Over the years I've made several gifts for my friends and family, and I have wanted to make some of these personalized by engraving a little saying or an initial that makes the item more personal. Since I don't have stencles or lettering guids to work with I've come up with a easy and cost effective method to engrave in almost any material, wood, tile, marble, stone and glass.
I go to my word processor and look through the different Fonts that are usable for engraving/etching, select one that suites the contition. Next I set up the font height. I then type what I want to engrave and save the file and print two copies. If I like the way the text has come out on paper, I bring it into my shop and cut around the paper to the size that will work on the engraving surface. Next I spray the back side of the paper with a removable contact glue and let it get tacky. With a twezers, I attach the paper text to the surface and make sure it is thoughly adhered. I generally like to work with ball head diamond bits for the tile, marble, stone and glass. I will next use my StyLo with the smallest ball head I have and with the rotary tools speed at it's slowest speed. Taking short strokes I grind through the paper into the surface making sure I hear the sound of a hard surface getting contacked. This can be a slow process so it will take a lot of patience on my part. Where there are thicker parts I go back and forth several times with my strokes to guarantee depth of cut. When I am complete, I use a razer blade (on Glass or Smooth surface) to remove the left over paper. Then I wash the remaining glue off with lacquer thinner. That's my little contribution for now.
