gold and silver coining dies

[nikhil1300]

hi we manufacture gold and silver coins by minting prosess at present we r ousourcing all our engraving jobs outside our factory ,i was interested in setting up a engraving machine in my factory for engraving 2d and 3d artworks.
which is the best 2d and a 3d machine (small)
my total engraving area in 100mm/100mm
which machine can engrave on hard steel(D2)
10mm dia to 100mm dia
what r the tools needed for engraving letters (.05 mm) and figures
which is the best user friendly software
any other alternative machine apart from cnc engraving machine

[diecutter]

Stay away from D-2 steel. It will break your heart and your cutters. For air hardening dies use S-7 steel. For oil hardening use L-6 or O-1 steel; both engrave easily.

Try this site for information on both software and engraving machines. http://www.designscomputed.com/vs3d/index.html They allow you to download the software for free to evaluate it. There is a steep learning curve for mastering 3-D software which is the price you pay for having it in-house.

The cutters needed are micrograin carbide split point v cutters and ball nose cutters.

An alternative to cnc engraving for 3-D is to hand sculpt the design at a 6x1 ratio and use the master to produce a die on a reducing machine such as an Augenstein or Jean Pierre. For 2-D work a pantograph engraver such as the Gorton P1-2 can be used.

[gabedrummin]

I do the engraving on copper and graphite electrodes and burn the die and punch forms with a EDM .Engraving into hard D-2 is very time consuming .And you need min 10.000 rpm spindle , very robust machine...need any work done

[nikhil1300]

Originally Posted by gabedrummin I do the engraving on copper and graphite electrodes and burn the die and punch forms with a EDM .Engraving into hard D-2 is very time consuming .And you need min 10.000 rpm spindle , very robust machine...need any work done

HOW DO YOU ENGRAVE ON COPPER OR GRAPHITE WHAT PROCESS DO YOU USE WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU USE FOR DRAWING AND WHAT MACHINE DO YOU USE FOR ENGRAVING ON COPPER OR GRAPHITE (WHAT GRADE)

[gabedrummin]

I use Auto cad 2007 to make the solid models...I use Master cam to generate the tool path from the model.. I engrave the electrodes on a cnc mill I made .I burn the form on a Hansvedt edm ..Then use a D-M-E ultra sonic polisher to mirror finish the the tool.....

[nikhil1300]

Originally Posted by gabedrummin I use Auto cad 2007 to make the solid models...I use Master cam to generate the tool path from the model.. I engrave the electrodes on a cnc mill I made .I burn the form on a Hansvedt edm ..Then use a D-M-E ultra sonic polisher to mirror finish the the tool.....

thanks alot can you pls help me with more info on D-M-E ultrasonic polisher
what does it do and what is the process required,it will be of great help if you could post few photo of the process,i will will be uploading few photos of my process step by spet in few days

[gabedrummin]

A part that is EDMed has a burned finish . It kind of looks like a cast finish , but very fine . It is auctually craters valleys and rises . To get past the recast layer, the top layer in the finish , you have to polish it . Most people use oil stones , sand paper , sandblasting ,electropolishing a chemical process that eats the top layer. I use the ultrasonic tool to hold my ceramic polishing stones to cut through the recast layer that use lapping compound and then diamound , then buff to a brite finish .

[nikhil1300]

Originally Posted by gabedrummin A part that is EDMed has a burned finish . It kind of looks like a cast finish , but very fine . It is auctually craters valleys and rises . To get past the recast layer, the top layer in the finish , you have to polish it . Most people use oil stones , sand paper , sandblasting ,electropolishing a chemical process that eats the top layer. I use the ultrasonic tool to hold my ceramic polishing stones to cut through the recast layer that use lapping compound and then diamound , then buff to a brite finish .

you mean to say if the letters are engrave deep on the die we can polish the letters to mirror finish