Topic: I have another question about etching & engraving

[caterer]

Hi
could someone tell me the difference, I am trying to work out if my glassware is etched or engraved, how do you tell
the design is of corn heads and leaves
if you need a photo let me know, but I am not sure how much of the design will show.

[jsmeasell]

If it's engraved (with copper wheel or electric pen), you should be able to tell that the lettering or decorative motif is slightly below the outermost surface of the glass. If the area is of sufficient size, you should feel some texture with a sensitive finger tip.

If it's etched (done with acid), the lettering or motif will feel silky smooth and will not appear to be below the rest of the surface.

Looking at the edges of the engraving/etching with a magnifying glass will help, too. Engraving will often have a jagged look while etching tends to be smooth.

[Frank]

More modern times have seen the demise of acid etching for sand-blasting. Similar feel to etched but when you inspect closely, the pits (impact craters) become visible. While the sand-blast process was invented in US, c1870. It really took of by the 1980s as it is faster, cheaper and more enviromentally friendly. Very delicate results are possible.

Engraving remains one of the great crafts that remains in the Art and the Craft worlds, more so than in production as in the past.

[jsmeasell]

We call it "blasting" at Fenton, but we don't use sand. I don't know what was used in the late 19th/early 20th centuries in the US, but the examples I've seen of crystal tumblers with blasted designs are fairly rough looking.

We use aluminum oxide crystals that are graded into various levels of grit (much like sandpaper). After we blast an item all-over, it's washed and rinsed and placed in an ultrasonic bath. Nonetheless, the surface doesn't get to that silky feel we got with acid, a process we halted in 1990.

[caterer]

Thank you all for your imput, it has now put me on the right tracks, my items are engraved.

Excellant  :thup: