I finally got around to trying out my MC Etcher set and since I can’t do anything basic I started out with a rather large piece of glass. I did take it small and do a little bit at a time to make sure things were going well and the inner ring and first section came out looking great!
So I continued to the next outside section and this is where I started noticing some issues. I don’t know if my glass wasn’t flat enough, it’s just cheap plate glass from an old frame, but i started having sections that weren’t etching cleanly, or even at all.
I stopped the job, lowered the z-height, and started over and it did get a pretty clean result, though there are definitely some areas that it didn’t get as completely.
Then I started to do the next outer section and I noticed that it wasn’t even marking the glass on most of it. I could hear that it wasn’t scratching and when I looked closely, it was barely leaving a mark, even though the tip was pretty well compressed into the shaft.
I took the bit out, tightened the pre-load spring, and tried again but I definitely did it too much because it really gouged the glass. So then I backed it off and tried some more but it still wasn’t doing anything much, even with the tip very compressed and the pre-load being increased.
Everything I’ve done up to this point was on the 120deg tip and I’ve started making some test squares to see the difference between the 120 and the 90. Based on how the 90 is doing, I’m wondering if I “used up” the 120 already with my other tests.
So I’m wondering if anyone has any info about how long I can expect one of these to last and if there are things I can do to make sure to prolong the lifespan. I do wonder if my accidental heavy spring setting prematurely damaged the bit but even before that point it was having issues, which was the whole reason I tried messing with the spring.
My latest tests finished and this is why I’m wondering the lifespan of these bits. The top 6 are the never-before-used 90deg bit and the bottom 6 are the 120deg that I just etched a pretty good size design with.
Use the default CC depth of cut which I think is .015. That should be enough to compensate for wavy glass. Since I used the top of stock, I found I had to reset the top for each piece of glass.
As you found the spring is the real cut control. I start at 1/4 from the top and work from there a 1/4 turn at a time.
I don’t know if someone found a replacement tip or spring.
I started with the default depth and adjusted at first but then realized it probably should be the spring. it’s good to know you had good success wtih that depth. I’ll probably focus on adjusting the spring only in the future.
I do remember a while ago seeing a post where they pointed out that the main cost of the bit was the tip so there wasn’t any real benefit to selling a replacement tip since it wouldn’t save much of anything.
I don’t have a lot of experience but I have only used cast acrylic glass and it has worked perfect with no sign of wear after quite a bit of cutting. It would be hard to even distinguish this type of acrylic glass from stand glass panels on anything I have made.
