If you have any kind of glass in your install, it can really be eccentuated by adding some Etched logos or patterns onto the glass.
I'll demontrate how this is done

First, you need a piece of glass (Obviously)


You need to block ot the areas that you DON'T want etched. Vinyl stickers are a great way of doing this. The other option is to use either Masking tape or contact adhesive and cut your own pattern out.
So add the sticker to your glass.


To etch the glass there are 2 ways, you can buy etching solution, which is a liquid that will etch the glass, however I have found this quite hard to come by.
So I use a sand blaster


Put the glass and sticker in the cabinet


And blast away!


Try to keep the nozzle at 90 degrees to the glass. If the angle becomes to great, it can blast the sticker off.


Doing large areas takes time. As long as the sand is flowing properly, just nice slow left to right strokes is fine



Keep going until all the surface is evenly covered. Hopefully you should end up with something like this


Yes, I know it's a bit rought and not even in some parts. But it was just to demo

In most cases, this probably isn't the desired effect. So what you need to do is get the inverse of the Logo made up. Then you'll get this effect

Trying to show the light didn't quite work

So there you go. Add a few LED's around the edge or backlight for some nice effects.

Big thanks to MRS. TEK for providing both stickers.

thanks for the great tute man - I dont think i've seen a DIY sand blasting tute before.

so the sand blaster - is that something you can hire ?

Thats a good question regarding the Sandblaster. I have no idea to be honest.

I probably should mention you also need an air compressor and some blasting material (Sand, glass beads, walnut shells).

You can buy a sandblasting attachment for any compressor for $20 at Super Cheap.

Snap On have a great one with it's own hopper for around $200.

Obviously these don't have cabinets, so you need eye/ear/mouth protection and a shower afterwards.

Phil

I used to use the supercheap one, but it just became too messy as I didn't really have a confined space to use it and the black sand was getting everywhere. So I opted for the Cabinet.
It is a decent size and fits most parts I'd be sandblasting anyways. Also the Cabinet just re-uses the sand over and over again. You eventually need to replace it or empty it if changing blasting media.
Also it's distributed by PPC, so you know it's good

also grit for blasting can be got from
W. Granowski P/L
in Bayswater, VIC
9729 4333

They are manufacturers and suppliers of sand/bead/grit blasting equipment.
http://www.granowski.com.au/

Common beach sand works fine on glass. No need for special media.

Phil

Great write up. Ill be using this in the future

Cheers.

isnt it illegal to take sand from the beach?

lol you return it obviously.

suuuure you do

rofl, i cant see why it would be...but if you go to any landscaping store, theyll have beach sand for like 20 bucks a cubic metre.....thats a fair bit off sand.....

Sand blast media is the best. Common "beach" sand is actually illegal to use now due to EPA regulations.

Somthing like sigmeister used is the best way as the media can be recycled. and yes i belive they can be hired.

You can buy a bag of beach sand for $2 at a hardware or garden shop.

It's prefect for this job and is easy on vinyl, sieve it through a speaker grill to remove any stray debris.

I must have used it a 1000 times.

Phil

if you dont want to buy all the sand blasting equipment, you could just take it to a professional sandblaster. thats what i did when i needed it done for a project in year 12. i did all the prep work and the guy blasted it for free. although im sure he didnt charge me because it was for school, but it wouldnt cost much anyway.

The next question is, how do you etch plastic? Like Lexan or Plexiglass

I suspect you could probably do the same thing. If I can find a spare piece I'll give it a try and post the results.

well, I have a logo/stencil made up, and I'm trying to figure out how to get it onto the lexan... then I need the reverse of it. I'd rather not try to explain on here, but I will post updates when I figure things out.

Just adding to this, it's illegal because it can kill you.

When sand impacts from high pressure (sand blasting) it breaks apart. Sand is made up mainly of Silica, inhaling this is deadly.

I used to sell high pressure cleaners (commonly refered to as "Gernis" ) and we had to explain many times to potential sand blasting customers that they could NOT use sand. There are plenty of different mediums available and they aren't expensive. If you wanna know where you can get some from just check with your local hardware store. If they can't help then look up the yellow pages for "Abrasive Blasting equipment" and ask them what they use.

Info on Silicosis if anyone's interested: http://www.workershealth.com.au/pdfs/060silicosis.pdf

BTW, the etching looks awesome!

Resin fumes can kill you.
Paint fumes can kill you.
Asbestos can kill you.
Exhaust fumes can kill you.
Burning plastic fumes can kill you.
12 Volts can kill you.
Lead can kill you.

I doubt sandblasting using beach sand a few times will give you noticeable health problems.

