Now that Spring is here and Summer is approaching quickly, it’s that time of year for many couples to start getting married. The wedding industry can be one of the biggest niches to etch and sell products to as I discussed before. Whether you etch for fun or for a business, these can be great gifts.
I have etched a few wine & champagne bottles before for friends, family, & friends of family. Most of them are fairly simple, but are still unique & thoughtful ideas for a person’s wedding.
I typically put together designs that has the following components:
- Some type of ornament art or icon design which adds a little flair
- A image of a bride & groom
- Their names
- And the date they got married
It can look even cooler when you add in paint as I discussed in the member’s area here. Usually, I like to experiment with the design and colors to see how it looks on old wine bottles first. In the photos above are two of the different designs that I am experimenting with. I am trying to figure out which design and color looks best.
What does everyone think? Leave a comment below and feel free to upload any wedding projects you have been etching lately. I hope this post gave you some ideas.
I have been getting a lot of questions regarding the Cricut for making stencils and software to use with it. I am not a big fan of the Cricut now since you can’t use third party software. Read the question and answer below along with the comments in this post about using Cricut to make etching stencils. As below states, there is software available to help you design stencil.
Thanks Eric. I want to make stencils using my computer. I tried to download your suggested Sign Blazer from Glass Etching Secrets but it doesn’t work with Cricut. I think I should have purchased a different cutter. I tried SCAL and it doesn’t work either. Thoughts?
John,
Sign Blazer will only work with compatible cutters. You would have to ask the retailer.
Did you read page 61? I believe you have to buy all stock patterns through cricut now. There is a software program from Cricut called DesignStudio here: http://amzn.to/xvfpQp
But you still have to buy all the patterns and can’t make your own.
Hi Eric,
So I am writing in total frustration….I have received my vinyl cutter I just bought a smaller one for now it is a Graphtec Craft Robo CC330L-20 it works great on cutting but my issue is on everything I try to cut and vectorize is absolutely horrible!
I have downloaded all the thing I think can of and just today downloaded the Signblazer but it won’t work with my cutter for some reason. All the lines are wavy and not straight and look like I am totally trashed when I etched them. Do you have any ideas what I can do to fix this problem. I do have the desktop Vector Magic also and even that is not helping so much either unless I am missing something there too. I don’t want to be stuck using someone else’s stencils all the time with my business I want to be more creative than that 
This is really aggravating and slowing down my business and I am already booked for 1 car show and 3 bike shows this spring please help. I would greatly appreciate it. Talk to you soon.
Erin
Hi Erin, you will have to read about your vinyl cutter to see what software programs its compatible with.
As for making your vector graphics, you still need to have a decent raster pattern. If the file is very small and blurry, it would be quite impossible to vector unless done by yourself, but to me that takes too much time and isn’t worth it. I would just try to get better images to use.
Can you send me one of your images so I can tell you if this is the problem or not? You can just attach it to an email.
Let me know,
-Eric
Extra information to help with Sign blazer elements:
Remove Annoying .pvw Files From Stencil Software
Another Stencil Cutting Software Fix
I need your help! I am always looking to make innovative sandblasting equipment (like some of the stuff I showed here), that is not only affordable, but something that also works better.
Recently, I had an idea of making a pressure pot foot switch which works somewhat like others, but can hold up to higher pressures, last long, allow variable pressures, and be about 4 times more affordable. If you are unfamiliar with this type of equipment, it gives you control over the pressure for both shading and sandcarving.
So I created my own sandblasting foot switch that I am thinking about bringing to the market to help people save money and have a quality setup. I remember when I started out many years ago, I was using a dead man valve! Boy was that horrible and it would cost about the same price as this. You can see one of the foot switch prototypes that I made in the picture below.
Now- I would like to give one away to someone for free in exchange for feedback. It would include everything such as the:
- foot switch with adjustor for higher pressures (obviously)
- hose adapter & clamp
- 10 foot long hose (this isn’t the cheap junk you find in hardware stores- it’s a abrasive resistant, strong flexible hose)
- Nozzle with tip
I have been testing this design for the last 2 months and tweaked it a few times with constant improvements each time. So far, I love this inexpensive thing and it works awesome for me. The design is very simple but works better than anything I have ever had for my pressure pot.
I will pay for the shipping and everything, but I plan on giving only one away. All I ask is that you give me feedback. I would like it to go to someone who would use it often and could benefit from having it. Remember this is only for people who have a pressure pot sandblaster!
Raffling The Foot switch Out
I figured it would be fun to create a raffle for the free foot switch. To enter, please just leave a comment below and I will run the raffle through a Random Number Generator.
Also, in the comment, leave some feedback on what you think of this foot switch idea. Do you think it would be marketable? Is it something that you would be interested in? Also, how much do you think people would pay for this?
Update: The raffle entry will end on February 7th next week at 5PM eastern and be for the US only. Sorry it’s been taking so long. I wanted to include everyone.
Thanks everyone! What I did was remove all my own comments and all the people that didn’t qualify because they either didn’t want it or weren’t in the US. I even created a pdf with the list here. (I don’t know why I did it. I am sure no one really cares that much, but I just like to be fair). I then used a online random number generator based on that list shown below.
So congrats Johnny Gordon
So I have been getting into a lot of fun things lately and recently experimented with my new low cost vacuum on-site sandblasting kit which was inspired by Barry, a fan.
I tested this on the scrap piece of glass today because I was perfecting the equipment and I figured it would be great to share this 2 layer technique tip. If you don’t known what this is, it’s simply the 2 stage sand carving process. The photo shows below what it looks like which gives off a stand out look.’
But I have never heard many people using this technique for letters so I thought I would share the ideas plus give some tips. First I sand carved deep into the glass for the first layer. Then, an outline of the letters were cut and lightly sandblasted. It’s best to use a smaller abrasive grit though for the last layer. I used a grit that is probably equivalent to 220 with an additional small sandblaster like the ones here.
Anyway the grit was originally 180 but after many uses, that stuff really wasn’t cutting well and probably broke down to about 220 (I’m guessing). Most people might throw it out, but it works great for light shading and to lightly etch the last layer. I hope you liked my tips. Please leave a comment below and any tips you might have. Thanks
