I want to add a pneumatic punch marker to my Plasma gantry, primarily for center marking of holes to be drilled later. Will an air scribe such as the CP9361 do the trick? How much downward pressure would it require? Is there a better tool that is made just for center marking?

Thanks,
Jon

If just punch marking and not scribing or such, I would think it would be very simple to make with a compact short stroke cylinder and suitable punch attached.
Al.

I just found some info on the Torchmate plate marking attachment, it is exactly what I had in mind. It looks like they are using the Central Pneumatics CP9361 air scribe that I had in mind!
http://www.torchmate.com/plate_marker/plate_marker_index.html

I've never used one of these air scribes and I've never worked with pneumatic cylinders. So you think a small air cylinder with a punch attached would have enough force to make a good mark? It would be very easy to mount a small single acting spring-return cylinder with a carbide point on the end of the rod and not even need to worry about the rod rotating.

On the other hand, it's not much more work to mount an air scribe to a guided cylinder and gain the ability to do engraving and bend line marking.

I'll have to get some cylinders and experiment.

That link is also a plate marker, if you just want to punch, I was thinking it would be cheaper to rig up a pancake cylinder such as Bimba or SMC, these are relatively short stroke with relatively large dia, they exert a force from 5 to 6 times the air pressure.
Al.