Do It Yourself: How to Engrave
Learning how to engrave on glass provides you with an endless supply of gift ideas for just about any occasion, from weddings to births to anniversaries. It's a relatively cheap hobby to take up and it doesn't take long to learn the basic skills needed to create impressive and beautiful decorative items.
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Things You'll Need
- Pattern template
- Sticky tape
- Glass marker pen
- Glass engraving tool
- Clean cloths
- Soapy water
- Dust mask
Instructions
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1
Print out or draw the design on plain white paper to make a template. Cut out the design and tape it inside the glass with the picture or letters facing outwards.
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2
Trace the image onto the outside of the glass with the glass marker. Remove the paper template.
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3
Apply careful, even pressure with the glass engraver to trace over the design drawn on the outside of the glass. Use a small tip to go around the outline of the design. Small ball tips or the pointed end of a cone-shaped tip works well for this stage.
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4
Wipe away the dust that engraving creates to keep the pattern and work surface clear.
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5
Fill in any shaded areas when the outline is complete. Shading can be done with larger ball tips, cylinder-shaped tips or the side of the cone tip.
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6
Wash the glass in warm soapy water to remove all traces of dust and fingerprints along with any traces of marker pen that are still visible. If necessary, use a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball to remove any remaining marker.
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Tips & Warnings
Practice engraving on inexpensive whiskey tumblers.
When shading, remember to shade the light areas, not the dark ones. This is opposite to most drawing techniques. A good way to practice is to draw on black paper with a white pencil.
Keep your hand steady and don't apply too much pressure. Let the engraving tool do the work. Several light strokes are better than one heavy stroke to get the desired whitening effect on the glass.
Support your engraving arm on a couple of books if you find it hard to hold the glass at a comfortable angle to engrave.
Wear a dust mask to prevent breathing in glass dust. Engraving creates a lot of dust.
Consider wearing ear plugs if working on a large project or spending long periods of time using a glass engraver. Engraving is a noisy process.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Dynamic Graphics/Dynamic Graphics Group/Getty Images
