Originally Posted by Da Dego Excellent and well written. :) This makes a rather difficult subject look almost easy! A great addition to the modding page.
The guide is really good, makes me want to test out engraving some of my scrap plexi.
I don't want to be one to criticize, but perhaps a bit more detail on the techniques, I am especially interested in the frosting technique. But, maybe this is just the primer I need to practice on my own.
Originally Posted by GoTaLL There are some other ways to colour the plexi/acrylic too. You can use "sun film" or Limo tint that is used on cars. However, if you use that on the outside of the case that will be prone to scratching and if you do it on the engraved side it is almost impossible not to get air bubbles in the film.
If you use a pin to prick the air bubbles behind the engraved parts of the design, the holes will let the air out and you wont see them.
I bought a cordless dremal about 3 months back and had a quick go at etching on some scrap acrylic board. It's great fun and very easy to get into (inspiration is the hardest part) but it can also be very messy - be prepared to have a lot of shavings to clean up...
I have a question for the author.. or perhaps anyone else who might know!
I can see how this would work for a tinted setup- but if for instance you were to try to light one of the back-painted and etched pieces- would the etching still stand out when lit or no? since the etching would be on the backside, would I only get a panel lit on the edges? or would the leds / cathodes shine through and light up the etched surfaces?
oh .. and.. if you were to etch the front of the panel and tint the backside you'd get the same black w/ etch effect. It wouldn't be in reverse either! heheh.
Originally Posted by Skaal-tel ......oh .. and.. if you were to etch the front of the panel and tint the backside you'd get the same black w/ etch effect. It wouldn't be in reverse either! heheh.
In my limited experience with etching, if you do that they don't show up so well. Where as if you light them up from the edge with the etched side facing away from you it picks up the light really well.
when painted and if you paint it so the light wont go thru the paint you can put the light aprox anywere, but if you dont paint its kinda annoying to have the lights where you can see them cause then the engravement wont be what you see it will be the lights.. "kinda like looking in to a lightbulb and hoping to see the wires :) ".
best thing to do is to try, put the piece in place and put the lights on a temporary place and try what you think looks best.. :)
GoTall, how do you smooth large areas? Like for example i tried to engrave good round chunk on my case. I outline the circle, then I do sweeping motion (like filling blank paper with pencil) to clear the circle area.
but this gives me "stripes" texture! i see the spiderman article, on page 2, you finished the "solid area" of the smoke cloud behind spidey, but its still rough and has that stripe texture i mentioned above. On page 3, you "decided to fill the smoke cloud", and u did "fill" it and now its smooth
so my question is, i guess, how do you properly "fill" solid areas?
Thanks GoTall :)
edit: on another note, my next project is a .8 SECC steel case. black paint, but its still silver underneath. I engrave plexies before but i never engrave metals. Im getting the 7144/7134 dremel bit which is the diamond engraving bits. this is ok?
well the "stripe" part you will get if using the diamond bits or engraving cutters,, and on the spidercase i have done that its striped but i choosed to do striped in 2 diffret directions aprox 1 half is to the right and next half to the left witch gives a nice glansy shine when looking from diffrent angles .. sparks up a bit .. hard to see on pics tho .. to get a "smooth" surface you need to use some kind of sandpaper but makes it kinda flat no shine and takes away some of the idea of the engraving .. in my oppinion .. its hell of a work to get the lines on bigger areas tho but the result is damn nice.. .. yes its the right bits i use the same.. :)
regarding the material .. its doesnt matter if its steel or aluminum the result can be the same . steel is a bit tougher to make patterns in but back to step one .. let it take the time it needs to take...
well i dont want perfectly smooth surface with sandpaper, yes i agree, it kinda contradicts to the whole idea of engraving (giving it a rough, bold look:), but please forgive me for being a dumba$$.... but english is my 2nd language,
so if u dont mind, can u tell me exactly what u mean with the 2 different directions stroke? 1.5 to the right and 0.5 to the left? umm........ lol im totally lost.
So on the spidercase u just fill it as normal, 1 direction, with diamondbits, thats why the stripes shows,
then u fill it again using the same bit, but this time 2 directionals? so it looks smoother?
sorry, i just dont wanna make mistake (if possible) on my first metal engraving :)
Ok nice one to make .. :) ... well english is my second laungage too .. :)
ill try get this right in eng..
if you have a pic like the ones in the front .. the left side tribal in teh front you can see as 8 pics if you count the parts as separate pics wher they are cut off "hope you understand" the parts dont cross eachother they are cut off and continues on the other side..
if you do it piece by pice and separate it as 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 the 1 you do "striping" all in the same direction like ///////, 2 you turn and does it \\\\\\\ . and 3 like = , that way when done you will have the total engraving shine diffrent depending on the angle you look on it .. and it kinda gives it a Sweeet look.... try it on a scrap piece .. it takes time but is sweet results..
dont ever cross engrave liek in 2 diff directions cause it makes it look messy .. in my oppinion .. might work if you want that effect but i never found a use for it :)
Read this guide the other day, and took to some perspex last night, and that was simple enough. I have a spare black side panel, same colour as what I eventually want to engrave, allbeit steel as oppose to aluminium.
