Dot Peen Engraving

[Sanghera]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone here is using dot peen engraving to engrave in aluminum, I'm not totally sure what this is. How about using the standard carbide tipped vibrating engravers for different metals, I think Dremel makes one. What have your results been? This guy is using dot peening and it seems to work great, I think he is using one of those standard engravers too.
http://www.luberth.com/cstep/

Thanks.

[Sanghera]

Anybody using these? Or tried these for engraving?
Thanks.

[HayTay]

Sanghera,

Yes, I've used several electric engravers (referred to as Dot Peening in the video) but I never thought about CNC'ing one. Thanks for the idea and the link.

If you're going to be engraving different materials or want to vary the engraving 'depth', go with a variable speed engraver. If you're thinking about engraving extremely hard materials you would also want to look for an engraver with replaceable tips. These models usually have diamond tips available for an additional charge.

From past experience, the more expensive engravers didn't appear to perform any better or worse than the cheaper models. When doing a lot of engraving by hand, ergonomics (or fit) takes precedence over price. And, yes, we did a lot of engraving in sand cast aluminum, die cast aluminum, aluminum sheet, soft and hardened steel, plastic, and other materials. We engraved so much that we would 'burn out' one or two engravers a year.

Does anyone recognize the engraver being used in the Luberth video. I'd be interested in seeing what the rest of it looks like.

BTW, almost (if not all) of these electric engravers seem to operate at 7200 strokes per minute. Does anyone know why? Is it some function of 120V at 60Hz? (120 * 60 = 7200)

A side effect of using an engraver for an extended period of time is that the fingers you used to hold the engraver 'tingle' for awhile after you stop.

Dremel 290 - Variable Speed Electric Engraver

Ideal 11-111 Electric Engraving Tool (120V and 220V with replaceable tips)

[Sanghera]

Ya , if you look at his site here:
http://cstep.luberth.com/

scroll down on the left side and go to "Tools that can be used on XYZtabe".
Here you'll see a cut open view of the engraver he uses, well I think that he might use anyway. It looks like he gets awesome results from this.
Thanks.
Sanghera

[Geof]

Originally Posted by HayTay ...BTW, almost (if not all) of these electric engravers seem to operate at 7200 strokes per minute. Does anyone know why? Is it some function of 120V at 60Hz? (120 * 60 = 7200)....

Pull one apart and you will see they are just a solenoid and on 60 cycle AC the field reverses that many times a minute.

Originally Posted by HayTay ...A side effect of using an engraver for an extended period of time is that the fingers you used to hold the engraver 'tingle' for awhile after you stop.

If you persist in using one despite the tingle eventually you will develop white finger, also called Raynauds disease, because all the capillaries in your finger tips have been smunched by the vibration. The finger tips are white because there is very little blood flow. A complication of white finger is gangrene if you get a cut; this is because the gangrene bacteria likes to grow in the absence of oxygen and the finger tips have poor circulation so they are oxygen starved.

[HayTay]

Originally Posted by Geof Originally Posted by HayTay View Post ...A side effect of using an engraver for an extended period of time is that the fingers you used to hold the engraver 'tingle' for awhile after you stop. If you persist in using one despite the tingle eventually you will develop white finger, also called Raynauds disease, because all the capillaries in your finger tips have been smunched by the vibration. The finger tips are white because there is very little blood flow. A complication of white finger is gangrene if you get a cut; this is because the gangrene bacteria likes to grow in the absence of oxygen and the finger tips have poor circulation so they are oxygen starved.

Holy, Crap! I always thought it was kind of amusing. I didn't realize the 'tingle' could have such dire consequences. Although, now that you mention it, it's the same reason your body parts tingle after dangling them out of a moving vehicle for an extended period of time. I just never connected the two events. Thanks, Geof.

Originally Posted by Geof Originally Posted by HayTay View Post ...BTW, almost (if not all) of these electric engravers seem to operate at 7200 strokes per minute. Does anyone know why? Is it some function of 120V at 60Hz? (120 * 60 = 7200).... Pull one apart and you will see they are just a solenoid and on 60 cycle AC the field reverses that many times a minute.

Yes, I've had more than a couple apart. We used to save the 'dead' engravers to use as parts, mostly for the ones that cracked when colliding with the floor. I was sort of on the right track concerning the strokes per minute, so now:

7200 strokes per minute = 60 Hz * 60 seconds * 2 reversals per second

By Geof, I think I've got it. Thanks again!

And for those who have AC operating at 50 Hz:

6000 strokes per minute = 50 Hz * 60 seconds * 2 reversals per second

[HayTay]

Originally Posted by Sanghera Ya , if you look at his site here: http://cstep.luberth.com/ scroll down on the left side and go to "Tools that can be used on XYZtabe". Here you'll see a cut open view of the engraver he uses, well I think that he might use anyway. It looks like he gets awesome results from this. Thanks. Sanghera

I followed your directions and traced the engraver source to Record Power in Sheffield, England. I must say, that is a very nice looking engraver and, as you noted, is capable of providing "awesome results".

Given its shape, the engraver just begs to be mounted on a CNC table. Unfortunately, we'll have to find a different model to use in North America.

It's been a while since I've visited http://cstep.luberth.com/. I forgot how much useful information is buried on that site.

Thanks again, Sanghera.

[Sanghera]

This guy's site is great. He even shows engraving on a rotary axis, and shows some dog tag type things, scoll down to "Easy to Use Industrial Text Engraving" and "Rotating ax engraving". I wonder if the Dremel can produce similar results, he's got readable text at 1mm height.
Thanks.