look like. btw if anybody post a good one that I use I will make them a rounded 9x12 window with the etch for free

[typhoonmike]

Arrrgh I just read something recently about how to give your glass that etched look and I can't recall where I saw it now. He didn't really etch the glass though. All he did was mask off the design he wanted and used some paint from the autoparts store. It was some type of paint that is almost like that fake snow you see in cans at Christmas time. It looked very nice. Perhaps looking for that stuff.

[Shep]

You could use a small sand blaster to get the etched look just use some real fine sand.

[typhoonmike]

I believe someone is doing that technique also. ww.pc-workshop.com or something like that. They'll do the design for you if you send it to them. Not sure if that is the right link or not.

[Kingslayer]

I have seen these guys using sand-blasters also. I will only add one thing.

Use crushed walnut shell, not glass bead.

[Krusty]

Back in jr high school, I remember taking an art class in which we made designs and put them on mirrors. We used some sort of adhesive paper and an exacto knife to cut out designs, stuck em to the mirrors, and smeared this stuff that looked like chunky peanut butter on the exposed areas. What we ended up with was a fogged effect on the exposed glass. It lasts a long time too because that was 8 years ago and my parents still have the mirror.

Anyways...yeah, try going to an art store and finding some peanut butter or poop looking stuff that fogs glass.

[Oni]

Professional glass etchers use flourine gas. Its highly corrosive, like oxygen or chlorine. But its rather expensive and probably very very VERY dangerous to use if you're not a professional.

[WyrmMaster]

As for an overclockers logo i would just use the O/C at the top of the forum.

[Intraveinous]

Flourine Gas or Hydroflouric acid are the two main things used to etch glass. Hydroflouric acid is one of the only substances capable of etching/eating glass, making it difficult to transport and store, and I'm sure it's also not something you can go down to the corner drug/hardware store and pick up. I would try the 'mirror fogging' stuff that Krusty mentioned, or else get it done professionally. I wouldn't even be sure who you could call to find out where you could get it done professionally... One other thing... I seem to remember seeing a Diamond/Carbide bit for the dremel for engraving. Don't know if it works on glass or not, but I'd assume you would need something with a diamond tip...
Peace
John

[TheMortalWombat]

There's no reason to sandblast or etch anything. Plastikote makes a spraypaint called 'glass frosting'.Looks like the real thing with a lot less hassle.

[Intraveinous]

Well then, That's far easier... :-D
Thanks MortalWombat!
Peace
John

[el]

I already have the etching cream that is why I am planning on doing it only need the design and I will be ready to go.

now that I am a senior thinking of doing stars and using a blue cold cathode so they will be blue stars!! should look Tight. maybe a XP under the stars would look cool.

[typhoonmike]

Actually you can go down to the corner store and get Hydrochloric acid. Okay maybe not super strong stuff but you can get it. Just go to a Lowe's or a Home Depot and look in the Pool section for something called Meuriatic Acid. It's used to clean cement patios. It's Hydrochloric Acid really.

[Intraveinous]

Right, but it won't etch glass...
Need HydroFLOURIC, rather than Hydrochloric...
:D
Peace
John

[el]

yeah hydrocholoric acid will eat most things but not glass!

[Intraveinous]

Along those lines, what do they store Hydroflouric Acid in??? Obviously can't keep it in a glass flask or anything... heh...
So yeah... anyone know?
Peace
John

[TheMortalWombat]

PVC bottles

[typhoonmike]

Originally posted by Intraveinous
Right, but it won't etch glass...
Need HydroFLOURIC, rather than Hydrochloric...
:D
Peace
John

Oye terribly sorry. I totally misread that. You are right. They used hydroflouric acid at the Sony plant I worked at. Used it to etch the 7inch bulbs used in the big screen tvs. They actually mix Nitric Acid with the Hydroflouric acid so if you managed to get any on you you would actually know it. Apparently Hydroflouric acid doesn't really burn you or something. I can't remember exactly what they called it but they said it destroys the calcium in your bones and it was very dangerous. I remember reading in that safety book they have that describes all the chemicals and reading about how dangerous it was and how people had died from it. But oh well that's totally off subject I guess.

[Intraveinous]

Ahh... Good idea. I'm not sure I'd want to get any nitric acid on me either, but I suppose it'd be better to know you had spilled something and get a lil acid burn than to eventually die from it not knowing what happened... hehe
Sulpheric acid is pretty mean stuff too, Someone dropped a flask of it one time back in high school... ate holes through my pants where I got splattered and burned my legs a lil bit, there's really nothing quite like standing in your boxers in the chem lab with baking soda paste on your legs... That hottie from the 3rd row just staring at you... But that, my friends, is a different story all together... :D
Peace
John

[typhoonmike]

But chances are that it was the hottie that almost killed you. NUMEROUS times in Chemisty and Physics lab I would be on my way out and get stopped by the professor to talk(genius guy but he would talk your ear off about anything). All of a sudden I'd start to smell gas and sure enough I'd go over to the table that the ditsy blonde(Miss South Carolina '99 I think that was the year) was sitting and she had left the gas on.

[Intraveinous]

Heh... not this time, though I'm fairly sure she did do something else that was fairly dangerous, I don't really remember all that well... Oh well, no more thread jacking for me... So yeah, ummm.... Any decision on what design you're going to use, el?
Peace
Joh

[el]

well I have 4 blanks and I figure I will make two Overclockers.com windows and two UT windows! Might send one to skip and write an article if they turnout cool! I do lampworking too so might include hot glass too. I could start a new type of window modding!!!! I will start this weekend! need digital camera.

[Intraveinous]

Since you work with glass, perhaps you'd be a better person to ask this... Is there any easy, DIY way to drill glass? I've seen bits with diamond chips embedded in them and such, but what's the feasablity of getting a hunk of glass and drilling, shaping, etc... I'm not thinking on the lines of cutting a hole for a fan in a glass window, more like boring a 1/2 inch hole in a glass cube...
Lemme know...
Peace
John

[nihili]

Originally posted by Intraveinous
Since you work with glass, perhaps you'd be a better person to ask this... Is there any easy, DIY way to drill glass? I've seen bits with diamond chips embedded in them and such, but what's the feasablity of getting a hunk of glass and drilling, shaping, etc... I'm not thinking on the lines of cutting a hole for a fan in a glass window, more like boring a 1/2 inch hole in a glass cube...
Lemme know...
Peace
John

I've used a dremel with the carbide and silica bits to bbore 1/4 inch holes through glass. You have to work slow and use water or something like it as a lubricant and heat disipator.

nihili

[Intraveinous]

Are we talking like running water? I kinda figured it'd have to be wet but I didn't know if I'd need to break out the garden hose... Also, how much do I need to worry about glass shards flying all over the place, I know there is a fairly significant amount of dust and metal splinters when cutting case sides...
Thanks,
John <-- Total n00b when it comes to glass working... the best I've done was glass tubing for chemistry projects... heat with blowtorch, bend. heh

[nihili]

what I did was set the glass in a container of water that just covered it. Then I drilled through the water. The water acted as a coolant and also caught all the glass dust. You do have to go slow. I was boring through about 1/2 inch and it took maybe 45 minutes.

nihili

[el]

that sounds like a good idea! remember that glass dust is very bad **** and your lungs will not like it so the water idea is great! If you need like a 6inch hole then use a special bit but I don't have it and hell probably costs a bunch.

[typhoonmike]

Just so you know Dremel doesn't really recommend you use their tool to cut glass. Someone asked once at the Dremel site could cut glass and they said no. They said it would require water and water can travel up the bit and into the tool.