Everything gives you cancer, not too many things can kill you that easily.

OK
I sandblasted some plastic\perspex sheeting. It seemed to work fine. It doesn't take as long to do as glass. The only issue I had was some parts came out dirty. It's hard to explain, but they were darker in some spots than others. Its kind of the same colour as the sandblasting media I use. However in some lights it's noticable and other light it isn't.

I also tried a cheap way of making stencils\templates, seemed to work ok.

I'll update this thread with photos when I get home tonight.

Good stuff, thanks for the update.

That's a fair statement.

However, none of those (besides asbestos and 2pak paint) are illegal.

Using sand is not only bad for your health, but trouble if you get caught. We got busted on a quiet beach for taking our 4wd on once.. no one in sight... so they're not the most desolate places on earth as most would believe.

Anyways, enough darkening of this topic with do's and dont's. Look forward to seeing the new pics from Sigmeister!

OK, first off, apologies for the non-car audio theme, I m creating a poker table but the concept is the same.

The cheap way of creating a template goes like this.
First print out what you want onto a piece of paper


Get some contact adhesive and cover the plastic you want to sandblast. Then sticky tape the printed logo onto it and use a hobby knife to cut out the pattern, It should look something like this:
(I ask my girlfriend to get me some nice plain contact and I get this... )


Blast away as before and you should end up with something like this


You can see in this close up and lighting the 'dirtyness' I was speaking about. The media I use is predominantly black.


However in other light with a different background it looks better



As I said earler the plastic only needed a short amount of time being blasted compared to glass to get the same effect. Using contact as a cheaper alternative works ok, however it did start to flick up in finicky areas. Where as I had no issues with the vinyl.

so would it be better to have the etched part facing away so you see the smooth side or do you etch the face side?

That's probably personal prefernce. I personally think it also depends on the thickness of the glass\plastic.

I prefer to have it facing toward, I don't mind the texture. If you are working with thicker stuff it tends to look a bit funny facing away.

Also if you are working with something like mirrored glass\perspex or soemthing with a backing, you obviously need to have it facing towards

that looks sweet thanks for that

very nice, gonna do this soon, thanks for the guide.

This is a fantastic guide, and is an effect i hadn't previously thought of being able to do, though i am now wondering how to incorperate glass or perspex into my install ....

i have done this before using the supercheap tool. makes a mess butif you dont have or dont want to buy a full cabinet, it does the job fine.

The reason why you are getting different colors on the plastic is becuase you don't have an even cover or flow accross the plastic....

When you sand blast glass, the media is actually eating away at the glass. Glass being hard 'chips' away when hit by the sand.

When you sand blast plastic/perspex it is burning or melting the plastic. Plastic/perspex being soft, the sand hits the surface and 'bounces' off more than chipping away at the surface being sprayed.

You have to get a nice even cover on plastic or or will get un-even 'burn' marks.

Get a test piece of glass and plastic and hold in one spot for 5 seconds on both pieces, you will find that the spot on the glass has eaten in quite far and looks quite clean. The spot on the plastic will be no-where near as deep, if you look very closely you will notice that it looks more like it's melted. The 'un-even' melting of the plastic gives the blotches and the 'dirty' look.

Un-even areas on glass is no-where near as noticable. Many light even passes over the plastic will give you a much cleaner affect...

Brad

thats a great explaination. thanks brad.

hey is this cool to do with a bead blaster?

Did this today with bead baster....ordinary contact isnt very strong....i suggest using a plastic stencle for maximum security when blasting it...other wise the sticker can blow off easy...even when facing the gun at 90' to it....

Hey,

This is a great thread, something that I never had even thought about but after reading everything when I have a bit more time on my hands I will give this a shot. I've got some ideas for my boot and I will post the end result but it will probably be a month or so before that is done.

Thanks for this!

Just another note on etching glass/perspex, as this is something I've done tp my computer cases before that have a side window, is you can trace the design on, or have it underneath, and they use a dremmel to kind of eat away to surface. Ill find the guide I used, it isnt car related but gives an idea.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=319&pageID=413

If it doesnt work let me know, may have to be logged in to website to view it.

great thread with some great ideas!

just wondering how is the contact able to stand up to the sand? ie your etching away glass and plastic yet the contact/vinyl stays on fine? just seems like it would eat straight through the contact/vinyl...

Thick Vinyal and even contact is soft, so it kind of absorbs the sand. You have to be a bit careful around the edges, just make sure you are firing the gun the right direction to not try aim to get it under and edge...if you know what I mean. If you were to perhaps stay in one spot for a while, it might eventually get through, but I have had no issues as yet.