How do you engrave a coffee cup?

Question

I want to start a business engraving coffee cups. I read somewhere you need to use a "sandblast" machine, but know nothing about it. Do you know of any good sites with info, manuals or products? I am really lost and dont know where to start. Thanks!

Answer 1

I watched an artisan at work one afternoon at a Juried Art Fair.



He had a flat glass of about 30"X30" with chipped edges. I had given him a computer generated plaque to sand blast to the glass. His process was similiar to a silk-

screening process that left the subject matter, lettering and graphics in their original design but the rest of the negative was rendered blank and open for etching.



He made a negative out of the original plaque and secured it to the glass.



He applied the negative to the glass, put it in a large metal box with a window in it and reached through two holes with arm socks and gloves. He then took up the sandblaster nozzle. Within 10 minutes he had etched the original plaque on the glass that would test the sands of time and any other weather South Florida could throw at it.



So it looks like you are going to need the computer to do your design and creation work; a good copier for original graphics; some source for this negative making material it is rubber like but thin; a sandblasting system as large as your product is going to be.



My cost, as a 501(c)(3) was $300 USD, he didn't charge me for any design or set-up which would have been an additional $75.

Answer 2

I own a sand blaster and have done many of these types of projects. You can find a small blaster on ebay for under $150 and it will run using a small air compressor $100. You will need a heavey plastic stencel of your art to place on the cup and then lightly blast over it.

Hey, my suggestion is to go to your local trophy shop and ask them to engrave for you using a laser. You will get fantastic detail (that you do not will sand) . Unfortunatley the laser machine runs $15K - 30K.