What kind of machine will do stainless steel or brass engraving

Hi Everyone,

I'm a newbie here and hope you can help.

I would like to engrave lettering into small plaques (about 80 x 45 mm) of stainless steel or brass. I currently have them made by an outside company but this gives me no flexability in doing cusomised lettering. The engraving is deep enough to be infilled with paint so that the print really stands out.

Attachment 8207

Can this kind of work be done with a CNC router? With proper tooling are there any machines that might fit the bill for under £2000? Are the CNC routers I've seen on Ebay from china up to the task of engraving in stainless steel?

For future work, I would also like the ability to work with larger materials like mdf or hardwoods. A bed size of 600 x 400 seems about right. Although I would love to have the time to make my own machine, I think that it will take too long. I'd rather get something that can be upgraded as required...


Really appreciate any guidence you can give.

Cheers,
-Jay

edit: should say that I could get the plaque blanks pre-cut.

Brass is easy to engrave with a CNC router, however stainless steel is much more challenging since the cutting forces are greater. The machines on eBay from China would be fine for engraving brass, but would struggle with stainless steel due to their high spindle speed and poor rigidity, so you would need to make some upgrades. That may still work out cheaper than making the whole machine yourself, so I would compare the price of the components to find which is the best option. With the right tools the spindle being limited to relatively high speeds may not be a problem.

Thank you Jonathan for your advice.

I've been looking at some options and ran across Redsail,Cutting Plotter,Vinyl plotter,Vinyl cutter . I will contact them directly to see if theirs can do the job. Its a bit more money, but it also seems to be a good price for a much larger machine... Perhaps they well run a test.

I larger bed would be nice, and I'm sure I could find work to create for it.

Or maybe I should just limit myself to brass... There are a lot of options for me to consider.

Cheers,
-Jay

Jay i have done some engraving on SS with a much flimsier machine than the one you linked too. I used V bits and got very acceptable results with adding coolant and watched my feed and speeds. As an observation though you may be better off buying a mill for this type of work dedicated. If this is a bread and butter scenario the then savings you could make yourself, buy a router later?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JayPunchbuggy

I've been looking at some options and ran across Redsail,Cutting Plotter,Vinyl plotter,Vinyl cutter . I will contact them directly to see if theirs can do the job. Its a bit more money, but it also seems to be a good price for a much larger machine... Perhaps they well run a test.

-Jay

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That eagle is familiar.. Seem to recall someone on here bought one of them a while back and was having problems setting it up...?

Ah, try this; Cockneyrebel was the guy. thread here;
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/genera...lp-please.html

editl
a UK seller (Middlesborough) on Ebay knocking them out at £2k rather than £3 as advertised!

I have the Eagle IV from Redsail which I use mainly for cutting foam. Never tried SS.
But if you require any further info just let me know.

Attachment 8231

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JayPunchbuggy

Hi Everyone,

I'm a newbie here and hope you can help.

I would like to engrave lettering into small plaques (about 80 x 45 mm) of stainless steel or brass. I currently have them made by an outside company but this gives me no flexability in doing cusomised lettering. The engraving is deep enough to be infilled with paint so that the print really stands out.

Attachment 8207

Can this kind of work be done with a CNC router? With proper tooling are there any machines that might fit the bill for under £2000? Are the CNC routers I've seen on Ebay from china up to the task of engraving in stainless steel?

For future work, I would also like the ability to work with larger materials like mdf or hardwoods. A bed size of 600 x 400 seems about right. Although I would love to have the time to make my own machine, I think that it will take too long. I'd rather get something that can be upgraded as required...


Really appreciate any guidence you can give.

Cheers,
-Jay

edit: should say that I could get the plaque blanks pre-cut.

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Hi Jay

We are manufacturer of cnc routers in China. Here is a cnc router i can recommend CC-G6090 for sign making.

Working area:600*900*80mm,any questions just contact with me

Regards
grace
Attachment 8304

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JayPunchbuggy

Thank you Jonathan for your advice.

I've been looking at some options and ran across Redsail,Cutting Plotter,Vinyl plotter,Vinyl cutter . I will contact them directly to see if theirs can do the job. Its a bit more money, but it also seems to be a good price for a much larger machine... Perhaps they well run a test.

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That looks crazy good for the money! Profile rails on all axis, steel construction (though can't see geometry under the covers of the gantry), flood coolant ability. Very nice indeed. Though I just noticed, only one bearing block per rail on the Z axis... possibly on all axis!

Well, I ordered a 6040 machine from eBay and it is meant to arrive tomorrow. I figured that ill be able to learn a lot from it without breaking the bank. Should do what I need for now. Fingers crossed. Will post my experiences...

Maybe my next machine will be home built.

Jay