Engraving vs Etching

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I have a 120 degree McEtcher and some 0 bit 1/8" endmills. If I am trying to make a lit acrylic sign, which way, either engraving or etching with an endmill works the best?

Sign will be about 10" x 15" with led lighting from bottom and all the filled areas will be cross-hatched.

Ideas?

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Here are some examples I’ve done in the past. Both could be vastly improved upon with some time and effort but it gives a good idea of starting points:

Etched:

Milled:

And a fella who put in the time to surface his spoilboard before etching, note the consistency of the lighting compared to my etched example:

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What did you use for a light source ? Looks great.

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Thank you kindly. It was a kit Carbide 3D used to sell. Looks like they don’t offer it anymore?

Regardless, you can get em on amazon or whatever you prefer. Just search “acrylic edge lit sign kit” and you’ll see them.
Here’s a random example for reference: Baquler 4 Set 3D LED Night Light Lamp Base Gift DIY 3D Clear Acrylic Blank Engrave Sheets with Remote Control USB Cable 16 Color 4 Mode for Room Cafe Bar Birthday Valentine's Day Decoration(Round) - Amazon.com

They are surprisingly easy to make yourself as well if you want to edge light bigger projects. You wouldn’t have any large scale acrylic projects laying around now would you :thinking:

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A consideration for a large project is a back etched clear acrylic using one of the contour maps…
Not ready yet.

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Appreciate all the input. Will be cutting this weekend and building my own base out of walnut and led strip lights.

Thanks