Make an Engraved Mirror
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- čas přidán 7. 04. 2022
- It's really not too difficult to make an engraved mirror. All you need is a suitable graphic and any CO2 laser and you can create fantastic results very quickly. These items are popular sellers if you have a business or great for the family if you just want to create something unique.
In this video I will walk through this simple process from end-to-end covering the design creation and laser setting to produce these amazing mirrors. And as an added bonus everything described here will also work on flat glass if want to create stylized picture frames or any other glass project.
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Awesome video, Steve! Thank you for taking the time to make this. Keep up the great work!
Hope it was useful
@@SteveMakesEverything Yes sir it was. I'm almost ready to place the tube into my laser build. I have to hurry up and get it completed before the warm weather gets here and yard work begins.
@@paultakoy7091 I feel your pain😉
@@SteveMakesEverything what brand of laser did you use, and how many watts will work to etch on a mirror?
Hey Steve! Great vid as usual. When I do drinkware is finish the glass engrave with water and a 3m green scrubbie pad. Works darn good and just another option to the wire brush.
Yes good tip and I’ve used green scrubbing pads as well. Basically anything the has enough roughness to pick the loose glass off the edges of the engraving works
I like doing the back side and letting light shine through
Indeed. I thought about doing this, but the target sign owner is going to put it on a large tree
Thank you. Good to see the software you use. Thanks! How long did the actual engraving take please?
Total engraving on my 90W laser was 29 minutes. More power and higher speed could reduce this quite a bit though. If you have a 40W laser you could probably get this down to around the same time. I’m never in a big rush though 😁
This is great! I have the atomstack x7 and I tasked to etch/engrave an image onto a silicon wafer. The surface has a mirror like finish to it but unlike a mirror, the back isn’t painted, it’s a solid color all the way through. What temp and speed do you suggest. Thanks in advance.
Interesting project. You may be able to just engrave a silicon wafer. It likely won’t react like glass so you’re going to have to experiment. Ideally you get more than one of these so you run trials. If get more than one you can run a material engraving test.
I usually engrave my mirrors from the back, so the engraved image can also be backlit
Yes, this always works too.
Does doing it that way still make the glass frosty? Can you maybe adjust it so that it only burns through the paint layer and aluminum coating but leaving the glass see through? Thanks
Looks amazing Steve, another great job. One question if I may. I read somewhere that mirrored surfaces are not ideal when it comes to laser engraving, unless the surface was taped, I believe it was referring to the laser beam when hitting a mirrored surface. By the looks of your video it was clearly a false statement. Can you possible shed any light on this or what they may have meant. Cheers Steve. 👌👍
If the concern is that the laser will somehow damage the reflective surface, it won’t because glass is very good at absorbing all of the energy. This statement would certainly be true for a diode laser though
@@SteveMakesEverything thanks Steve I really appreciate the input. Cheers 👍
Hey Steve! If this was a diode laser would it get damage if you were engraving from the font is so why?
No it wouldn’t get damaged, though you’d be better to engrave from the back in most applications. I was specifically looking to engrave glass and it just happened to be a mirror.
I was asking in my laser groups and I got mixed responses I'll take what you say since thats where your background was is in.
So you don’t have to mask or coat the mirror? It doesn’t harm the laser to engrave or cut mirror ?
In this case I engraved on the front so there are no vapors. If you engrave from the back you’ll be burning off silver, which I heavy, so that won’t bother your laser either. As far as reflection, you’ll also be ok because where the beam hit, it won’t be a mirror for more than a couple of microseconds before the silver is removed, and while it is a mirror to you, to the laser it is a brick wall.
I am scouring the web for free mirrors...hopefully to have something for craft shows..
If you want free/cheap mirror material contact a local glass company if you can find one. They usually have lots of scraps that they will be happy to get rid of.
no paint? and from the front?
This was done with a CO2 laser, so there is no need for any coating to engrave the glass. You can also reverse the image and engrave the coating on the back of the mirror. It just depends on the effect you are going for.
"... as long as it's co2". Will it come out the same on a diode (allbeit slower and with different settings/passes)?
No, the mirror will reflect the beam back into the laser and destroy the diode. Engrave on the backside of the mirror (inverted) instead, then you won't have the glass splitter, and you can eventually paint the thing you engraved, (if its a rose, use red paint. Looks just great. :-)
@@PerB_M Many thanks!
Have you considered the result if you laser engraved the back of the mirror? I sandblast the reverse side of mirrors. I realize it's a different method that results in a different look. But, the one advantage, in my opinion, of engraving the back, whether it be by laser or blasting with media, is that you don't have to deal with the reflection of the engraving in the backing itself. I personally think that results in a cleaner image.
You could certainly do this though where you engrave, it would stop being a mirror so you’d lose that 3D effect.
As Per mentioned, things that are clear generally remain u touched by diode lasers. Take his recommendation to engrave the back instead.
So I tried engraving mirrors from the front but nothing is engraving. Im using a atomstack p7 m40 with a laser 5.5w. Could it be the power or is there a coating I need to put on the front?
If you are using a diode laser then reverse the image and engrave the back. If you want to engrave on the front of the mirror or glass in general, then you would need to coat the surface
@@SteveMakesEverything ah ok thanks! would you happen to know what kind of coating would work? and what setting from lightburn would work best?
@@Gnoimsayin Your timing is good. I'm currently working on a video to discuss the various ways you can engrave on clear glass. Should be out in the next few days, but as a heads-up start by painting the surface black and engrave that.
@@SteveMakesEverything awesome! And when you say paint. Do you have a recommended paint type? Thanks!
@@Gnoimsayin See my newest video. It is the video I mentioned and there is a link in the description
so how about engraving from the back?? that will be safer
You can do that, though for a mirror this will destroy the reflectivity and the perception of depth
Wait ? Aren’t you suppose to burn on the back of the mirror?
You can for sure. I've done both.
@@SteveMakesEverythingusing a diode it's okay to engrave the front side as long as you're using etching spray or painters tape correct
Have you tried with a diode from the front side?
@@paulraycastillo2238 You have to apply some black paint or some other treatment to the front side to engrave the glass.
@@SteveMakesEverything that's what I thought you had said. If I'm using etching spray will this be okay also? I'm using a 20-watt diode engraving from the front side which is the reflection side.
Nu afectează laserul Oglinda?????....
De ce nu activați și limba Română...la traducere
IMi-ar plăcea să susțin mai multe limbi, inclusiv româna, dar costul traducerilor este foarte mare.
I would love to support more languages, including Romanian, but the cost of translations is very high.
@@SteveMakesEverything mulțumesc frumos.este vorba la. Scris la mesajele tuturor. Eu am laser și îmi este foarte util să învăț ..îți mulțumesc frumos.