Anyone use a Tormach drag engraver on anodized aluminum ?

I'm looking for q good way to mark some anodized parts with S/Ns etc. I can't spring for a Co2 laser right now and this looks like a viable option. Can anyone share their experience/pics ?.

Thanks in advance.

It can be done but there is no comparison. Attachment 249874Attachment 249876

Could you farm the lasering out? Surely there must be someone with a laser in your area, where are you located?

Thanks jcposada,
And yes, I have farmed this out locally and will do so in the future if I can get my qty's up. The local vendors want $12.00 each part for 1" by 3 " face. Plus I have to drop off and pick up. I'm engraving single line text, so no "filling in" required. I was curious for example of what the line width and quality would look like cutting through a black anodized face exposing the raw aluminum underneath.

What volume are we talking about here? Is this for your bike rack? Doesn't seem like that part would require any special jig or anything, just lay flat on the bed of the laser, correct?

Shop around. Your supplier's price seems very high. Or see how many you can fit into a USPS large flat rate box. Maybe I can run a few for you until you find a more reasonably priced laser partner.

Here is a magnified shot of the first picture I sent (on raw aluminum). Sorry I don't have the same on a piece of anodized stock.


Attachment 249878

BTW, you will notice that in some places it looks like the diamond tip double traced the path. It did not, I simply had not cleaned up the source file so it had some "noise" vectors laying around.

Your suppliers price doesn't seem that high for low quantity work.

Run time is run time, but someone has to pay for the time it takes to make the program and set up the machine.

You could also find a local hacker/makerspace with a laser you can join and you can laser your own until you can justify purchasing a laser. Is there a Techshop near you?

Great idea, I will check into that.

I have a 770 and purchased a 2linc engraving tool.... Not the cheapest item but I have done a bit of testing with cheap cutters (ebay) in 7075 and have been super impressed with the resolution and end product for both single line txt and artwork. Will up load some photos over the weekend, as I have been out of town for the first part of the week and have just got back to my home shop.

Cheers,
Adrian

I've done aluminum and plated silver with mine, not anodized aluminum yet, but it worked great on the raw aluminum and plated silver.

I have a laser, but it's at another location and costs me money everytime I use it as I rent it from a friend by the hour, so I do as much as I can at home.

Wade

I've done lots of diamond drag over the years. Aluminum itself can be tricky based on the density, but beyond that the uniformity (hard and soft spots). Then when you add in the anodize, that adds another dimension to the job. In the old days before laser, we only had reliable success (very reliable) using what they call a "flyweight" holder and diamond bit that was sharpened slightly off center. This holder and bit style were specifically made for rotary diamond drag operations... very popular when engraving corporate logo's on anodized pens.

A "Flyweight" holder is different than a traditional diamond drag holder in that while still "sprung", it is sprung with a really, really light weight spring. Adjusting the spring properly, combined with travel speed and spindle rpm dialed in for the right result allowed for the rotating offset diamond bit to spin cleanly thru the anodize, leaving a bright, smooth rotary pattern in the aluminum and a clean edge on the anodize.

Of course the "flyweight" holder is only commonly known to ENGRAVING machines and their users. I have never seen anything made like it to chuck in a traditional chuck, but obviously, one could be made.

Thanks for all the feedback eveybody. Ill post up on progress.

Here is an example for the engraver tool I am using; note speeds and feeds are not optimized.

(o) 60 degree
(o) Speed 4500
(o) Cut depth 0.034

Obviously not a drag cutter and not anodized but am confident it would do a good job, especially if you take the time to work out the speeds and feeds.

Cheers,
.adrian

Attachment 250460

Here's the update.

After some checking around, I decided to purchase the Tormach drag engraver. It was cheap enough to try and is already in a TTS holder for the price of ~$60.00. After a couple test runs, I ended up using the stiffer spring. I ran 20 IPM for a feed. On the small letters I used and offset of -.07" and the larger letters -.12". Bottom line, it did what I wanted. The letters under magnification are a little rough and certainly not as perfect as a CO2 laser, but for my purposes is acceptable. For reference, the upper case "P" in "Patent Pending" in .08" tall. After the engraving I just air blast while deburring with a tooth brush, and they come out fine. The pictures actually look a lot worse that in person.

It would be nice if.....
1. The tool holder had a slot/window in the side with graduation marks so you could repeat the amount of spring pre-load for the given application.
2. Used glide bushings for the reciprocating tool to ride on. It's kind of "gritchy" sliding in the tool holder. (don't know if this would improve finish).

Word of caution:
There is no limit to the pre-load adjustment screw, so if you were to crank it all the way down, you would compress the spring to 0 travel, and crash the tool/work piece.

Attachment 252086

Matt,

I'm curious.... How does it compare to the "Probe" engraving on the bezel of the PDB? I used a small V-bit to do that, but it's a slow process....

Regards,
Ray L.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SCzEngrgGroup

Matt,

I'm curious.... How does it compare to the "Probe" engraving on the bezel of the PDB? I used a small V-bit to do that, but it's a slow process....

Regards,
Ray L.

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Ray,
Yours looks way cleaner. Based on my limited experience, a rotating tool makes a cleaner cut/look. But like you say it's slow. I've used a sharp spota drill that works well, but its absolutely critical the part be flat. Too much set up time. With the spring loaded tool, I can just slap them in my plastic fixture and perfect work holding doesn't matter. Ultimately I would love to get a CO2 laser, but this is fine for this part.

I added a stiffer spring purchased from McMaster to engrave O1 tool steel blanks. 20ipm with 120 degree tip and 0.1" plunge wires great

Brian
WOT Designs