DIY Pint Glasses

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snyklez

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So my friends are coming over the 11th to sample the first beer I've made, an IPA. To commemorate the event, I thought I'd do something special. I bought a bunch of plain pint glasses and decided to customize them as gifts. So I made a design to use as a template, bought some contact paper and glass etching paste and went to work. What you'll see is the initial design, followed by the end product. Our group of friends call each other the "DPs" (short for dude pals, it's from an old episode of aquateen). I paired those letters with a stock barley graphic. I also cut out the initial of my buddies' first names and put that in the bottom of the glass to use as a nucleation point an to customize them for each guy. The first one turned out beautifully, the picture really doesn't do it justice. I thought I'd share with everyone as a cheap and relatively easy - although time consuming - project.



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Found a video showing the process:

 
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How does the etching at the bottom of the glass work? I tried with the Armor Etch and I'm not getting much nucleation from the etching at the bottom. Just curious.
 
alowell said:
How does the etching at the bottom of the glass work? I tried with the Armor Etch and I'm not getting much nucleation from the etching at the bottom. Just curious.

Good question. I just finished one yesterday and haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I'm hoping the etching will be a good enough widget to cause nucleation, my thoughts though are that commercial glass widgets are laser etched which probably creates a deeper or rougher surface area. All I've got at home right now is bud light (don't judge me), but as soon as I try it out I'll update this thread and let you know. I'm sure it's effectiveness would be related to how much co2 is dissolved in the beer too.
 
Yeah, let me know how it works. How long did you keep the paste on the glass to etch the bottom? I'm wondering if another application on mine for a longer amount of time will help. Thanks
 
alowell said:
Yeah, let me know how it works. How long did you keep the paste on the glass to etch the bottom? I'm wondering if another application on mine for a longer amount of time will help. Thanks

10 minutes total. You might be onto a good idea though, keeping it in there longer to help create a deeper etch. The only concern I had about going past 10 minutes was that the acid would start dissolving the plastic, which could screw up the design.
 
I guess that is the difference with mine. I just put a dab of paste at the bottom...no design or lettering. I think I did 10-15 minutes. We'll see. I'll also post when I try it again
 
I wanna be your friend! :D

That for sure will be an awesome party for all of you, congrats!!!
 
I've been experimenting with a sandblaster and have had awesome results. I'll get a post together about it at some point.
 
Sounds great, I'm excited to see the results. I finished the second of nine glasses last night and it turned out even better than the first. It just takes forever to cut the stencil out with an exacto.
 
It just takes forever to cut the stencil out with an exacto.

Man... take your design to a place that does trophies and stickers. Most of them have a cut vinyl machine and they can cut your design out on vinyl for you. Save you BUNCH of time. This is what I plan to do with my logo.
 
Huaco said:
Man... take your design to a place that does trophies and stickers. Most of them have a cut vinyl machine and they can cut your design out on vinyl for you. Save you BUNCH of time. This is what I plan to do with my logo.

That's a great suggestion. I actually thought about that, but the glasses are curved in such a way that I have to manipulate each design as I'm putting it on and cutting it out to get it straight. Plus, since it's a negative stencil, I'd have to place about 30 individual stickers down if I had them cut for me. It's definitely a pain in the ass, but hopefully they'll all turn out great. Ha ha, watch me drop the box they're all packaged in once we get together.
 
I have a vinyl cutting machine that I use to make my stencils. If anyone is looking for stencils, decals, stickers, etched glasses etc drop me a line.

Attached are two images of a sandblasted mug. Its hard to tell from the poor quality cell phone picture, but that etching is about 1mm deep.

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Whoa, those bottles are fantastic. I'm also curious about the equipment you're using. Can you list the vinyl cutter and sandblaster you use? I'm curious how the process works. Is the stencil all one piece that you place on the glass and peel apart to reveal the design?
 
The cutter is a Graphtec CE5000 and the Sandblaster is this one: Sandblaster/.

The stencil adheres directly to the glass and is a single use. But thats ok because they are cheap enough to get/make lots of them. I actually tried using a higher quality vinyl that I use on cars and it sticks to the glass too well and is a pain to take off.

