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Create your own engraved beer mug! (or give a great personalized present)
We'll be taking a dollar store beer mug and turning it into something much nicer - just in time to celebrate the New Year!
Although I'll be using a Cricut vinyl cutter to make a stencil for your name, you can do this without a Cricut by various other tracing methods, and cutting the vinyl with an exacto knife. (So the choice is - use the right equipment, and it's an easy project; or do it the cheap way and it'll exercise your artistic talents a lot more!) If you don't have a Cricut, either this Instructable or this one will show you how to skip that step. And of course a lucky few with a laser engraver could use that instead.
Now let's get started...
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Signing UpStep 1Here's what you'll need
Cricut or other vinyl cutter (and computer) - or x-acto knife and superlative skill!
Vinyl (eg Contact Paper(tm))
Scissors and/or paper trimmer
Armour Etch(tm) glass etching cream, and small paintbrush
Beer mug (smooth sided)
SAFETY GOGGLES and nitrile gloves
Outdoor work area and garden hose
The safety googles are essential. The etchant we'll be using is based on hydroflouric acid and will seriously mess you up if you get it in your eyes. You might also consider nitrile gloves. This is NOT A PROJECT FOR CHILDREN. Keep the etchant well out of reach.
Pick a beer mug with smooth sides. We'll be sticking your name on the side in vinyl so you can imagine how difficult that would be with a dimpled mug. My local dollar store does great mugs - which you can afford to trash if you mess them up. (Although I'm pleased to say my first attempt came out just great)
Remember that stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby often do a "one item at 40% off" coupon, so use it to buy the Armour Etch!
Finally, for what we're doing, run-of-the-mill contact paper is just as good as the expensive custom-sized flat sheets sold by Cricut.
Vinyl (eg Contact Paper(tm))
Scissors and/or paper trimmer
Armour Etch(tm) glass etching cream, and small paintbrush
Beer mug (smooth sided)
SAFETY GOGGLES and nitrile gloves
Outdoor work area and garden hose
The safety googles are essential. The etchant we'll be using is based on hydroflouric acid and will seriously mess you up if you get it in your eyes. You might also consider nitrile gloves. This is NOT A PROJECT FOR CHILDREN. Keep the etchant well out of reach.
Pick a beer mug with smooth sides. We'll be sticking your name on the side in vinyl so you can imagine how difficult that would be with a dimpled mug. My local dollar store does great mugs - which you can afford to trash if you mess them up. (Although I'm pleased to say my first attempt came out just great)
Remember that stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby often do a "one item at 40% off" coupon, so use it to buy the Armour Etch!
Finally, for what we're doing, run-of-the-mill contact paper is just as good as the expensive custom-sized flat sheets sold by Cricut.
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The MakeTheCut software actually ships with the new KNK machines - that company is a lot more sympathetic to third-party developers.
Find them via Google. I'm not embedding a link because I want to be clear that this is a genuine endorsement and not someone looking for a referral fee.
I've since seen that the crafting folks use a mildly tacky 'transfer paper' to keep all parts of their designs in alignment, but I haven't tried that yet myself - not too clear on the details...
G
Regarding the transfer paper, you might be able to get a couple of pieces from a local sign maker- as scrap or partial roll.
The transfer paper is very similar to a very wide masking tape, the adhesive is not nearly as strong as the vinyl adhesive. you basically cut out your design on vinyl, remove the portions that you want to etch, this is referred to as "weeding", then smooth a piece of transfer tape over the image. When you gently peel off the transfer tape, the vinyl will come off with it, holding all of the little pieces in place.
You then just position the transfer where you want it, rub it down with either a stiff squeegee or a tongue depressor to adhere the vinyl, then gently peel off the transfer tape, leaving the stencil on the glass, ready to etch.
It wasn't a perfect method though because as I cut out one card the others would become loose. If you look carefully you can see that my lines aren't all very straight. Because I was manually holding the stencil in place as the edges got loose sometimes the stencil would slide a little bit. I was able to trim up the crooked lines for the most part after I pulled the stencil away, but it still wasn't perfect.
For smaller designs I suppose I could have used printable labels, but those don't help much on a larger project. I'm still trying to figure out a way, if you think of something be sure to post it, and I'll do the same :)
How would it work to leave some gaps in the letters that have a hole (1 mm "spacers") to keep the cutouts in place and then cut them off with an x-acto knife before applying the etchant?
Please check it out and leave me a comment. Thanks -Eric
I hope the link works out, if not, just type in 'cricut cartridge', it'll be on the first page.
We ought to get a group started here in instructables for people with these vinyl cutters (of whichever brand, not just the Cricut)! Anyone know how to do that?
Thank you for the awesome walk-through.
I didn't think there was a way to accomplish etching w/out having access to some far more expensive equipment.
Like one of the other posters, I err on the side of paranoia about this stuff because my chemistry teacher put the fear of God into me about what HF would do if you spilled it on yourself, and I am not comfortable passing on any lesser level of warning to others as I would hate to be responsible for someone else messing their life up by having an unnecessary accident.
I don't know how the ladies that do crafts who use this stuff handle it, but I treat it as working with a dangerous industrial chemical. Being very dilute and it a gum-like base does mitigate a lot of the risk but doesn't remove it entirely - the compound does still need to be treated with respect,
Research it for yourself and find out what the recommended handling techniques are, and frankly if you have any doubt, don't do this one. Unless you're confident you can handle it safely, and do so with care, it's not worth the risk.
HF is nasty stuff. It is pricey, but you might consider keeping a tube of calcium gluconate gel around. Fluoride ion can go right for the Ca in your bones, and deposit it in your bloodstream as crystals. Painful, and often fatal. I don't think small quantities like this are likely to kill you, but who needs to worry- the gluconate gel calcium binds the fluoride. When I worked in an analytical lab digesting rocks (!) with HF, we had a tube handy. I was sufficiently paranoid that I never had a mishap, but I was glad it was there.
Yes very sensible.
L