Etched Acrylic for Amp Rack

This is sort of a stereo install / boat question...

Anyone ever Etched Acrylic? I've attempted once to do it and I think I went too deep so it looks kind of off --

What is the procedure to etch acrylic with a dremel? Use low speed settings? Etching Dremel bit? How "deep" do you make the etching...?

I'm going to be using focused LEDS to create a "glow" on the acrylic....

Etching or what is called "Frosting" to plexy glass can be done by sanding the surface.

Etching is somthing that is done by sandblasting or a Etching cream.

You can also get stickers that are made from frosted vinyl that will give plexy glass a etched or sandblasted finish look when light is put to them. This is a example of a etched or frosted sticker

Kris from Wakespecialtys has mad amp racks and used a CnC machine to make custom logos that are engraved in the plexy they look awesome, Here is another picture of how Frosting works with light
the first pic is the ring 1/2 frosted and you can see the light shines where the ring is frosted the second oic is where the ring is totaly frosted

we use elit plexiglas and a v bit to etch the plex. the image is reversed in the engraving process so the front of the plex is smooth (the image is cut into the back) if that makes any sense. you also need to be prepared to hit it hard with your led's. we used 18 shining up and 18 shining down on this piece. i need to take some pics of some other sign stuff we have done - the beauty of cnc is if you can draw it......

Hey Wakespeciality that looks sweet!!!, what CNC software are you using to run the program. I have access to a CNC machine. Did you use another program like Autocad or adobe then .dxf it out or did you actuality to it draw it in the CNC software program. I tried to .dxf a file to a CNC software program called Geopath but the lines were not smooth but came out with jagged edges. Any help like a web site or program name would be helpful. Would like to mess around with making logo’s or other stuff. Thanks if you could help out.

i got a vinyl decal plotter that has really good software with auto-trace. anything that i can scan or open in illustrator is opened, converted to path (curves) and saved as a .dxf. we're starting to mess with variable depth and sides of the etching with different colors and coming up with some crazy s stuff. the cnc we use is an axys out of canada and the software i believe is straight 3D AC.

although, i must say, i think the best part of the above rack is the hand braiding of the 4 gage.

WakeSpecialty,
What does a CNC cost? Are those things uber expensive?

I did the frosting like Grant.

I know a guy here locally that just picked up a CNC router bed that has a 6 inch vertical range. (depth)

I believe he paid $15k for it.

I'm working on becoming closer friends with him.

zack - did you do chemical or actually sand it? (via hand or dremel? )


craig - haha, definately

Zack's boat has a frosted sticker.
and it looks very nice.

Clayton - I'm not sure how it was done. That was the one piece of the install I didn't do myself. I used Grand Prairie TX Audio for it. I'm pretty sure they sandblasted it.

My brother in law owns a business that cuts decals for boats, cop cars, trucks, etc.

He buys that stuff by the rolls, and cuts it all the time to mimic etched glass. He does a mirror image, so its sticks on the back. The best part is that all you have to do is send a picture with an email, and thats all they need.

Open the phone book and look for a automotive sign company, and ask them if they have frosted glass material. They will.

Cheap, probably under 20 bucks, and you can always change it.