Crystal glass engraving has never been easier (ANY DIODE LASER CAN DO IT) + BONUS(How to convert Bitmap to Vector SVG)

I clean most of the glass for engraving with tap water without using any detergents. However, some manufacturers coat their glass with a protective silicone layer, which prevents us from achieving excellent results. If you're not satisfied with the result (photo attached), treat the glass with a glass degreaser and rinse with water.

For coating I use uVeans paint for glass engraving. 

You can find it here:
If you are in USA, buy here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F18WSPR8

If you're not from the USA, buy here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/358320835509

How to coat, by hand or using airbrush?

The first way is using AirBrush. 

It's much easier than doing it by hand, but you'll need an AirBrush(you can find a lot of types on Amazon for about ~20 bucks). You need to mix the paint with regular water in a ratio of approximately 60% paint, 40% water to get the consistency shown in video #3. When applying to glass, I usually use two coats. The first coat is light, so the paint adheres to the glass. Let the paint dry (if your room is warm, about 10 minutes), then apply the second coat. Ready glass should look like photo #2.

The second way is coating by hand and standart brush.

 This method isn't very difficult, but it does require some practice. In this case, the paint shouldn't be mixed with water; instead, it should be used in its original form. You just need to wet the paint a little in water, then soak the paint into the brush and you can apply the coating. Processing on video #1 and result should looks like photo #1. 

Regardless of the method you used, the paint needs to dry (in warm rooms this happens quite quickly).

P.S. You can prepare your glass in advance so that you can quickly start placing orders later.

P.S.2. The paint consumption using an airbrush will be much (5x) cheaper, and therefore more profitable than applying it by hand.

In step number 3 we begin engraving.

1) Once the paint has dried, we can begin engraving. For example, I'll use an old-fashioned whiskey glass and engraving using rotary.

Machine - Xtool F1 Original/F1 LITE (10W diode laser)

Rotary - RA2 PRO - Chuck method

IMPORTANT: use ONLY Diode laser for glass engraving. The settings I will now demonstrate apply directly to GALVO lasers, such as Xtool/ LaserPecker. For GANTRY lasers like WeCreate etc, please find information in the end of the step.

2) For a perfect result, we need to achieve the ideal focal length for our product. With xtool, this is simple: connect two dots (blue and red in one spot). 

IMPORTANT: Specify the diameter or perimeter of the glass in Xtool soft.

Once you have installed your glass, adjusted the focal length, upload your design.

All designs I do must be vector (.svg), NOT A BITMAP (IMAGE). Please check step 4 to understand the difference beetwen vector and bitmap.

3) After your desing uploaded to XTOOL (STUDIO OR XCS) you must use this settings(for XTOOL F1 10W):

Laser  - BLUE (DIODE) 

Power - 85%

Speed - 80 mm/sec

Lines per cm - 240 lines

Pass - 1

Bi-directional

These settings have been tested thousands of times and work perfectly if all conditions are met.

For any other diode laser like F1 ULTRA, F2, F2 ULTRA or any different brand, you must do the test grid and find the best settings for you, BUT it will be very close to my settings. For example for F2 ULTRA it will be: 50%/120 mm/sec/240 lines etc. - ALL OF THIS FOR GALVO LASERS

SETTINGS FOR GANTRY LASERS LIKE: WeCret 40W, Icube 12W etc

Your laser type uses speed in mm/minute, not mm/sec, which is very important! Please convert the settings to minutes! For example 80 mm/sec is 4800 mm/minute!

Don't breathe in alcohol vapors! Don't listen to those who recommend alcohol-removable coating. JUST THE WATER and sponge. SO EASY.