Here is a rose I blasted with an air eraser. I’ve done it in 3 different ways. The first 1 is a 2 stage affair.
The second one is just some shading I was trying out. It’s the first time at the shading technique, so please be kind. 
The last one is blasted and painted.
All were done with a Passche air eraser.
I made this for my brother for Christmas. It’s 1/4 inch thick mirror that I cut from a bigger piece and I know the frame is not so great but this was for family. The frame I grove so I would not have to put a backing on it. I have more pictures to post but at a later date. Would like to know what you think about the picture. I look forward to reading your comments and answering any questions you have. Thank you
Not all etchings are something we want to do. My family asked if I could make a marker to show a family members ashes last location. The granite is scrap from a countertop company. A pressure is required to get depth to the etching. I use silicon carbide as a cutting media.
I did this mirror to help a friend learn how I do them. I kind of screwed up the leaves on the edges though. I didn’t have a really clear vision in my head of how I wanted it to look. Was thinking moonlight through leaves and blasted the leaves as negatives using stencils I cut. I should have blasted the leaves as positives though I think. It doesn’t look bad but not what I was after. Looks more like fog than moonlight..lol
This is a mirror I did for some friends in Texas who lost their prized quail hunting dog and family pet to a Rattlesnake bite. (Large photos are shown below) This project was all hand cut on a regular paper resist that was glued down over masking tape. The mirror was first covered in 2 in. tape slightly overlapping. This is really not a good way to cut a mirror as you are cutting through two layers of material but it was all I had at the time.
You can go to a printer and have your image printed on adhesive backed Avery vinyl to any size you want as long as you start with a high resolution picture suitable for blowing up in size. Once to size you need crisp lines that you can see to cut.
I don’t number my work but use a system that works for me by simply analyzing the picture first into 3 shades. White areas, gray areas, and black areas. I blast in this sequence also starting with all areas that are white (full frost) followed by gray areas (partial frost) and finishing with black areas (glass left un-blasted and clear). Once you gain some experience you can stretch your blast to about 4 levels of blast but that’s about it.
I use a pencil type blaster with very small tips (measured in the thousandths) which shoots a very fine stream of abrasive. This is needed for very fine detail and tight areas of blast to minimize over spray. I blast at pretty low pressures using 220 grit aluminum oxide. I don’t blast in a cabinet either. I blast outside on an easel on nice days. With the blaster I use the amount of abrasive needed for a whole 16X20 mirror is probably about 3-4 ounces. This gives me a lot more freedom to see the work and blast and peel as I need to.
