Finally something worth a couple bucks!

[Wesley Perreira]

I've been reading everything I can on the forum and the net about laser engraving ceramic tile and after many failures, I had almost given up. Today I went and bought a handfull of 6 x 6 inch HD tiles, white colored and thought I'd give it another go. I used 85 power/100 speed/600 dpi on a 75 watt laser and I could see the etching after it was done. I then applied acrylic paint, like previous posts said to do and used a business card to wipe the excess off. I then let it dry and busted my knuckles taking most of the paint off, I guess I did it too hard. I tried two more times and didn't get any better results. The fourth time I applied paint, I did not let it dry and gently massaged it with a soft cloth and wouldn't you know it, it worked. As as continued to wipe it, the paint seemed to dry in the correct places and here you have it. A photo of my mother-in-law's horse on a $.60 HD tile. I was a little suprised by the results and not quite ready to give up on HD tile.

Thank you forum for the information!

[James Jaragosky]

I've been reading everything I can on the forum and the net about laser engraving ceramic tile and after many failures, I had almost given up. Today I went and bought a handfull of 6 x 6 inch HD tiles, white colored and thought I'd give it another go. I used 85 power/100 speed/600 dpi on a 75 watt laser and I could see the etching after it was done. I then applied acrylic paint, like previous posts said to do and used a business card to wipe the excess off. I then let it dry and busted my knuckles taking most of the paint off, I guess I did it too hard. I tried two more times and didn't get any better results. The fourth time I applied paint, I did not let it dry and gently massaged it with a soft cloth and wouldn't you know it, it worked. As as continued to wipe it, the paint seemed to dry in the correct places and here you have it. A photo of my mother-in-law's horse on a $.60 HD tile. I was a little suprised by the results and not quite ready to give up on HD tile.

Thank you forum for the information!

Gad too see You were too stuborn to give up.
BTW the tile looks great, nice work, and thanks for the settings and paint tips.

[Frank Corker]

Well done Wesley, hope your knuckles recover from the trauma!

[Ross Lowry]

I have heard of people putting on a thin layer of wax, then engraving it, paint, and then just wipe away the paint.
I have never tried this process.
I would think the wax would melt and fill the crevices up.
Would anyone like to comment on this process?
One thing you could do is just take masking tape and cover the tile, engrave, paint, and peal the tape away.

[Richard Rumancik]

I have reservations about using masking tape for photos. It works fine for text and some line art but when you have thousands of .003 diameter dots, you need to have the paint penetrate the hole in the mask, adhere to the tile, and not adhere to the mask (otherwise it will pull off with the mask). Wiping the excess paint when wet or tacky is the method generally used, but people have different tricks to remove the excess (and ensure you don't wipe paint out of the recesses.)

It may be possible to find a coating that would act as a mask, so that the laser would ablate the mask and cut into the tile, and then allow easy removal of the excess paint. I agree that wax doesn't seem like the right thing for this. Some people use floor wax on wood prior to engraving but I think tile would call for something else. Possibly a lacquer of some type would work. But of course you need to have an easy way to strip the lacquer (without affecting the photo) or you haven't gained anything . . .

[Tim Bateson]

I use Home Depot tile all the time. Simple graphics I usually will laser through painter's tape. For everything else, I use car wax. Laser, then hand paint if multi-color, or spray if all one color. The paint will still stick, even with the wax, if left to dry. I usually will let it dry for just afew minutes, then buff the tile clean. Most of the black & white is usually gray & white, but very well received. I'll sometimes put a clear finish over. I've even antiqued a few using Spar Urethane. An accident of-course, when I grabbed the wrong can.

[Zeev Goldin]

Great Job.
So before You filled it with Acrylic paint it didn't look good?

[Dave Johnson29]

Does the laser, for want of a better word, etch the surface of the tile then the paint fills it?

How much power is required? I know the OP has 75W but is this possible with 25W?

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Another simple option is to use Calligraphy Ink or India Ink on the HD tile after lasering. Swab it on with a Q-tip. Let it dry. Then wipe it off with various solvents. I spray denatured alcohol directly on the tile and wipe with a paper towel until the surface wipes clean. The ink remains in the lasered areas and does not leave any residue on the surface.

Different inks produce different shades of black or gray.

Dim lighting, in a hurry, and ancient camera do not do the photo of this tile justice.

[Tim Bateson]

Rastering a tile will blast away the surface, leaving you with unglazed tile for the paint to stick to. For my 35watt Epilog I use: 50 speed 100 power 600 DPI 3D mode
Sometimes these are inconsistent and require a send pass.

[Dave Johnson29]

Rastering a tile will blast away the surface, leaving you with unglazed tile for the paint to stick to.

Thanks Tim.

I will get some tiles and give it a shot.

[Darren Null]

Does the laser, for want of a better word, etch the surface of the tile then the paint fills it?

Yes. You need to dig in deep enough to get deep enough pits for the paint to sit in. Too shallow and I've found that you wipe it all away when cleaning the excess off.

And I can do it with a 10W, so you should be fine. Takes ages on mine though (100%P 1%S)

Also, run the tile/marble under the tap after etching and get rid of all the dusty detritus in the etched pits then leave to dry before painting...the paint or whatever will stick much better then. I did one job before finding this out and all the paint lifted in patches. Gave it a nice antiquey feel after I nailbrushed the patches off and restored it, but it was a nightmare to do.

[fred sanchez]

do u guys use photograv on your pictures befor you send it to the laser ?
if so what settings do you use in photograv?

thanks guys

[Wesley Perreira]

Yes I use Photograv 3.0 and saw somewhere on this forum to use the Cherry Wood setting. Seems to work well on HD tile.

[Tim Bateson]

No - Using Photograv for glass/tile is waste of time. The fine details that Photograv provides is lost on glass & tile.