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What
is Sandcarving?
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In short, sandcarving
is a method of decorating or personalizing glass, crystal, marble, stone,
and the like. Sandcarving, often referred to as "sandblasting"
has been used for many decades in the decorative and architectural industries.
Stencils for this industry began with designing, tracing, and then hand
cutting or machine plotting in order to produce the image being engraved.
Photo resist technology was first introduced into the market in the early
1980's. The ability to create stencils photographically instead of manually
began to revolutionize the sandcarving industry. Now businesses could
create their own sandcarving stencils in just a fraction of the time it
used to take. Although photo resist film often costs more than traditional
hand cut vinyl and rubber mask materials, the labor and skill involved
with hand cutting cannot compare to photographically reproduced images
able to hold much finer detail.
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How
is it Achieved?
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Sandcarving
is achieved by propelling abrasive (usually aluminum oxide) onto a surface
(usually glass) under compressed air. Wherever the abrasive contacts its
surface, it roughens and subsequently erodes the surface it comes in contact
with. When used with a photomask (a.k.a. a photo resist mask or photo
resist stencil) sandcarving can quickly and effectively reproduce a wide
range of personalization, designs, and logos on numerous surfaces with
phenomenal detail.
Industries Utilizing Sandcarved Products:
| Ad
Specialty |
Stained
Glass |
| Trophies
& Awards |
Glass
Blowers |
| Engravers |
Architectural
Glass |
| Signage |
Restoration |
| Monuments |
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Why
is Sandcarving so Unique?
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In
addition to consistency and detail, sandcarving with a photo resist can
create simple to complex multi-stage carvings in just minutes. Simply remove
different portions of the photo resist one after the other to carve a beautiful,
three dimensional effect. Alternatives such as acid etching, hand cutting,
engraving tools, diamond cutting, wheel cutting, and laser engraving are
either limited in depth, time consuming, expensive, require much skill on
the part of the engraver or all of the above. In contrast, with just a minimal
investment of time and money, the look and feel of sandcarving offers a
much higher perceived value to similar items engraved by these other methods.
Becoming increasingly more popular each year, sandcarved glass, crystal,
marble, granite gifts, trophies and awards are quickly replacing the demand
for wood, metal, and other engraved products.
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