hello fellas, Trish...a neighbor stopped by for a visit....took him into my workshop to show off all my rc goodies...models, cnc wire cutter, phlatprinter....i fired up the old phlatty, and his jaw dropped...he could not believe it!!. i was thinkin man this is all i did for 30 years, ain't no big thing....then he asked me what i could cut? and i told him just about anything softer than balsa wood, or very thin r/c plywood...then he asked about metal....he was wantin a tag for his dog, lols. i was like no way, the machine isn't made for that.....anyhow he took off, and this got the old monk thinkin...wonder if i can?? went to the hardware store and got a solid brass key tag for .32 cents.... came home and used the circle pocket canned cycle and cut a .030in. deep pocket in some 1/2in. thick mdf for a carrier...the brass blank checked .040in. thick. i used masking tape to hold in the pocket, lols, ghetty monkey style... i programmed the text to go .010in. deep, in .005in. deep passes at 40ipm feed and 15000rpm's. the tool chipped on the first letter, as it was not a engraving tool....i stopped the phlatty, reset the z-axis tool offset, and turned back on.....the cut took 11mins. for a broken tool, it came ok for him, or shall i say his dog, lols. the text is .125in. high, and the brass blank is a 1.375dia. i want to look for a engraving tool, if anyone can recommend one for my, i will appreciate the input. next time i try a cut like this, i will go to the travel ends were the machine will be a lil more ridgid...peace, randy.

 

yea Dennis, i hear ya bud....ther is a dog park at the end of my block....man them people look to really like them animals...make me feel bad to take advantage of love for ther pets..randy.

 

Randy, that is incredible! Who would have thought it was possible!
Great write-up brother, very exciting news!
I could not find what type and size of bit you used for this? Was it one of those dental drill bits?As for engraver bits I did find this link that may be helpful http://www.techno-isel.com/tooling/EngravingBits/
Nice work Randy
Mark

 

That's awesome Randy!! Really nice job. People will buy these, for sure. Everyone who has a pet wants at least one of these and usually more when the one gets lost, etc. Maybe you could just put up a flyer at the dog park with your email address and instructions on how to pay you through paypal (with your email address). Make sure you put those little rip off tags at the bottom so they can take it home with them. Really cool Randy.

 

thanks for the link mark...those tools look perfect!! i will get one, and report back. randy.
edit: just ordered 2 metal engraving tools, one with a .005in. tip and a .010in. tip.

 

Nice! looking forward to hearing how it goes. You know I have a bit like that around here somewhere in my box of bits. But I never knew what it was for until now
Mark

 

thanks mark....after i ordered the tools, i went down to the workshop and was messin around....i was looking at my control card, and noticed when i was tweaking the printer for maximum rapids, i had the steps at a coarse resolution...i set to the finest 1/8 step resolution, and recalibrated the machine. i had to slow all the rapids down a little, to 250ipm, as before i had set to 350ipm... hopefully this will make the machine more accurate for cutting .125in, high text. even at the cost of my plane models take a little longer, so be it, lols. randy.

 

Nice find Randy! I think this will make a big difference for you. and the machine should run a little smoother too. I had gone through from full step down trying all the different settings and even though you do seem to gain more torque with the full step nothing beats the smooth motion of the micro stepping
Mark

 

Awesome Randy!
I remember seeing somewhere of a guy grinding his own engraving bit like the one mark posted. If I come across the link I will post it.

 

yea mastertec, i got some real engraving tool coming...trying to get data on engraving feed and speeds...seems as the best all around rpm is 15000 with a .0005in. chip load. when i was working a .005in. chip load was light, lols. this stuff is all new to me, but that's what google is for, lols. the mdf seems to mill better than plywood, seems softer to me. also not only the carrier holds the part, it also ensures its flat to the slide rails. randy.

 

messin around a little more with the dog tags.... finding out more about engraving speeds and feeds..cut mark and trish a key tag for ther new workshop. mark, trish i will send out tomorrow. randy.

 

RANDY! How much! We must have it!
WOWRandy you Rock!!
Mark and Trish

 

TigerPilot, that would probably be fine for real soft material...the key tag blanks are solid brass and pretty robust. also i only set the cut depth to .005in. the tool has to be at least high speed steel, with a hardness of 61-63 on the Rockwell hardness scale. solid micro grain carbide looks to be the best suited tool material for rotary engraving. i got some coming from the link mark posted, and i will follow up on ther performance. randy.

 

TigerPilot, man but i have no idea...being concentric would also be a big factor...i have no access to a o.d. and surface grinder to fabricate them anyhow..randy.

 

remade the fixture today...got rid of the ghetto masking tape hold down, with new ghetto style toe-clamps, . after i machined the new fixture, i used some ca to harden everything. also i machined some reference marks to locate zero without indicating. its real quick and easy, and gets it reasonably close to center for this type of work. also wile i was using the mach-3 wizard to machine this, i found a speed and feed calculator in ther!! randy.

 

tiger, thats the bottom of the fixture...i was just showin the strappin tape for the roller to grip a lil better. randy.