CNC engraving

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Not sure if this is the right place as it is a request for help. have also asked this on the MECH forum

 

I would like to find someone with a cnc mill that can engrave a piece of either bronze or brass to make a burning iron for my woodworking it will only be about 1" diameter not critical size but can be sized to material supplied. I will supply material and some beer tokens to be agreed upon.

 

Some one has said Brass would be the more suitable material

 

All it will be is a circle with the words DLWoodart in reverse in the centre so that when applied hot to wood it comes out the correct way around

Edited By Derek Lane on 23/06/2022 19:23:33

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

That is going to be quite a small font at just less than 1" long and you are are likely to just get burnt black blobs where the o and a should be.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

I made this for a member some time back. Happy to have a go if you can provide artwork and material. Will need proper engraving brass and smallest cutter I can use is 1mm.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Derek,

Do you mean something like this:

My 3D model is 35mm overall diameter, with a threaded boss on the rear to take a rod and handle. The circle is 2mm wide and the text is 4mm high (capitals). As Jason says, the middle of the "a" will be the most difficult, but that could possibly be overcome with the choice of a different font. I used Arial for convenience. Much smaller than that and I think you'd be looking at a specialist engraver.

Happy to provide John Haine with the files if he fancies a go.

John

Edit:  inevitable typo!

Edited By John Hinkley on 23/06/2022 20:00:24

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

1mm cutter won't really do it. This is text on a 25mm circle. to get into the top of the "a" the cutter needs to be 0.3mm and 0.6mm is the largest that will get into the enclosed part. You would also really need to layout each letter individually as normal spacing makes the r & t almost touch

Can be done with a tapered engraving cutter with 0.2mm tip but you won't get very deep , this combined with the fact the upper case letters are only 3.25mm high and it will probably end up as a black blob of scorched wood

Edited By JasonB on 23/06/2022 20:32:55

Edited By JasonB on 23/06/2022 20:35:27

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Wrap the text round inside the circle?

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Thank you all for the information and by the sounds of it because of the size will not work out and as Jason stated will end up as a mass of burning where the letters like the D, o, o, d, and a.

Anyway will have to rethink this.

So once again thank you all for the offers and info which I must admit that I had not thought about

[Adam MaraParticipant @adammara]

or just go for the initial DWL in capitals?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Just "DLW" may be possible.

It's the fact the letters are small and raised that makes it difficult, if small and cut into the metal that is a lot easier to do.

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

Nice suggestions but it really needs to be DLWoodart as I have a banner and cards already made or being made at the moment

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Instead of brass use steel and a V engraver choosing font and depth to make the peaks of the letters very very thin. Then careful control of temperature and pressure will provide a very light imprint scorching rather than burning. It might also be possible to use strong alkali to print a stain mark.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Instead of burning the logo into the wood, would it be feasible to use the stamp on an ink pad and apply the design that way?

John

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

The pictures show three brass finishing tools for bookbinding that I had engraved a while ago. The second picture shows the middle tool impressed through 24 carat gold leaf on to goatskin.

The tools are all less than an inch square. The two on the left were engraved using a manual pantograph, the one on the right using CNC. The pantograph-engraved tools are cut considerably deeper than the CNC-cut one.

Unless you get the temperature, pressure and dwell time exactly right and the wood is a close grained variety, you may lose a lot of detail if you are using your proposed one-inch tool for branding.

 

EtA: the brass in all three cases is CZ121.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 23/06/2022 22:10:28

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

That is one problem I will be doing this on all types of wood I do have a pyrography machine which I think I will look at if I can get a ball tip for it as they do make writing easier than some of the other tips

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

Derek

You could try etching. I made one for my daughter using the same technique as for printed circuit boards.

I have used Press n Peel successfully to etch into brass. It is a blue sheet that you print onto using a laser printer or photocopier. The sheet is then ironed onto the brass. You could print your artwork on your inkjet printer and then use a photocopier to copy to the Press n Peel sheet. You obviously need access to a photocopier possibly at a local library if you don’t have one.

I etched this after using pressnpeel sheet with the design printed using a laser printer.

I heated the brass in the oven and then pressed it onto the sheet.

I used Sodium persulphate from CPC as the etchant. It is clear so is easier to see what's happening than ferric chloride. It works best at 50 deg c.

My daughter does wood turning and is is a brand to mark her work with her initials.

I made another one as well. I have put a photo in my album with a couple of pictures of my tests.

Stuart

Edited By Stuart Smith 5 on 24/06/2022 00:05:32

Edited By Stuart Smith 5 on 24/06/2022 00:06:54

Edited By Stuart Smith 5 on 24/06/2022 00:20:48

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