Posted by Mike Jackson on February 14, 2004
Yesterday, I made a small panel to try out Pat Mackle's process of chipping right up against an etched line. I "think" I did everything as he described, but I got a few chipped areas in the etched lines. (For new people reading this post, click on the link below to see a post from January 30th regarding an interesting chipped process.)
Pat Mackle told us how he did the panels about 20 years ago and I followed his instructions. Some glue did slip under the contact paper, and according to Pat, the glue "can't" chip there. When I asked why it "can't", said it was because the glue under the contact paper wouldn't dry. In my experiment, it dried and it chipped in places.
So, I am back asking for more details (from Pat). The easy suggestion would be to paint asphaltum down in the grooves prior to applying the clear contact paper, and I am 100% positive that would stop the chipping action, but it would require some extra effort and extra clean up.
I know I could write Pat directly in emails, but I figured it would be best if done here on the forum so all could see my problem areas and hopefully his reply.
Pat mentioned he used to do 50 pieces of that decorative door glass at a time. Wow...this process takes quite a bit of hand cutting and general hands-on time. I'm impressed!
Mike Jackson
Patrick
Hi Mike,
Sorry your first attempt had problems. You seemed to get alot of glue under your mask. Remember that I mentioned that Contact isn't the same as it used to be, now its "repositionable" (less agressive glue). However I still use it, just takes a little more burnishing. Also you may have applied the glue slowly with a squeeze bottle. I quickly sqeegeed it on and immediately placed it before box fans which quickly gelled the glue, effectively sealing air into the grooves instead of liquid glue seeping in. Another factor may have been that the panels were allowed to chip under low dry heat , the process took about 10 hours (overnight) Any glue in the grooves was still too hydrated to chip.
Most importantly is to cut against one side of the groove so that the masking will "bridge" the groove allowing the glue to be restricked to the surface.
Give it a couple more goes and I'm sure it will go better.
Pat
Carharine C. Kennedy
Danny BaronianSlick! My question is: how do you etch the outline to get a groove? Something new to try!
Mike Jackson - Deep OutlinesCatharine,
if your cutting your mask on a plotter, outline the design you want to chip with a .005 outline. It depends on the look you want, I think Mike was after an effect similar to the post he made of the door. I'd say Mike's outline is around 3/32 - .0937. Cut the mask in reverse, strip just the thin outline and blast a grove, deeper than what you would normally frost. Strip the balance of the design and frost for glue chipping.
Mike has included the instructions for the rest on a post below. What this thin grove gives you is a groove to run your exacto in once the glue has been applied. You have to catch the glue just before it hardens up. Do a couple of sample pieces and you'll get an idea of when to cut. Cut the glue too early and it re-heals, and you'd never know you made a cut. Too late and the glue's too hard to cut. In between and the cut is obvious, and the excess glue can be stripped.
Hope this helps.
Danny
Mike Jackson - Full image shot - In progressThe deep outlines around my lettering were .05". The entire panel is 11" x 14" to give you some scale. The letters are about 1.75" tall. Yes, I was trying to reproduce the effect Pat Mackle got on the doors at the Wort Hotel here in town.
I have two more in the works....more news as it happens.
Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson - Final Clear Glass ShotHere's a photo of the front side of the glass prior to the glue getting hard and beginning to chip. It is setting on my lighted drawing table.
You can see the contact paper still on the glass with glue on the frosted letters, but hopefully not too much down in the deep etched grooves.
At this point, I was still optimistic that things were going correctly.
Mike
The last couple of stubborn areas chipped tonight and I snapped this shot. On a scale of 1-10, I probably got an 8 or 9, but I did get a few plinks in the grooves around the letters. Some glue that had slipped into the outlines was too thin to have enough power to chip, so it actually came out better than I had expected earlier today. When I ran warm water over it, I was able to clean out all the remaining glue.
Apparently Danny Baronian and I were doing projects at the same time, without knowing it, and he tells me his piece didn't have glue in the lines. After quite a long discussion, we can conclude he waited quite a bit longer to cut and peel his glue than I did. I took my piece outside in the 8 degree cold for about 5 minutes, then brought it in and cut the edges and peeled the extra glue off the contact paper. Danny waited until the glue was much tougher. Apparently, when he peeled the excess glue, it was tough enough to pull the glue out of the grooves.
At this point, I think I need to do two more. One would be basically the same but waiting much longer to peel the glue. In the other one, I would use a #3 quill and paint asphaltum in the groove and a bit onto the glass. At this point, I would have a choice to cover the entire contact paper area with glue, OR use the squirt bottles and apply glue just on the letters or ornamental areas. If I were doing the second version, I like the idea of the bottles. In that case, I wouldn't even need the contact paper.
The down sides of using asphaltum is it would take some brush skills, and it would be messier to clean up at the end. The up side would be the issue of squirt bottle application of the glue. You can do that ANYTIME after the asphaltum dried, and then walk away and forget it. You wouldn't have to stick around to wait to cut the glue at the precise time.
I am also considering the possibility of a tiny bit of soap or glycerin, painted in with a brush, then application of the glue with the plastic squirt bottle. Not much clean up afterwards on that process.
Mike Jackson
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads