How to Etch Glass With a Rotary Tool
If you want to give someone a meaningful gift, make something with your own hands, such as a beautiful glass engraving. With a steady hand and patience, you can create permanent works of art in glass using nothing more than a rotary tool and a diamond grinding bit.
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Things You'll Need
- Practice design
- Rotary tool
- Practice glass
- Variable size and tip diamond point grinding tips
- Carbide grinding tip
Instructions
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1
Find a design for practice. It should have square corners and curved lines, some thin and some thick. Securely tape the design to the back of your glass.
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2
Place a thick diamond point bit into the rotary tool. Turn the tool on to between 16,000 and 20,000 rpms.
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3
Use the rotary tool to trace the outside borders of the design. Use the thick tips to trace the thick lines, and finer tips to trace finer lines.
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4
Fill in any areas of shading using the carbide tip grinder. Continue changing out tips until you have completed the design.
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Tips & Warnings
You can trace the design onto your glass using a permanent marker. Any marks left over after the etching has been completed, can be removed using rubbing alcohol.
You must press firmly against the glass so that the tip will grind into the glass, but not so forcefully as to risk breaking the glass. If the pressure is too light, your grinder bit will skip across the glass surface and chip wherever it touches.
Using a rotary tool to etch glass creates glass dust. Wear safety goggles and a surgical mask when etching glass with a rotary tool.
