Engraving Bits

[Todd Luster]

So I finally ended up using my engraving bits on the NW I've had sitting on the shelf for 6 mo.
I overlooked some engraving on an some alter panels is the real reason.
Anyhoo, I call Anthony at Northwood and he runs me thru setup and even sends me a nc code for the program, so I can run samples for approval.
Props to Anthony and NW!!

Turned out pretty good.
These are 8" letters. Each ran in less than 20 minutes.
They wanted them to stand out, so I painted 2 samples as requested.

[Camzl1]

Very Nice and very nice paint job also.

[Todd Luster]

I'll have to smooth out some of the tooling lines on the finals, and try to do a little better, but that's just spray paint from the hobby store. I plotted vial as a shield and razored and steel wooled off overlap. That black shadow around the edge of the gold is actually from the steel wool. I didn't worry much and it was still wet.
Stupid simple, I was shocked.

[Ger Vanderbas]

TOGA TOGA...

[RBatstone]

Looks great
Are they v cut of square.

[Carmine Pantano]

Stupid simple, I was shocked.

Do you mean the engraving process?

[dustinbraudway]

Not that you wanted to get all sandy, but you could have sandblasted those just as fast cracker!

But if the machine will do it why get dirty!

[Dan R.]

Looks good. The gold lithochrome will really make it pop.

[Joe Durfee]

What kind of bit did you use?

[Todd Luster]

This is the one Briggs sent me.
Maybe he can remind us what it was.

[Joe Durfee]

Thats a PCD bit. I am using one of those right now as well to engrave the Prudential logo.

[DavidL]

Todd - Call James FnD and help him out now. He and I were trading e-mails on engraving but I cant give him feedrates or anything since that was on my old machine.

[gwise2213]

Those bits are great. The pieces you did look great. the only thing i ran into when engravign is as follows. consistantly get the same v groove is almost impossible and the bits dont last long at all. They dull very quicky and have to change height to engrave. IF it is not to minute of details i would use a bottom segment fingerbit and then hit the smallest details with the engraving bit. I have done a couple harley signs for a benifit and also a gravestone design. We also painted them with just hobby store paint. Just had mineral spirits on hand with a rag in order to get any overspray. those look good.

garett
aia countertops
syracuse, indiana

[Joe Durfee]

Here is the test I did for the logo. It turned out pretty good for being a test I think. It will be going in a piece of Cold Springs Granite about 48"x48" when its all said and done.

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2012-03-29_13-53-16_604.jpg (32.39KiB)Viewed 1553 times

[graniteman]

That looks real good Joe. I may get with you when I get the second CNC up and going so I can play.

[Brig]

Headstone.jpg (43.75KiB)Viewed 1125 times

Hey guys I was looking for some info on engraving on our NW cnc using alphacam. I put a phone call into Anthony over to NW and sent him the file I wanted to engrave. I'm awaiting a response. In the mean time I just wondered if you guys have had pretty good results using the PCD bit. What's the life expectancy? I would like a help sheet to setup the tool and the programming part as well. I'm just doing simple headstone on some 3cm material. Any help would be great.

[ash20ash]

how much material will that bit remove at once. It looks "pointed"??? Seems like you would want a more flat bottom bit for the bulk of the work and then switch to that bit for the details. But then maybe it would leave diferent tool lines??????

Sorry. never engraved before

[Todd Luster]

I haven't done a whole lot of engraving either.
The cutter pictured that did the marble is a pcd cutter(I think).
I believe it's intended for softer materials and is available in different sizes and pitch.
They are pretty inexpensive and I wouldn't plan on doing much granite with them as I don't think that's their purpose.

I bought a more aggressive one for granite(Nicolai) and will try to remember to post a pic next time I'm at shop.

If you were at the the Mega workshop in Nashville, it's the one Anthony was running the Lord's Supper, the apple, etc with.
I think it's more for granite.
I say "I think" because it's been on my desk since I ordered it a few weeks after Nashville....

[Joe Durfee]

The cutter pictured that did the marble is a pcd cutter(I think).

That is correct. For the headstone, I would use a PCD bit as long as its cool that the engraving is a V shape. If it were me doing it, I would engrave down about 1/8"-1/4" depending on how wide you want the lines to be. Set your tool compensation to center cutter comp and let it go. When it is done, I would put some Lithichrome on it to make the letters pop.

[ash20ash]

The cutter pictured that did the marble is a pcd cutter(I think).

That is correct. For the headstone, I would use a PCD bit as long as its cool that the engraving is a V shape. If it were me doing it, I would engrave down about 1/8"-1/4" depending on how wide you want the lines to be. Set your tool compensation to center cutter comp and let it go. When it is done, I would put some Lithichrome on it to make the letters pop.

10-4
But when you did all the wide open flat areas........did you use the same bit? Seems like it would take forever with a bit that is pointed on the end. Or does it have a flat cutting edge on the bottom?

[Joe Durfee]

That entire piece was done with a PCD 90 degree bit with very small overlapping tool paths. I could have used another tool that was flat on the bottom and used the check box in the AlphaCam pocketing module titled "take into account previous machining", but I didn't with this one. I don't remember how long it took on that 12"x12" tile. That was just a sample for the real deal which I did use 3 different tools (PCD, Drain Board Tool, and Calibration wheel) that was about 10'x10'. The real deal took about 16 hours of machine time.

[Frosty]

I've run quite a few jobs with both PCD and sintered engraving tooling, we use the sintered on marble, seems to hold the "V" better that way. I really enjoy this style of machining as there is a fine line for error but if you pull it off it has that WOW factor that everyday machining lacks after a while.