Machine for engraving serialno. to gunparts and barrels

[Ranger-1]

Hi,

I am looking for a small machine that can engrave serial numbers onto various gunparts and barrels. These parts might be very hard metal, so I assume there is some specs to look for in a machine. As this is nothing I would like to spend to much time or money on, I am looking for a simple out of the box solution that is easy to use.

After doing a lot of searching around and found that lasers will not do. So either a engraving solution or I have also looked at an impact printer (But it did not look like it could handle the hard metals).

So does anyone know of any maching that will do the job that is fairly easy to set up and use? Was thinking of a pricerange of $2-3000

Thanks for any feedback

-- Joachim

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[123CNC]

Other than price, why do you say laser will not do? Engraving or marking?

Your budget may restrict you to Chinese machines or used? Prior to looking you need to define your largest part you need to mount for marking or engraving, barrel? And how much marking engraving you need on a given part, e.g. just BATF requirements or personalization, to determine machine travels. Barrels and cylindrical items may require a rotary axis as well (more money).

Just curious, planning on being a registered FFL manufacturer, or live in a communist state like CA and preparing for passage of a bill requiring all homebuilts old or new to be serialized and taxed (government filing fees)?

[Ranger-1]

123CNC: Thank you very much for your reply.

After my understanding one would need a fiber laser so engrave in metal and those where pretty expensive. The CO2 could only etch/mark metal with some sort of chemical or something. Correct me if I misunderstood something.

I basically need to mark the parts in a permanent way and does not need to meet any specific requirements. The biggest part (longest) is probably a 24inch barrel. But since only a small portion of it needs to be marked, I only need a machine that can hold the lenght of the barrel so it sticks out of the machine. I assume this is not a problem if it is the actual engraver that moves the varoious axis and not the "table" where the item is placed. Since we are only talking about a few mm height of the number, I was hoping not to need a rotary thing. I know there might be some difference in the depth of the engraving, but I hope it will work. So the actual engraving size needed is no more than max 2x2 inches.

I live in Norway and import guns and parts from USA and other countries. The US barrels is not marked with serial numbers which is required by law in Norway, so I need an quick and easy way to make that happen, but also profeesional looking (so hand engraving is out of the question).

I for example looked at a something like: Small engraving machine - M20 - stainless steel and steel engraving machine - Gravograph but I am not sure if it is sufficient for my needs. But it looked like an ok plug-n-play solution.

Thank you!

[inov8r]

Have you considered a good old fashioned Deckel or Gorton panto-graph? They can be picked up pretty cheap these days and they do a great job.

[stjohn4]

Laser but not in your price range. Message me if you would like more info..

Cheers, john

[lowpull]

With no depth requirements I would suggest investigating electrochemical etching. Such as Electrochemical Marking, Electromarking, Metal Marking Devices or etchomatic.

[stjohn4]

How's that going to work? Even more impractical/time consuming/problematic than setting up for engraving with a tool on a machine! If you laser the parts a deep mark can be made start to finish in 5 minutes hassle free. More time equals deeper mark, setup a cinch..

Cheers, john

[lowpull]

How's that going to work? Even more impractical/time consuming/problematic than setting up for engraving with a tool on a machine! If you laser the parts a deep mark can be made start to finish in 5 minutes hassle free. More time equals deeper mark, setup a cinch..

Cheers, john

the impression that I get is that it is not a high volume issue. You can print up a bunch of serial number stencils at one time. It takes, what 5 minutes to electroengrave the sn. Many knifemakers use this system to put their makers mark on custom knives. And its 500.00 vs 25000 for the laser.. If the BATF didnt require .003. This is the system I would be using. As it is Ive got a 3LGorton pantograph and I am working on a cnc engraver for Class III purposes.

[stjohn4]

Electo chemical and electrolytic etching are 2 entirely different processes. Gun parts often have special finishes. You have no real idea how these would react with the above methods, chemicals etc etc. The best ways to do it are laser then tool engraving. Laser has the least and easiest setup with probably the best results assuming you are using the right laser.

Cheers, john