A fellow subscriber, Steve Davis, sent over this recent multi-stage sandcarving of a couple of flowers. He is looking for feedback on this project, so please leave him a response in the comment section at the end of this post.
I personally think it looks awesome, but he would like any tips on things he can improve upon. Please see the photo he provided below and click to open a larger view of the image to see the detail.
As you can see, the depth control appears to work with the contrast in depths between the different flower petals and leaves. The key to sandcarving like this is not only the etching the front pieces deeper but also to have a contrasting depth between layers on the same level. I like how Steve also did the contrasting depth on the leaves that twist to show the change.
Steve provided the below details on this project:
Glass: 3/8″ plate glass (from a local window company)
Grit: 180 grit silicone carbide
Pressures: 35 psi for deeper stages, progressing to 25 psi for shallower stages
Blast cabinet: Ikonics Imaging CrystalBlast Elite
Mask: 11MIL soft rubber, hand cut
Lighting: LED strip in a wooden base
Design: from Glass Etching II by Dobbins and Oxley
Please leave a comment below!
Thank you so much for sharing this with us Steve! Please leave some comments or suggestions for him below.
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Very impressive! A clear example of attention to detail. Well done!
Wow that is awesome!
Beautiful work
It’s gorgeous. It’s one of the things I’m never going to be able to do with my cream etching, which is so basic compared to this multi-dimensional stuff with sandblasting. I love it and I’m a bit envious 😉
Wow. Brilliant. I do lambasting but mine pales in comparison to yours. Simply excellent.
WOW, that is an absolutely Beautiful piece of art.
Absolutely beautiful. I’d love to do something like that but I’ve only just started sand etching so I really need to get some practice in and need to learn how to do this 3d effect
love the details! Will be trying this in the summer
Awesome. I would really like to try something like this but I shake too much. Keep us in the loop when you do more like this please.
Steve,
I really like how you explained the process of lowering the air pressure to cut shallower. That is information that most people wouldn’t share, and hard to guess. I have been tinkering a bit with 3D carving in 1/2″ acrylic, which allows you to go much deeper into the details, but the cost is higher. I also use an air eraser with 220 grit, for really bringing in the fine veins of leaves, or to cut a deeper outline to enhance the images. I haven’t dared to try this on plate glass for fear of never knowing how deep you really are, and the margin of error (blasting through), scares the crap out of me 🙂
Looks Awesome. Wish I could do half that good
Excellent. Reminds me of Norm Dobbins work.
That’s really 👍🏽! So creative & inspiring!
Steve Davis, I think you did an outstanding job. I truly envy you for it. I once was very good at this sort of thing, and I loved doing it. Don’t let anything stop you from your dreams. Or any one or thing. Just keep on going. I used to do a great job and then I let people convince me of how they think and how I should be doing it. If you feel you are doing good, continue on, and try to do every thing as you feel is right. Unfortunately my age and health has stopped me. Good luck and God Bless.
Joanie Beck
Sorry Steve, I should have said it was the multi Glass flower you posted 4/18 /18
Joanie Beck
Your multi glass flower is amazing. It looks like and gives the feeling of, being soft and velvety just like a real flower pedal.