Guest WOODY Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Can anyone please give me any tips on engraving house signs made from slate and wood? What size cutters for letters about 3" tall? What font are best? How deep? what speed? Infact any help and tips on doing this type of work, I would be very gratefull to here from you. Many thanks, woody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Woody I engraved my house number on my front gate when I built it. I had to make three passes over the work because of the grain of the wood it didn't feel smooth after the first two passes, I cut mine 3mm into the wood and infilled it with black paint. I can't remember what cutters I used but the letters are around the 3" tall and look great. This is the only experience I have of engraving larger letters on wood. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 if you are unsure what size cutter to use you'd be better off using one that is too small rather than too wide. I say this because if its too narrow, you can always rectify the missing parts of the letters by sharpening the tip making it wider. However, if you use a cutter that is too wide, the letters will start to merge together which obviously cannot be undone. The quality of the wood will also obviously have a bearing on the quality of the finish too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Hi Woody, In my experience, getting hands on and experimenting with different speeds and cutter widths, etc will gain you far mar knowledge than I could ever tell you over a forum. Sure, you may ruin a few peices, but in the overall you'll become a much better engraver for it. Make sure your cutter is sharp, play about with different toolpaths and cutter widths to get the depth of cut you need. Cutter widths contribute to the sharpness of the letter too, so if you need a nice serif or script, you're always best with as small as you can. Only downside is its takes longer. I'm more a doer than talker, its difficult for me to explain in text how exactly I do things. UK900 will no doubt elaborate on my musings soon for you, as he is much better at putting his point across! I was like you when I first started - someone showed me the basics and I was left alone to explore the potentional boundaries of both the machine and software. I've ended up learning more myself from fiddling about, than I think anyone could have tought me, unless I'd been working alongside a time served engraver 24/7 for the past 15 years. Its all worked out pretty well since those humble beginnings, I think judging from my current employment. Good Luck. Hope everything goes well for you. If you need any help, give me a shout! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TITs Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 What machine are you trying to engrave with ? It all depends on what machine you have ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WOODY Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 What machine are you trying to engrave with ? It all depends on what machine you have ? Hiya mate, Its a Gravograph M40G. Only had it a week or so, still finding my way round it. Quite impressed with it so far even though I'm doing just basics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TITs Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 I think your going to be restricted by the size of the work you can fit in to the machine, I have a is200 and i am also interested in seeing some of the "bigger" stuff that people have managed to fit into these smaller machines. UK900 has a much bigger machine so can do bigger work but we " Thats me and you" are restricted by the dimension and working area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercoulson Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 the m40g should engrave up to about A4 size so fairly big (the same engraving area as is400). it is possible to load larger items but you are restricted by the clearance around the jaws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auto Key Wizard Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 I have a is200 and i am also interested in seeing some of the "bigger" stuff that people have managed to fit into these smaller machines. UK900 has a much bigger machine so can do bigger work but we " Thats me and you" are restricted by the dimension and working area. Have you not explored the 'Long Plate Mode' on the IS200, TIT's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WOODY Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 I think your going to be restricted by the size of the work you can fit in to the machine, I have a is200 and i am also interested in seeing some of the "bigger" stuff that people have managed to fit into these smaller machines. UK900 has a much bigger machine so can do bigger work but we " Thats me and you" are restricted by the dimension and working area. Hiya TITs What size engraving area do you have on the IS200? Although the m40g has an engraving area of A4, I'm hopeing to be able to put longer lengths of wood through, moving it along with maybe two or more cuts. I'm not realy sure how this will work just yet cuz as I said I'm still learning the basics. Kind Regards woody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercoulson Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 the is200 is 225 x 80 although there is much more clearance around the jaws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busy bee Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I engrave 8 foot bench slats on my IS200. It takes a bit of setting out and some baked bean tins to prop the ends up, but it can be done! We made a special shaped cutter to achieve a nice V cut, and I use Rockwell single line font, lettering about 28mm. It looks like proper wood carving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Can anyone please give me any tips on engraving house signs made from slate and wood? Not sure that Slate can be done though? I recently used the company recommended in this topic for a Welsh slate sign. http://www.shoerepairer.info/bb/viewtop ... ight=slate Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busy bee Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I have never tried slate, but thought that UK900 had Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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