I have tried the chemical etch but I was never happy with the results. Which is why I went the sandblaster route. But these stencils hold up just fine for the chemical etch as well.

Seems like people are interested so I'll work on a full write up on the process.
 
The cutter is a Graphtec CE5000 and the Sandblaster is this one: Sandblaster/.

The stencil adheres directly to the glass and is a single use. But thats ok because they are cheap enough to get/make lots of them. I actually tried using a higher quality vinyl that I use on cars and it sticks to the glass too well and is a pain to take off.

I have tried the chemical etch but I was never happy with the results. Which is why I went the sandblaster route. But these stencils hold up just fine for the chemical etch as well.

Seems like people are interested so I'll work on a full write up on the process.

So if I send you file of my logo you could cut it for me? (for a nominal fee, I suppose...)
 
The cutter is a Graphtec CE5000 and the Sandblaster is this one: Sandblaster/.

The stencil adheres directly to the glass and is a single use. But thats ok because they are cheap enough to get/make lots of them. I actually tried using a higher quality vinyl that I use on cars and it sticks to the glass too well and is a pain to take off.

I have tried the chemical etch but I was never happy with the results. Which is why I went the sandblaster route. But these stencils hold up just fine for the chemical etch as well.

Seems like people are interested so I'll work on a full write up on the process.

fwiw, the home version of that game would probably involve a $99 Cricut home cutting machine. Women of a certain age use these to make custom paper thingies for scrapbooking. You may have an auntie who owns one already.

A friend of mine uses his mother's cricut to cut sign vinyl into stencils.
 
fwiw, the home version of that game would probably involve a $99 Cricut home cutting machine. Women of a certain age use these to make custom paper thingies for scrapbooking. You may have an auntie who owns one already.

A friend of mine uses his mother's cricut to cut sign vinyl into stencils.

I do this in my home :confused:. Last I checked the Cricuts only allowed you to cut stock images from their very expensive cartridge based image library. For $200 you could get any one of the value budget cutters out there, like from USCutter.com. With those you could cut any image you wanted.

But even that is a lot of startup time/money/space to devote to what is really just $5 worth of stickers.
 
Not sure if Jeepninja is gonna send people the vinyl stickers and let them do the etching or do the etching themselves. But if you get some stickers from him here is some advice for working with vinyl (I have over ten years of experience making vinyl signs for a sign company my step dad owns when I was growing up, it was their way of making me earn money to get the toys and do the things I wanted, so I have peeled and applied more vinyl than I care to remember):

1. In his instructable he says you can either place the vinyl on the glass first or peel it first. I would highly recommend peeling out the image first, the backing it comes on it waxed so it comes off easy, where if you apply it to the glass, it isnt difficult but a little more challenging.

2. When applying to the glass use a strip of masking tape along one edge to mount it and create a hinge, then when applying it lift up and peel from that hinge and lay down from that hinge smoothing with the credit card as you go (slowly).

3. Window cleaner or water with a little soap in it makes it so you can move it around a little, use the squeegy to squeeze out the liquid and let it sit for a couple minutes before peeling the tape off. This helps to place it and not screw up, gives you some wiggle room.

Hope these tips help anyone who is looking to do this. Also these techniques can work with any kind of sticker or decal and makes for perfect application every time
 
3. Window cleaner or water with a little soap in it makes it so you can move it around a little, use the squeegy to squeeze out the liquid and let it sit for a couple minutes before peeling the tape off. This helps to place it and not screw up, gives you some wiggle room.

Agree with all points but the wet application technique is a little frustrating with fine detailed cuts of vinyl. If you don't absolutely squeegee all the water out, they won't stick to the surface and will stay on the mask. The tape hinge technique ensures perfect placement so the water shouldn't be needed.
 
1. In his instructable he says you can either place the vinyl on the glass first or peel it first. I would highly recommend peeling out the image first, the backing it comes on it waxed so it comes off easy, where if you apply it to the glass, it isnt difficult but a little more challenging.

2. When applying to the glass use a strip of masking tape along one edge to mount it and create a hinge, then when applying it lift up and peel from that hinge and lay down from that hinge smoothing with the credit card as you go (slowly).

