Marking on Glass

Every time I go to a store that sells markers, I try to buy a couple of new ones. To test to see if a marker is good for writing on glass, write on the cap of the marker: make a line, let it dry for a second or two then wipe it off with your finger. If the line stays and doesn't smudge you have a good one. If the line blurs a little, repeat the test only this time blow on it, then wipe. If it still blurs, the line disappears completely, the line beads up or wipes off with water (a little spit on your finger works OK), that marker is not for you. I found writing on the cap method works best, because you need a glass like surface, or at least non-porous. A metal shelf is ideal, but the people at the store may not think so. There are quite a few good markers for glass. These are some of the markers I found that works best:

Staedtler Lumocolor 318 permanent FINE - So far it works the best for me it's almost water proof at times.
Pilot permanent Ultra Fine Point - A good all around marker, doesn't grind to well though, it tends to float away.
Identi-pen 441 series permanent FINE/EX-FINE - This one comes with 2 ends I've only used the ex-fine end though. It also tends to float when grinding, and tends to easily wipe off when wet.
Pentel MF50 permanent SUPER FINE POINT - This was originally going to be my 2'nd choice under the Staedtler. But it tends to just about die if it touches some flux.
Sharpie permanent EX-FINE - A good marker to start with, cheap, and it does write on glass. However if a tiniest little drop of flux touches it, it dies instantly. If water hit's it, it just dies more slowly. And it doesn't grind well either. But if you want to repair a project this is a good marker.
Pilot Super Color permanent EX-FINE GOLD - This is the marker of choice if you want to do a lot of grinding or cutting with a band saw. It doesn't wash off in water, so you can mark pieces and it should stay after soldering. This marker is a paint marker, so if your young the guy behind the counter may not sell it to you, because it can count as a graffiti device, but I don't see how it's so tiny. To clean this stuff off the glass use nail polish remover, paint thinner, lacquer thinner, or any other foul smelling solvent should work. These markers don't last for a real long time and they are expensive, but it's so far the best marker I have for grinding. Color is up to you, I choose gold because it shows up well on almost any glass I choose. Black is no good because it won't show up on black or dark glass. White doesn't work either for the same reasons the black doesn't.

GENERAL MARKING
Marking on glass that you can't see though can be difficult. Light boxes only go so far and cutting patterns out can take some time. I use the light box method when I work with glass, then trace the outline onto the glass. But on darker colors it can be much more difficult.

For those glasses I use carbon paper. Even though the glass is dark, you can still see the lines from the carbon paper because you can see the lines as having no reflection. To make it easier to use, I put the glass on the light box (lit), then put the carbon paper on top of the glass, then put the pattern on top of the paper. Trace as you would before. Remove the pattern and you'll see your lines. The important step however is to retrace all the lines with marker because the carbon paper lines will rub off. However tracing these lines may gum up your marker.

If you choose to use the cut out method, instead of heavy paper, try using acetate or some other clear plastic. This way you can see the grain of the glass as you cut.

HOW TO SIGN YOUR WORK (For a more complete explanation see How To Sign Your Work

I've used and seen many methods. These are the ones I know of and there good and bad sides.

A simple marker signature. It's easy and fast to do but it wipes off way to easily.
A Paint marker. It does work well, and it does look nice, but it too can wipe off, it'll just take a little longer.
A carbide scribe. It does scratch the glass, but it was primarily designed for metal. Basically you just don't have any control when signing.
A diamond scribe. It works a lot better than carbide, it has a better bite, but it doesn't have a lot of control either.
An electric engraver (the carbide tipped, vibrating type).This is the one I use right now. It's fast and easy but makes a loud awful buzzing sound. On lighter glasses, I rub magic marker in to the scribed line, then rub the excess off. This will give me a nice dark looking name.
A diamond electric engraver. I personally don't have this one yet, so I really can't say how well it works. I'm going to assume it works pretty well sincet the tip is diamond, like using a tiny grinder.
The copper plate method. This is a Tiffany method. You would have to get copper plates made up with your name on it though. Then just solder it on. It will give it a very professional look although it would look stupid if it were on a suncatchers.

When I sign my work other than my name I also put the date on it as well. So I know when they were made, and so will the future art collectors.

OTHER THINGS THAT WORK ON GLASS
These are other things that will stick to glass (paints and such):

I found that fabric paint (the dimensional kind) will stick to glass pretty well. However if you scratch at it, it will peel off.
Model paint sticks really well, and it sticks very to metal also.
Glass paint will of course stick, so you can get some pretty good results with it. The kind I'm referring to is the kind they sell as "stained glass kits" which use paint rather than actual colored glass.
Deka makes a good paint. The type I like best is DEKA Gloss. It's water based so it's easy to clean up. The gloss paint is a solid paint (opaque). It's a very strong paint, hard to scrape off, and it can cover just about anything.
Nail polish works really well. In fact that magic paint stuff they sell in stained glass stores is basically just nail polish. Although the advantage of buying the other stuff is that you get more colors, I've gotten nail polish from lots of garage sales, for around 10 cents each.

TECHNIQUES FOR FINDING MARKERS THAT ARE GOOD ON PAPER
Basically, I put it down on the piece of paper without moving it and I then see if it absorbs into the paper forming a marker puddle. If it passes this test, draw some lines with it and see if it feels good and it doesn't make any scratching noises (glides across the surface smoothly.) Then draw a very quick line from the top of the paper to the bottom and see if the marker runs out of ink towards the bottom. This is a ruler test because you need to have a nice bold line when you use a ruler.

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Last modified March 14, 1997

Started on 9-22-98