Photos embedded in Glass

phil · Post by **phil** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 8:28 am

I have seen photos which seem to have been etched (or sandcarved) in glass. The ones I have seen were 2 or 3 different pictures, each at a dirfferent height and different depth within the glass which was clear and in the shape of a paperweight - oval, perhaps 7" tall and 4" thick at its widest. I have searched the archives, and the internet, and have found sources for the basic etching or sandcarving, but all seem to be flat glass picture style, rather than the more 3 dimensional look. I was hoping someone might know the process or where I can get this done. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks.

pclark · Post by **pclark** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 7:36 pm

I know that the flat ones are what are called half tones and are done with a photomask such as Rayzist or Photobrasive. I suspect that the 3D one is something that I have seen lately and is done by laser. I am not sure where to tell you to get it done though. Best of luck.

Paul Tarlow · Post by **Paul Tarlow** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 12:32 am

phil wrote:I have seen photos which seem to have been etched (or sandcarved) in glass. The ones I have seen were 2 or 3 different pictures, each at a dirfferent height and different depth within the glass which was clear and in the shape of a paperweight - oval, perhaps 7" tall and 4" thick at its widest. I have searched the archives, and the internet, and have found sources for the basic etching or sandcarving, but all seem to be flat glass picture style, rather than the more 3 dimensional look. I was hoping someone might know the process or where I can get this done. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks.

It is also possible to sift glass powder or enamel through a silk screen.

Different effect -- but a way to get the image permanently in glass. White powder in clear glass may give you the effect you want -- especially if you put different layers of clear and stagger the layers the images are on.

- Paul

Nickie Jordan · Post by **Nickie Jordan** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 3:51 am

I am aware of the photo resist, but don't understand how to get 'grey tones' - any idea about that ?

I had a job a couple of years ago, that was bigger than my exposure unit - by quite a bit. I ended up using the sun as the light exposure source (up in Alaska, in March, is a lot different than any other month, anywhere else - practically).

I've also found that I can't do anything larger than my bathtub, in the winter. Or, as big as the film they make, in the summer - for the 'washout'.

- Nickie

Linda Landauer · Post by **Linda Landauer** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 9:21 am

Nickie,

Give this a try. Another excellent board.

http://www.sandcarver.org/

You will be able to get your half-tone questions answered.

Linda

Paul Tarlow · Post by **Paul Tarlow** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 9:29 am

Nickie Jordan wrote:I am aware of the photo resist, but don't understand how to get 'grey tones' - any idea about that ?

I had a job a couple of years ago, that was bigger than my exposure unit - by quite a bit. I ended up using the sun as the light exposure source (up in Alaska, in March, is a lot different than any other month, anywhere else - practically).

I've also found that I can't do anything larger than my bathtub, in the winter. Or, as big as the film they make, in the summer - for the 'washout'.

- Nickie

Hi Nickie -

I know of two ways to get shading when sandblasting. The first, as some folks have discussed, is by 'carving' -- different depths of blasting will yield varying degrees. You can do that with a series of resist stencils.

The second way would be the same method newspapers (not color ones) use to print photos using only black ink -- with halftone patterns -- various sized/shaped dots or lines. Any decent computer paint program should be able to halftone an image for you.

Hope this helps,
Paul

Tony Smith · Post by **Tony Smith** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 10:10 am

I posted this last July, and you can check the old board archives for more information, but I've been pretty successful blasting halftones onto glass using photoresist. The trick is to fuse a layer of enamel onto your glass and blast through that to get your contrast. In this case, it is black glass with white paradise paint fused to the surface creating a pseudo flashed glass. The halftone is blasted through the enamel exposing the black base glass. Then it is full fused again to bring the base glass up through the enamel. Of course you can blast a halftone into the glass without the enamel, but then you don't have the contrast in your image.

I've never seen the embedded 3D image that was referred to. How about a link or a photo?

Tony

ames4glass · Post by **ames4glass** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 11:18 am

phil wrote:I have seen photos which seem to have been etched (or sandcarved) in glass. The ones I have seen were 2 or 3 different pictures, each at a dirfferent height and different depth within the glass which was clear and in the shape of a paperweight - oval, perhaps 7" tall and 4" thick at its widest. I have searched the archives, and the internet, and have found sources for the basic etching or sandcarving, but all seem to be flat glass picture style, rather than the more 3 dimensional look. I was hoping someone might know the process or where I can get this done. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks.

I don't have an answer but I have been looking at the same process. I am going to try the emulsion transfer process for the photo--that is stripping the film w/the photo off the paper part of the photo, then applying it between 2 pieces of glass. I am going to try to soften the glass w/my torch around the edges of the top piece, then put it on the bottom in hopes of sealing air and heat from the film. I'll let you know if it works but if you try something that works, let me know please.

WarmGlass.com

Photos embedded in Glass

Photos embedded in Glass

Re: Photos embedded in Glass

Re: Photos embedded in Glass