3. Window cleaner or water with a little soap in it makes it so you can move it around a little, use the squeegy to squeeze out the liquid and let it sit for a couple minutes before peeling the tape off. This helps to place it and not screw up, gives you some wiggle room.

Excellent points!

1. I've done it both ways. Personally for sandblasting I'm leaning towards weeding the image after it is applied to the substrate. For every other application I always weed the image first.

2. The hinge method (which I don't outline in the instructable) I have found works best with a vertical piece of tape when used on a round glass. This lets the decal follow the curve of the glass better than if you did it horizontal. But I find the process a little overkill for a small decal the size of a glass. I use one side of the overhanging application tape to hold the image while trying to line it up.

3. I find the wet process also to be overkill for something small like this, especially something that is going to be peeled off and thrown away. If it were a car or certainly a glass window I use a wet application every time though. The spray bottle you see in the background of some of the pictures is my bottle of App Fluid. I use 8 oz of rubbing alcohol, 2 drops of dish soap, fill the rest with water and shake.

Here are some added tips:

1: If you have an uneven surface you can heat the vinyl with a heat gun or hair dryer and push it onto the shape for better adhesion. I use a tennis ball to work the vinyl over things like rivets in box truck body panels or even on to painted brick walls.

2: A small pancake air compressor probably does not have enough CFM or air volume to keep up with a sandblaster. Mine is a 3hp 20 Gallon unit that outputs about 12cfm and it can't keep up for big jobs.

3: Dedicated pressure blasters or hopper fed blasters work better than the siphon blaster I use.

4: Sand gets EVERYWHERE unless you have a cabinet. Do it outside and cover your body as much as possible.

5: Don't use the thin slinky style hoses. Use as wide a diameter hose that you can get your hands on.

All that said it is a lot of fun and certainly anyone could do it at home without any major issues.
 
I do this in my home :confused:. Last I checked the Cricuts only allowed you to cut stock images from their very expensive cartridge based image library. For $200 you could get any one of the value budget cutters out there, like from USCutter.com. With those you could cut any image you wanted.

But even that is a lot of startup time/money/space to devote to what is really just $5 worth of stickers.

He uses a software package called cuts-a-lot that he can feed any vector image to. Though there are obvious limitations on how complex that vector image can be.
 
I thought I'd post my process in case anyone's interested. It's not too difficult, but it is time consuming. It takes about 45 minutes per glass. However, if you want to just make a few of these for gifts, like I am, then it's cheaper and easier than going the vinyl cutter route. First, I take the original glass and put a patch of vinyl contact paper on it. It's the removable type, which is good because it pulls off easily and doesn't leave any residue. I got this at target for $5.


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I take the pattern and align it correctly, then tape it on top of the vinyl


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I cut the design out using an exacto (this is the time consuming part), then take off the original design and peel off the vinyl where you want the design to be etched into the glass


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Then brush the etching paste onto the design and let it sit for about 15 minutes.


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Once the time's up, just wash it all off with warm water, peel the remaining vinyl off, and you're done!


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I'd definitely recommend getting a machine and software to custom cut your designs, if you plan on doing this often. But like I said, I'm only making a few and this works for me.
 
Can you re-use the vinyl template or do you have to cut a new one for each glass?
 
Can you re-use the vinyl template or do you have to cut a new one for each glass?

typically the vinyl template is destroyed when you remove it. issues with stretching and adhesive, you know.

Which is why it's great to have a computerized vinyl cutter.
 
Oh, and you could also cut the vinyl on a flat surface and then use transfer tape to lift it off of the backing and place it on the glass.
 
Just wanted to show a set of mugs I did for a wedding this weekend. Hopefully you can make out the depth of the etching in this image better.

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PiratesBeardBrewery said:
How did the etching on the bottom end up working for nucleation?

Ah yes, I forgot to update. It worked well, not great. It definitely made a difference, but it wasn't a constant stream of bubbles like I'd hoped. However, the only beer I've drank from it was my first brew, which had only been bottle carbing for two weeks. So it wasn't very bubbly to begin with. Overall it was worth it because the design was cool.
 
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