Does anyone else do etching or sandblasted signs?

[schramm]

Just wondering if anyone else does sandblasted or etched signage. Personally I do logos in mirror but also do a lot of scroll work and make antique mirror glass.

 

[SignManiac]

Years ago I did some glass pieces but most of my work is blasted and carved signs. That and some printing. I like to design mostly, it calms me down when I feel the need to commit a homicide which is generally once a day.

 

[J Hill Designs]

We do sandblasted signs...no hand carving, but some CNC work

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

the only sign i will touch anymore is if it is a glass piece or an antique restoration...i'll just teach other's how to make the other signs and more importantly how to make money making them

 

[schramm]

Yeah I really don't do any carved glass as it is way to time consuming and no one wants to pay for it. I was doing some signs that were glue chipped but once again I like making them and putting them out. I get most of my effects from glitter, mica powder, gold - silver - copper leaf, backpainting, cracking and so on which I have methods for doing quickly. I have people I talk to on the net that do carved glass and speciality stuff but I rarely hear about them working. I am swamped most of the time.

 

[MikePro]

we no longer sandblast signage after our outsourced sandblaster destroyed a HUGE project of ours and tried blaming us for it.
(i was never a fan of relying on sandblasting mask to stay stuck to the board during blasting anyways, there were always little errors we had to fix due to blowing under... but on the big project referenced, they did 10-4x8 panels for us and ruined them ALL... claiming our mask came off during blasting. But who the hell does ALL 10 panels if you notice mask coming undone?!? It was as if they blasted at a 15degree angle, just completely ignoring the need/use of sandblasting mask. They even took us to claims for their labor we refused to pay... and we couldn't claim our boards against them, since its the nature of their work to "destroy" the boards)

We route everything out of HDU foam boards and hand-carve any details our smallest bits cannot. For glass etching we just use frosted vinyl... much cheaper than the labor required and/or replacing glass when clients want to change logos or add content.

 

[MikePro]

o! glasswork is the subject of the topic here, sorry for my rants...

I've also heard that acid-etching is pretty simple to accomplish, and less mess/labor involved. Never tried it myself, but its on my "R&D" list of to-do's.

 

[petrosgraphics]

we still do quite a bit of sandblasting on hdu and cedar blanks still a call for this here in the northeast.... in the colder months it is quite the challenge to blast outside......

 

[jdb]

the only sign i will touch anymore is if it is a glass piece or an antique restoration...i'll just teach other's how to make the other signs and more importantly how to make money making them

I'm with you Dan. I do a lot of restoration pieces. I'm allways working on a glass piece.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

oh my goodness there's a tear running down my face that etched vinyl is being referenced as glass work...sigh....

and jbd i'm very familiar with your work ... you are a tremendously talented craftsman.

there is plenty of glass work for those with the skills...there just aren't very many left that have the skills.

for those that want some serious eye candy check out Dave Smith's work here's just a small taste...http://angelgilding.com/AGDaveSmith.html

 

[jdb]

Dave is also a very nice guy! He's helped me quite a bit.

 

[schramm]

oh my goodness there's a tear running down my face that etched vinyl is being referenced as glass work...sigh....

Dan,

Did I miss something, who said etched glass vinyl was glass work? I read the posts and didn't see that in anybodies posts. Do you 2 have a website? I would love to see your work. I know Dave Smiths work very well and his stuff is mind blowing. You are right about not very many talented glass workers left. I have thought about going to Norms in Oct if he is having his class this year but I really like doing what I do and I am busy all the time.