A trick for glassware.

[Joe Hillmann]

Here is a trick many people here probably already use but I am sure it will be helpful to someone.

When I do beer mugs I do the engraving so that a right handed person will be looking at the engraving while holding the glass by the handle. The problem is the labels that the glass makers put on the glasses are in the way about half the time. The easiest way I have found to deal with the labels is to soak the mugs in water for half an hour or so then the labels peal right off without leaving any residue. If you soak them to remove the labels you then have to hand dry them or they get water-spots.

When you are doing less then a dozen mugs at a time hand drying isn't a real problem but when you are doing hundreds at a time it becomes a real issue.

What I now do when I get stock is fill a utility sink with 3 dozen mugs at a time. As I am filling the sink with water I squeeze in half a small bottle of jet dry into the water. After the mugs have soaked I pull them out one at a time, wipe the labels off, shake off as much water as I can then put the mugs upside down on a counter. Once all the mugs are out of the sink I put in another 3 dozen mugs and start over.

I usually let them try for a day or two before I box them back up and put them in storage. Because I used the jet dry I don't have to hand dry each mug and don't have to worry about water spots on the glasses. As I am boxing them back up I am also pulling out ones that have bubbles in the glass or other defects. That way all of my stock is ready to go right from storage into the laser.

[Bill Cunningham]

I normally engrave mugs so that the image faces away from the drinker when holding the mug. The image is usually there as a advertisement or display of some kind and it would be pointless to face the drinker, rather than the 'outside world'. This way I can offer glasses for both left and right handed drinkers...Good idea on the jet dry.. never thought of that!