Mirror welcome sign that is etched with a cat and lit up with blue LEDs.
Steffen from Denmark submitted these photos of his etched mirror welcome sign. We have featured others that used LEDs to light up the etching on mirrors such as this project by Dana and this one by Ernie.
The cool thing about Steffen’s project is he used a color changing LED setup. I noticed from the photos he sent me that there was a remote next to the project which looks like the exact same setup I purchased from Amazon shown here. The remote allows you to select the color to display from a distance and even make it flash. The colors can flash in a sequence of all the colors too! He shared the photos of what it looks like in other colors below.
He shared the below details:
I cut my stencil out in oramask 831, remember to mirror it before cutting, and then I place it in the back of the mirror, and sandblasting it with aluminum oxide grit 180, after that i place led light in the back of the mirror.
LED mirror etching that is lit up with purple, green and a orange or reddish color lights.
As you may know, etching the reverse side of mirrors with the sandblasting process, allows the paint and silver lining to be removed from the stencil. Etching mirrors are a great way to reveal a lighted sign because the light is only shown through the removed silver areas.
Please leave Steffen some comments below for sharing with us all! Also, feel free to ask either of us any questions. Thanks!
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Can you only etch the reverse side of a mirror with sandblasting?
@Nathalie, you can etch the front too and looks good as shown in this example here: https://www.glassetchingsecrets.com/blog/mirror-etching/
The benefit to etching the backside is so we can let the lights show through. However, we could probably lit up the etching by placing the leds on the outside so the light shines through the edges of a thick glass mirror. I have been wanting to try that, especially with normal thinner mirrors to see how well it works.
can you use anything else but sandblasting to etch the mirror?
I love the versatility of all methods and techniques of glass etching, and these two ways with mirrors says there are an endless amount of ideas using and selling to commercial businesses, items that could help them get noticed, and attract more customers. That is one of the ways I am going to make money, and no business person will reject listening to your idea if you can help them increase their business.
Hi has anyone answered Nathalie’s question? I might try acid etching to see if it works
Hi
How did you but the leds on the backing?
@Frank, no they haven’t answered my question and I might try the cream to see if it will work.
You can use a dremel to etch the back of the mirror. I’ve done a couple that way. Then you need to box the rear of the mirror so the light reflects out the front.
@Nathalie, as Tony stated, you can use the rotary engraving process. The acid cream won’t be able to etch through the back of the mirror paint and silvering. I don’t believe the more hazardous Hydrofluoric acid would eat through it either.
Steffen thank you for sharing
Superb i like it. thanks, Robert