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Tips/Techniques Engraving numbers

Tips/Techniques
Crosche said:
You are more than welcome to borrow my etcher as well. Also, I have the schematics to build one and some silkscreen material to make a stencil from.
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Thanks for the offer but I'm not in or around Calgary. I think I will eventually just make lines on the rod in the mill and call it good.
I do like the idea of etching stuff however and I think I will look into that a bit more.
 
Tom O said:
I wonder if you could use those rub on stensils then blue it?

Any thoughts?



I know that some people use nail polish and scratch their design into it. From what I have seen, these types of etchings have rather limited success because the acidity of the etching fluid and the heat developed during the process can break down the nail polish. Whatever stencil material used, it must withstand being degraded by the etching process.
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More thoughts on engraving/marking. I came across a very strange tool from a germany company AMF on the TItans CNC forum. https://shop.amf.de/ I think it's some sort of stylus. It is very fast on the CNC machines yet does not seem to spin. Maybe it works by pressure and is actually a drag tool. €1400 ! How does this work? Is it a carbide or ceramic round tip and is pushed hard against the material? The needle replacements are 400 Euros.

 
Janger said:
More thoughts on engraving/marking. I came across a very strange tool from a germany company AMF on the TItans CNC forum. https://shop.amf.de/ I think it's some sort of stylus. It is very fast on the CNC machines yet does not seem to spin. Maybe it works by pressure and is actually a drag tool. €1400 ! How does this work? Is it a carbide or ceramic round tip and is pushed hard against the material? The needle replacements are 400 Euros.

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If you watch the end of the video in full screen mode you'll see that as it is returned to the tool caddy it stops spinning. You can just see it slowing down.
 
I think it is a drag tool. Here is a close-up of a tip.


Go to their website and download the pdf.

9ABAC213-3FB3-408D-8040-238B42371C1B.jpeg
 
RobinHood said:
I think it is a drag tool. Here is a close-up of a tip.


Go to their website and download the pdf.

View attachment 34385
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So it probably just turned around to a correct position for the auto tool changer. Much like I can do this with my spindle. Also since it's an eccentric needle it likely has to be oriented in the direction of motion for the engraving. So maybe they are also turning it while engraving. Then they have to return it to the correct orientation for the carousel.
I've often wondered that when I make a new pulley for a toothed belt if I should add the provision for a disk brake. Then I could index the spindle and use it as a shaper.
 
jcdammeyer said:
Then I could index the spindle and use it as a shaper.
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The HAAS milling machine sort of does that. You can orient the spindle programmatically and there is a brake but it's just the motor holding it in place - it will wiggle if you turn it with you hand and then spring back to it's starting position. I'm not sure it's good enough to use as a shaper say to make a keyway. I have not tried it. @Tom O have you tried anything like that?

I'm also not sure if the spindle is always oriented the same way when the tool is inserted with the tool changer. To do shaping operations it would need to be oriented correctly - how does it know where it is starting? There is no pin on cat40 tools for orientation like there is on R8 spindles for example.

EDIT-> no that is not true. There are two notches which have to be aligned for the tool to go in. So I guess it does know about alignment along the axis. If you installed the tool in the correct direction it should be consistent between tool changes.
 
Janger said:
The HAAS milling machine sort of does that. You can orient the spindle programmatically and there is a brake but it's just the motor holding it in place - it will wiggle if you turn it with you hand and then spring back to it's starting position. I'm not sure it's good enough to use as a shaper say to make a keyway. I have not tried it. @Tom O have you tried anything like that?

I'm also not sure if the spindle is always oriented the same way when the tool is inserted with the tool changer. To do shaping operations it would need to be oriented correctly - how does it know where it is starting? There is no pin on cat40 tools for orientation like there is on R8 spindles for example.

EDIT-> no that is not true. There are two notches which have to be aligned for the tool to go in. So I guess it does know about alignment along the axis. If you installed the tool in the correct direction it should be consistent between tool changes.
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My little video returns to the index slot. There's no reason one couldn't have a slot or tang that's picked up by a sensor. From there it then becomes a straight positioning operation based on the 2500 line encoder on the motor or the 60T disk on the spindle.

Way back when I worked in The Netherlands at FICO Trim & Form the 30T flywheel press had an absolute encoder on it (grey code) and software that set up 8 bit values to detect a specific point. At that point they'd open or close a valve or do some operation. To keep the flywheel in place when not running it had a brake on it that I believe was engaged when it was not powered.

I think for a spindle you'd want it the other way around. Like a car. But use an skinny air cylinder with a long stroke and lever the mechanical advantage to get the force to hold it tight.
 
My Buddie from work has a laser engraving side business, he has like 4 different machines…..
He has rotary axis’s and is a full fledge nerd. If you want his contact I’m sure he would do it for pretty cheap. He’s in Taber. He’s always been reasonable for prices.
 
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