As it's black, any recomendations as to how to mark it out> Would a scouring tool, similar to a dotpunch, but useful for just lightly scouring the general shapes?
I'm no where near good enough at this, or at art, to work off the bat, so to speak, and just wondered if you had any tips.
ok the bits .. the engraving cutters usually used for plexi, plastics and wood .. soft materials,.. the diamond bits for metall and glas and the hard material. but the engraving cutters can be used to do the lines for metal too .. but they wont hold very long .. and the result might not be what expected .. that is something you need to try .. same with teh diamond bits .. can be use at plexi but will get messy cause the material will be melting around it ..
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Excellent and well written. :) This makes a rather difficult subject look almost easy! A great addition to the modding page.
Bit needs more guides like this.
I don't want to be one to criticize, but perhaps a bit more detail on the techniques, I am especially interested in the frosting technique. But, maybe this is just the primer I need to practice on my own.
MatrixOps
very nice article, this is what is worth coming to bit-tech for.
If you use a pin to prick the air bubbles behind the engraved parts of the design, the holes will let the air out and you wont see them.
good guide ;)
I can see how this would work for a tinted setup- but if for instance you were to try to light one of the back-painted and etched pieces- would the etching still stand out when lit or no? since the etching would be on the backside, would I only get a panel lit on the edges? or would the leds / cathodes shine through and light up the etched surfaces?
oh .. and.. if you were to etch the front of the panel and tint the backside you'd get the same black w/ etch effect. It wouldn't be in reverse either! heheh.
In my limited experience with etching, if you do that they don't show up so well. Where as if you light them up from the edge with the etched side facing away from you it picks up the light really well.
best thing to do is to try, put the piece in place and put the lights on a temporary place and try what you think looks best.. :)
GoTall, how do you smooth large areas? Like for example i tried to engrave good round chunk on my case. I outline the circle, then I do sweeping motion (like filling blank paper with pencil) to clear the circle area.
but this gives me "stripes" texture! i see the spiderman article, on page 2, you finished the "solid area" of the smoke cloud behind spidey, but its still rough and has that stripe texture i mentioned above. On page 3, you "decided to fill the smoke cloud", and u did "fill" it and now its smooth
so my question is, i guess, how do you properly "fill" solid areas?
Thanks GoTall :)
edit: on another note, my next project is a .8 SECC steel case. black paint, but its still silver underneath. I engrave plexies before but i never engrave metals. Im getting the 7144/7134 dremel bit which is the diamond engraving bits. this is ok?
regarding the material .. its doesnt matter if its steel or aluminum the result can be the same . steel is a bit tougher to make patterns in but back to step one .. let it take the time it needs to take...
well i dont want perfectly smooth surface with sandpaper, yes i agree, it kinda contradicts to the whole idea of engraving (giving it a rough, bold look:), but please forgive me for being a dumba$$.... but english is my 2nd language,
so if u dont mind, can u tell me exactly what u mean with the 2 different directions stroke? 1.5 to the right and 0.5 to the left? umm........ lol im totally lost.
So on the spidercase u just fill it as normal, 1 direction, with diamondbits, thats why the stripes shows,
then u fill it again using the same bit, but this time 2 directionals? so it looks smoother?
sorry, i just dont wanna make mistake (if possible) on my first metal engraving :)
Thx GoTall,
ps: here's my planned engraving by photoshop
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/4008/engrave7gl.jpg
:) i'll post a worklog once i start working on it... dremel bits delivered this friday. i got time on the weekend, woohoo :)
ill try get this right in eng..
if you have a pic like the ones in the front .. the left side tribal in teh front you can see as 8 pics if you count the parts as separate pics wher they are cut off "hope you understand" the parts dont cross eachother they are cut off and continues on the other side..
if you do it piece by pice and separate it as 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 the 1 you do "striping" all in the same direction like ///////, 2 you turn and does it \\\\\\\ . and 3 like = , that way when done you will have the total engraving shine diffrent depending on the angle you look on it .. and it kinda gives it a Sweeet look.... try it on a scrap piece .. it takes time but is sweet results..
dont ever cross engrave liek in 2 diff directions cause it makes it look messy .. in my oppinion .. might work if you want that effect but i never found a use for it :)
Read this guide the other day, and took to some perspex last night, and that was simple enough. I have a spare black side panel, same colour as what I eventually want to engrave, allbeit steel as oppose to aluminium.
As it's black, any recomendations as to how to mark it out> Would a scouring tool, similar to a dotpunch, but useful for just lightly scouring the general shapes?
I'm no where near good enough at this, or at art, to work off the bat, so to speak, and just wondered if you had any tips.
one more question?? what do the other bit i got with my generic dremel do