This metal coffee cup with a truck is used by truck drivers. Every driver has an integrated coffee machine and uses such a metal cup to make his/her coffee. It is always nice to have personalized items in your truck cabin when traveling long distances. This cup is a present to my friend who is a truck driver.
I used the metal etching with electricity method to transfer a picture of a truck to the front of the cup. This method allows to transfer an image with high precision. It does not use corrosive acids like other metal etching methods, and it is much more environmentally friendly. It is also an inexpensive and easy way to etch metal.
For this project, I took a standard, used metal coffee cup with a plastic handle. As the first step, I removed the plastic handle to protect it from the metal etching process. Then I properly cleaned the surface of the cup inside and outside.
To transfer the picture on the cup you have to apply paint primer on the outside of the cup. Make sure that the layer of the primer is not too thin or too thick. It is a good idea to paint it lightly two times. Before painting, I removed all fingerprints with a paint thinner. I protected the inside of the cup with regular painting tape because the metal etching process can damage the unprimed parts. So, I painted the outside of the cup with the paint primer and let it dry completely.
Next, I printed the image on a regular sheet of paper, cut it out, painted it with a photo transfer liquid, and placed it on the front of the cup. When the image was dry, I wetted it with water and carefully rubbed the paper off. As a result, only the ink image stayed on the cup.
Before starting the etching process, you always need to scratch off the image lines carefully to remove the primer. For that, I used a knife, but you can use any sharp metal tool that allows you to work with precision. At this point, I was ready to begin the etching process. After the image was etched on the cup, I removed the rest of the paint primer with a paint thinner and attached the plastic handle back.
I hope you like this metal coffee cup with a truck. Perhaps it will inspire you to make your own personalized coffee cup. 🙂