Looking for instruction on the Laser Cutter

[Zach Wick]

Hello everybody,
I have an idea for a project where using the laser cutter would be hugely advantageous:
  I make a lot of homemade wine/beer/etc.
  Instead of making paper labels for each bottle in each batch, I would like to sandblast a design into the glass bottle
  I would like to make a design for the stencil using my computer and then cut the stencil out of some kind of sticker material using some automated tool
  I would then stick the sticker stencil to the bottle, and hit it with the sandblaster real quick

That being so, I have a few questions:
1. Is it possible to use the laser cutter to cut vinyl sticker material (or something similar)?
2. If it is possible, could somebody please instruct me on how to use the laser cutter?
       (I see on the wiki that the class is offered on the 4th Saturday of the month, but will be unable to attend this month's class)

Thanks,
Zach

[Zach Wick]

Re-reading the wiki article specifically mentions NOT cutting vinyl with the laser cutter, so my sticker material would be paper based instead.

[Tyler Worman]

I don't think you can do vinyl on the laser cutter because of the materials it contains off gas.

If you really need vinyl we can get a drag knife for the cnc machine which are designed to make vinyl for signs or i3 has a proper vinyl cutter.

    - Tyler

[zachar...@gmail.com]

My only reason for initially using vinyl was thinking about making a vinyl stencil sticker. I now will use a paper stencil sticker as it (should) be cheaper to acquire, and will get destroyed by the sandblasting anyway.

[Dana Nelson]

We have a class this Saturday on how to do such things. One issue I see is the curved surface of the bottle, but we can look into such things.

[zachar...@gmail.com]

WRT Curve of bottle:

My test runs from last night using the extra stickers from my canoe registration numbers worked great. Obviously the area around the letter was "frosted" and I would like to do the inverse - frost only the text. I found that a sticker stencil stuck on the bottle works well; as long as the edges are stuck down completely.

WRT to Saturday's class:

I would love to attend that class, but I will be attending a friend's wedding, hence my request for individual instruction. I will reimburse my instructor with beverages/food/something though :)

-Zach

[Dana Nelson]

I can certainly do that. Any weekday is good for me.

--
Dana Nelson

All Hands Active

AHAkids Class Coordinator

[Michael Shvartsman]

Before going the sandblasting route I would just see how just lasering the bottle looks. Assuming it's regular glass susceptible to thermal shock, you'll get a frosted look. If you find that you get too much inconsistency between middle and sides, you could try making the sides darker in your image editor. If the etch overall isn't deep enough, then you could try sandblasting. 

You can get PVC-free laser masking tape here: http://www.laserbits.com/. It runs something like 50 bucks for half a foot wide by 100 feet long, which is pricey, but with much less stinky death. You could also try blue painter's tape or white masking tape, though you might need to take goo-gone to it afterwards as you will have some glue residue. 

I don't know about you, but I tend to like reusing my homebrew bottles when I can -- this is an option you have with labels but not with lasering. One potential solution: laser the bottles with a consisitent label ('Zach's beer' or something more clever) and laser the caps with individual brew labels. Actually now that I think about it, I'm totally going to do that :). 

Mike. 

[Josh Williams]

Might be hard to fit anything thicker than ~2" and still get decent focus from the laser, so entire bottles would be hard. Could still be fun to try : )

Nate Dotz had some experience awhile back engraving onto shot glasses awhile ago, that turned out pretty sexy!

Bottle caps, awesome!. 

 - Josh W.

[Greg Austic]

I would be careful lasering glass if you use the cut setting (vector setting).  I've done it, and it makes a small channel with lots of little cracks around the channel - be aware you may lose some structural stability after lasering this way.  I've also shattered glass on the laser (with high power and slow speed... it looked cool but probably not what you're going for ) so if you're going to do it use relatively low power.  

Engraving works great.

Also, consider just getting larger size sticky clear or white paper from Avery and just print your labels - it's less fun than lasering, but may be easier for you unless you have really fancy stuff you want to do that really requires the laser's awesome superpowers :)

Another option is to use a vinyl cutter if you're really set on vinyl, though fine details will take a while to pick off the base sheet.

Greg

[Michael S]

Can I bring up, not everything has to be laser cutter. Potential  solution, laser cut the shape in a thicker paper, then manually cut the shape out with an exacto blade, using the grooves created by the laser cutter in the paper to get the shape easier. If that makes sense? Basically you'd be cutting little paths for the blade. It will take a bit longer, but if you're making only  afew things it could be a better meothod. 

Michael Senkow

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M.S. in Information '13

Human-Computer Interaction

M.S. Arch. in Digital Technology '13

Partial M.Arch.

University of Michigan 

Mech. Eng. and Tech. Comm. dual B.S.
Michigan Technological University

Alumni of Mu Beta Psi
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Michael H. Senkow | 906.281.4672