Etching your own Yeti/RITC/Ozark Trail cup/mug/tumbler

If you have an air compressor you are half way into the monetary investment to have everything you need to etch your own cups. After getting the artwork I want, to etch something like this takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.



Next big ticket item after the air compressor you need is a vinyl cutter. Mother's day is coming up. If your wife loves to do that arts and crafts shite she sees in Pinterest buy her a Silhouette Cameo (~$250) or Silhouette Portrait (~$150). You can sometimes pick them up on woot or on Amazon even cheaper. I paid $179 for my Wife's Cameo. I've seen the portrait as cheap as $99. They are super simple to use. You can cut card stock, paper, fabric, etc. She's made all sorts of crap with it. It's saved me a lot of money and time now she makes a lot of gifts and presents for other people with it. No more wandering aimlessly through a store looking for some crap for her sister for her Birthday. It's been quite handy to have around the house. I've cut out my own boat registration numbers. Use it to etch AR15 lowers. etc.






To etch the cup I use the vinyl as a mask on the cup and an air eraser from Harbor Freight to do the etching. An air eraser is basically a cross between a sand blaster and an air brush. I bought it to originally clean some rust off of small gun parts. A little more than $20 if you use a HF 20-25% off coupon.

Harbor Freight Air Eraser

Cut vinyl to be used as a mask.



Place vinyl on the cup. This is actually the hardest part of the process getting the mask on the cup without wrinkles in the artwork. Most of the time is spent doing this. I use clear contact paper (shelf liner) to transfer the vinyl to the cup. Then you tape off the rest of the cup, hit the cut-out areas with the air eraser a couple of times and your cup comes out etched.






TL;DR
Buy your wife a Silhouette Cameo/Portrait for Mother's day. Get yourself an Harbor Freight air eraser. Etch your own cups.