Glass Engraving Equipment and Useful Techniques

The glass engraving process, while requiring a little practice, can become an art. To produce a beautifully engraved piece, keep in mind the following:

• Know your cutters and make sure the diamond tips are in good condition.
• Use lubrication – either buy a professional lubricant or simply use dishwashing liquid in the re-circulating water bath.
• Correct spindle pressure is an important requirement, as well as suction for holding the item in place. Both of these should be adjusted during the learning process. Too much pressure from the cutter will give the glass a shattered look, or possibly break the glass, while too little pressure will cause irregular engraving.
• Practice! A little trial and error will lead to high quality engraved glass products. You’ll know you’ve got it right when the surface is smooth to the touch.

Glass engraving equipment from Gravograph gives you the best, most innovative laser engraving equipment available. Find out how our rotary and laser engraving equipment can help you with direct glass marking, and learn more about laser marking glass.

Glass Engraving with Rotary Engraving Machines

Glass engraving on a rotary machine requires a clamp to hold the product within a container that allows a water-based coolant to be applied during the engraving process. Gravograph offers the M40G, designed for glass engraving. While rotary engraving can be a time consuming process, with the right equipment, rotary engraving produces beautifully engraved glass products.

Glass Engraving with Laser Engraving Machines

Laser engraving glass is fast, easy, and clean. The process can produce highly detailed artwork, text, and photographs. Gravograph has several laser engraving machines designed for glass engraving many kinds of products, including cylindrical glass materials. Read below for more information on glass engraving techniques.

Machines that engrave glass include the LS100, the LS100Ex, the LS900, and the M40G.

Understand the Direct Glass Marking Technique

Our lasers are fully capable of producing beautiful results on clear glass objects. The plate shown was processed at 600 DPI, at between 25 watts and 30 watts, at a speed of approximately 30" per/sec. For best results, focus the laser perfectly on the part. Some special tips to processing glass include:

• Cleaning the glass thoroughly before processing
• Lasing the reverse side of the glass with the imaged reversed (this also protects the mark after completion)
• Getting the surface to be marked as perpendicular as possible to the lasing beam
• Processing at relatively low powers (to minimize micro-fracturing)

To view engravable glass products and glass engraving equipment, please click here, or download our catalog.

Contact Us

To find out more about Gravograph Glass Engraving Machines, please contact us.