Engraving of Brass Memorial Plaques

[Allen]

Hi

 

I'm fairly new to most aspects of engraving, as explained in my 'New Members' post, and could do with some advice on which cutter I should use for brass engraving that needs to be paint filled.

 

I use a Roland EGX-20 with VCarve Pro software. The machine came with 2 cutters, a diamond drag and carbide. Up to now I've used the diamond for metal items and carbide for acrylic. Recently I was asked to engrave some brass memorial plaques which I obtained from Mastergrave. Not having engraved brass plaques previously I naively went ahead and used the diamond drag which of course didn't go deep enough to fill with black paint.

 

Please can anyone advise me on which cutter I should have used and whether there is any way I can still blacken the plaques I've done by some other method. There's probably not and I'll need to get some more (it's only 4), this time using the correct cutter. I suppose it's all part of the learning curve these mistakes.

 

Thanks

 

Allen

[Michael]

Using the carbide cutter and a depth regulating nose cone, cut to 0.3mm deep and then you can fill with cellulose paint.

[ANDY]

mastergrave will be able to advise you of the correct cutter for the size of lettering and font you need

 

this will vary job to job, so probably best to get a small range in

 

you will not be able to blacken the diamond dragged letters on plain brass

but you could possibly re-engrave the ones you diamond dragged as the cutter will be wider than a diamond drag marks

if you saved the job it shouldn't be too tricky

 

i would mess about with cutters on a piece of scrap first to make sure you are clearing all the material within the letters

 

you can also get thin jewellers brass for smaller jobs. this can be blackened with brass blacking fluid from mastergrave as it has a clear laquer on it

 

let us know how you get on

[Allen]

This is a belated thank you to michael26uk and Andy for their help. Following Andy's advice I managed to save 2 but had to redo 2. The problem was positioning the plaques in exactly the same place as before as they were round and oval bench plaques with a small brass engraving area that I was using. Still mistakes that cost money are the easiest to learn from.

 

Once again thanks guys and no doubt I will be back for further advice.

 

I will now make a charity donation.

[Gray]

Thanks for your thanks, and thanks for your donations, Engraving is a big learning curve and mistakes come with the territory. No shame in mistakes. Well not on your own cheap materials, but mess up a customers expensive gift then you are in the do doos.

[Gray]

[attachment=0]cutter tip.tif[/attachment]

 

this may help

[Craig Gardner]

mastergrave will be able to advise you of the correct cutter for the size of lettering and font you need

 

this will vary job to job, so probably best to get a small range in

 

you will not be able to blacken the diamond dragged letters on plain brass

but you could possibly re-engrave the ones you diamond dragged as the cutter will be wider than a diamond drag marks

if you saved the job it shouldn't be too tricky

 

i would mess about with cutters on a piece of scrap first to make sure you are clearing all the material within the letters

 

you can also get thin jewellers brass for smaller jobs. this can be blackened with brass blacking fluid from mastergrave as it has a clear laquer on it

 

 

dont use a nose cone i never do put plate in lower cutter to touch plate only showing the flat bit of the cutter about 1 inch sticking out then tighten and z out. put motor on set to .3 depth with a 0.3 cutter on a infill 45 deg hatch at .1mm pass depth ie it engraves 3 times this way you dont blunt cutters quick.

 

craig

let us know how you get on

[Lee]

scroll down the page from the tutorials link on the navigation bar Tutorials where you will find several excellent tutorials on blacking.

 

Lee

[Allen]

Thanks for the tip Craig, I've taken it on board and will try the 'no nose cone' method out next time (a practice run first of course) and let you know how I get on.