Setting up a decorative glass operation is not one purchase. It is a chain, and the chain only works if every link is sized for the same throughput. The most common failure we see is a shop that buys an excellent sandblasting machine and then discovers the bottleneck moved somewhere they had not budgeted for.
This is the full list, in the order the glass actually moves through it.
The workflow, in order
| Stage | What happens | Equipment |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Design | Artwork prepared as vector files | Design software |
| 2. Cut the stencil | Masking film cut to the pattern | Film cutting plotter |
| 3. Apply the film | Film laminated to the glass, bubble-free | Flatbed laminating machine |
| 4. Weed | Blast areas peeled away by hand | Weeding tools, light table |
| 5. Blast | Exposed glass frosted | Sandblasting machine |
| 6. Strip and clean | Film removed, glass washed | Wash station |
| 7. Inspect and pack | QC and packing | Racks, crating |
If you only do full-surface frosting with no patterns, stages 1–4 and 6 largely disappear and the setup gets much simpler. Most shops do not stay in that position for long — decorative work is where the margin is.
Core equipment
1. Sandblasting machine
The centre of the operation. Vertical or horizontal depending on how your glass moves — see the comparison, and how to choose one for sizing.
2. Compressed air
Not an accessory. Machines run at 0.6–0.8 MPa continuously while blasting, and an undersized compressor produces visible banding on the finished panel. Size the compressor to the machine, with a tank large enough to absorb demand spikes. This is the item most often under-budgeted.
3. Dust collection
Required for the machine to work properly and for the shop to be a legal place to work. Sized to the machine, ducted, with a plan for where the collected dust goes. Check your local air-quality rules before installation.
4. Abrasive recovery
Production economics depend on recycling. Brown fused alumina keeps cutting through multiple cycles because it fractures into fresh edges as it degrades. Garnet runs lower dust with a different surface character. Either way the recovery and separation system is core equipment, not an add-on.
Decorative and patterned work
5. Film cutting plotter
Cuts the masking stencil. Typical working sizes are 1830 x 2440 mm, 2000 x 2440 mm, and 2000 x 3300 mm, with larger available. Blade or optional laser-plus-blade configurations. As a reference point, one blade cuts roughly 30 pieces of 600 x 2000 mm glass depending on film and pattern detail.
Size the plotter to your glass, not to your average pattern. A plotter narrower than your largest panel forces you to tile patterns across seams, which is slow and shows.
6. Flatbed laminating machine
Applies the film to the glass without bubbles or wrinkles. This is the step people try to skip by hand-applying, and it is the step where hand application costs the most — a bubble under the mask means abrasive gets underneath and the panel is scrap.
Models run to 850, 1240, 1830, or 2200 mm width, handle glass up to 25 mm thick, at speeds up to 6 m/min.
7. Masking film
The consumable that determines whether the pattern survives the blast. Thickness is chosen against blast duration and pattern detail — thinner film for fine detail, thicker for long or aggressive blasting. Available in five grades from 0.09 mm up to 0.22 mm. See the masking film page for the full specification.
The plotter and the laminator are frequently the difference between a shop that can quote decorative work profitably and one that cannot. They are also frequently left out of first budgets.
Optional, depending on what you sell
Laser glass and mirror processing
For mirror coating removal, engraving, and combined operations. Available in 2-in-1 and 4-in-1 configurations across a range of working sizes. Relevant if mirror work or engraved detail is part of your offer — otherwise skip it for now. Details: laser processing machine.
Wash station
Film residue and abrasive dust have to come off before packing. A dedicated wash station beats a hose and a bucket the moment volume rises.
Handling
A-frames, racks, trolleys, suction lifters. Unglamorous, and the reason breakage rates differ by a factor of several between otherwise similar shops.
A sensible order to buy in
If you cannot buy everything at once — most shops cannot — this sequence keeps you earning while you build:
- Start: sandblasting machine + compressor + dust collection + abrasive recovery. You can sell full-surface frosting immediately.
- Then: laminating machine + masking film. You can now take patterned work using stencils cut by an outside supplier.
- Then: film cutting plotter. Brings stencil production in-house, which is where the margin on decorative work actually lives.
- Later: laser, second machine, additional handling — driven by real production data rather than a plan.
The logic is that each step is independently profitable, so you are never holding equipment that is waiting for another purchase to become useful.
The mistake worth avoiding
Do not size the sandblasting machine to your dream panel and the rest of the line to your current budget. A 2500 mm blaster fed by a 1240 mm laminator means your real maximum panel is 1240 mm, and you paid for capacity you cannot reach. Size the chain to one number.
Talk it through before you buy
Tell us what you plan to produce, your target volume, and your available floor area. We will lay out a full equipment list with realistic sizing, and tell you honestly which pieces you can defer.
Request a setup consultation. We usually reply within one business day.