A cat hand stylus engraved on a glass.
She also provided the below which talks about:
- what type of patterns she recommends
- how to hand engrave the patterns into the glass
- and how to angle the lightening so you can see what you are doing
If you are engraving bottles, you also might want to check out this idea to hold the pattern in the glass.
More pictures below… Remember to click on each picture to get an enlarged view.
Hello Eric,
You had me thinking when you asked me how and what I do when I do glass engraving. 🙂 I never thought about my techniques before, I started out doing glass etching with cream but it never really did the details I wanted. A friend of mine gave me a diamond bits and a handle and I never put it down, in the future I would like to start sand blasting. I have tried using the dremel but don’t feel I have enough control with it, but still play around with it once in awhile.Using the bits and handle it is easier to use fine crystal, I have found it is harder to use and slips when on hard glass. I have found a lot of old crystal glass in thrift stores and yard sales to learn and practices on them. I also found that it is harder for me to get the 3D effect when you’re doing the way I am and got discouraged a lot. Until one day I used a pencil drawing instead of pictures, I could always draw and felt I do it better maybe this way. I was correct, so now I use drawings I download from the web and use them as my patterns. I put them in the vase or glass and pack it down with cloth to have a tight fit. Lighting is a very important part in doing glass engraving. If your light is not over head you can see shadows and do mistakes. A comfortable place to do this is also very important, because if you’re like me will be sitting for hours without knowing it. I use my bed and put a pillow in my lap to hold the glass, I have a light that swings right over my head and start engraving. I start out using 1mm diamond bit and do a light trace of the object and then do light shading before taking out the pattern. Then with the pattern out I use the dark cloth and use little bit of the rub and buff color wax so I can see all lines clearly. Some kind of house hold cleaner can take it off after you are finished with your glass project, and that’s what I do to with my fun after work 🙂
Here is an elk I did yesterday to figure out what I do exactly so I could write this down.
Thank you for your kind words and I hope this helps others to learn how fun glass engraving can be,
Diane Lee
An elk rotary engraved on a beer mug by Diane Lee.
A flower pattern engraved on a clear flower vase.
A dog design engraved on a flower vase.
I thought Diane did an excellent job and it is unique to see hand engravings without a rotary tool! Please leave her some feedback in the comments below and feel free to ask her any questions. Thank you, Diane!
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This artist is just amazing; I used to etch glass with a (smaller than a dremel) rotary engraver. This woman is doing all this old style – by hand with a stylus & diamond bits – no engravers of any sort. And she’s amazing at it! Do you have any idea how long it would take me to do that? No time at all because I don’t have that kind of patience!
I am sure that these are absolutely amazing, but they are difficult to see. Might I humbly suggest having a professional take your photos, so your amazing gift can be truly appreciated?
Respected Diane
You are doing really awesome art work, you can upload video on you tube to inspire novice engravers like me, Thank you very much for very detailed information
Hey. Diane I think your work is lovely. I use a rotary tool to do my engraving, when I use clear glass I’d use a lite coloured paint (peaele white or silver)to bring out the pattern, that way the pattern pops out at you. Keep up the good work!!!
The art of engraving by hand with a stylus and bit is a lost art. I have tried to engrave glass is the past but I was looking for quick results. This was the wrong approach, I purchased one of those grinders that are advertised to spin @ 400 thousand rpm, again in my case it was the wrong equipment for my attempt. Diane from what I see you are a proven artist and should be very proud of you work.
Very, very nice. My hands shake too much nowadays to do this method. I wish I could try.
What is hand stylus engraving? Work Looks great and I would like to try this. I do all my work by sandblasting.
@Rick, I originally made a mistake in calling this rotary engravings then realized it was hand engraved with a scribe which I changed to stylus as some people referred to in the comments. I now just changed it to hand engraved with diamond bits to prevent confusion. Diane discusses a bit about it in her quote above. Thanks
I have never seen or heard of a diamond scribe. What does something like this look like. Quess I will just goggle it to see if I can find one. Ths
i would like to know how to d o different types of gray in sand blasting. i have a scm sand blaster and have done much blaster. i tried to send you some pictures and thy didn’t go through ,don’t know why.
That’s pretty good. I also used hand tools and then bought myself a Dremal Rotary Tool, went much better after that. The only problem I have is that we do not always get the bits here in Namibia and if we do, they are expensive (we have a weak exchange rate against the US$. Euro and the Pound) The bits also do not last very long so I have had to be careful on the type of glass I am working on.
Have used cream, have sand blasting equipment and now have a turbo carver. Need to learn what each bit is used for.Have made egg cups from the bottom part of a wine bottle, and then engraved a chicken on them. A good article keep them coming.
Very nice ! Love the subjects!
looks s nice work.i have started making glasses out of bottles.i have a problem of polishing them what should i use to have them smooth?
awesome
The pictures are really awesome. I would like to try this method of engraving.
Where can I get the tools.
You can get the tools I use at any art store that sells glass work or go on line to etch world , thank you for all your kind words and looking, Diane
Glass engraving does seam to be a lost art, well more so hand glass engraving.
There are many different ways and styles of glass engraving.
From the old skool hand tool, to etching creams, rotary tools, lasers and sand blasting.
Ive not seen many good results from etching cream glassworks.
Hand engraving work looks so sharp, clean and tight – well depending on what was used.
I know many people use dremels for such but I have found them far to heavy and clumsey, especially for fine details.
Even with a flex shaft it still feels uncomfortable with its stiff awkward cord.
Take a look at the hand engraving glasses by JayEngrave! He uses a micromotor which is an excellent choice for those wanting to keep glass engraving more hands on.
The micromotor also offers more options such as change motor direction and a more advanced speed control.
Diane you do wonderful work on glass.
I would like to offer a small suggestion which I learned when I used to engrave CD cases with exacto blades. I used to carve the dark parts of the patterns on the plastic cases and it always ended being a negative of the positive pattern or picture. Try to copy the light parts instead and you will get a positive piece from a positive pattern or picture.
You are doing great work. Keep going!
like her drive and style excellent hand control like to see a lot more of her work