Up to now I have only used push gravers, but I want to start engraving nickel and 416 stainless. I have tried hammer chisel with limited success (very limited). I am thinking of investing in a power assist rig. The choices within my budget are #1 magnagraver $520 #2 the GRS system 3 price around $650 depending on compressor. ANY thoughts or advise would be greatly appreciated.
buying equipment
- Thread starter sword
- Start date
For your price range, my advice is to buy a used GraverMax. There have been quite a few for sale since people are upgrading to the new GraverMach. In fact, there's one for sale in the Cafe Classifieds for $700 or best offer. I've seen decent work done with a System 3, but i advise you to get a GraverMax over your other choices if you're really serious about engraving. There is no comparison in performance as far as I'm concerned. / ~Sam
I have a friend who has a gravermeister (no compressor needed) I'm sure would fit in your budget. He recently got it back from GRS for repair, but decided to upgrade which he has done. It is available now. If your interested I'll give you his phone number. Sam would this work for him? Perhaps you can give him the pluses and minuses of the gravermeister system.
Billzach
Elite Cafe Member
I used a airbrush compressor to run my gravermax for about 5 years, before i run a air line from my big shop to my engraving shop..airbrush compressors can be brought cheap, i paid $15 for mine used..the biggest neg. was keeping the water drained from my filter- reg..if i remember right my airbrush compressor was a paasche..i also set up a engraving shop for my brother-law about 2 years ago and used a airbrush compressor for his shop to run a gravermax..also i set a engraving shop up for my son and used his small walmart air compressor which was a $69.99 unit.
I called my friend. He will take $500.00 for his gravermeister it has at least one hand piece perhaps more. He said it's still in the box from GRS. I don't want to be in the middle of any transaction so if you are interested let me know on a private message and I'll give you his phone number. Good luck.
jacques herbst
Elite Cafe Member
i work differently i save for the tools i want,it took me 2 years to save up money for a airgraver and got it yesterday.the thing is how seriously you take it.if you are going to spend a lot of time engraving your tools is important.push graver is hard to master but not impossible and air assisted tools are the best and fastest way to learn.so just be patient and save save save.the bad news is its not just a graver there is microscope,ballvice,turntable,powerhone and dual angle books dvds castings and and and.i have started using all home made tools and slowly i will get all the tools i want. second hand tools do pop up and good luck hope you find a bargain soon.
Marcus Hunt
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
One thing to consider Sword....noise! Are you the type who likes nice quiet machinery so you can listen to music or concentrate on what you are doing? Or do you find you can blank off to it?
I ask this because if you run a silent compressor (no noiser than a fridge motor) and a Graver Max/Mach you get virtually no noise. Although my old Max used to whir like mad and drive me crazy by the end of the day. My father's Max is almost as silent as my Mach though but he uses a noiser oil-free compressor. The Gravermeister is a noisey beast. I remember Don Glasser bringing one over as a demo for my father when I was an apprentice. I prayed that he wouldn't buy one because the noise was horrendous! The compressor is built in and runs continuously. It's like a mini pneumatic drill!
I tried the Air Graver but didn't get on with it partly because of the 'angry wasp' noise. It doesn't seem to affect some people so each to their own but I can tell you after 8 - 10 hours working with a tool every day, noise is a consideration.
Personally, I would stick it out with hand tools at first. It's a steeper learning curve but a rewarding one. Then, when you can afford it, go the Graver Max/Mach route. Like Sam says, look out for a second hand unit; you'll be much better off.
Sometimes in our eagerness to get started at something we try a cheap route which in the long run becomes a more expensive one.
Good luck and get cutting!
Marcus
I ask this because if you run a silent compressor (no noiser than a fridge motor) and a Graver Max/Mach you get virtually no noise. Although my old Max used to whir like mad and drive me crazy by the end of the day. My father's Max is almost as silent as my Mach though but he uses a noiser oil-free compressor. The Gravermeister is a noisey beast. I remember Don Glasser bringing one over as a demo for my father when I was an apprentice. I prayed that he wouldn't buy one because the noise was horrendous! The compressor is built in and runs continuously. It's like a mini pneumatic drill!
I tried the Air Graver but didn't get on with it partly because of the 'angry wasp' noise. It doesn't seem to affect some people so each to their own but I can tell you after 8 - 10 hours working with a tool every day, noise is a consideration.
Personally, I would stick it out with hand tools at first. It's a steeper learning curve but a rewarding one. Then, when you can afford it, go the Graver Max/Mach route. Like Sam says, look out for a second hand unit; you'll be much better off.
Sometimes in our eagerness to get started at something we try a cheap route which in the long run becomes a more expensive one.
Good luck and get cutting!
Marcus
Marcus,
thanks for the input, and yes noise is a consideration but money is a bigger one my day job pays VERY little and i have been saving for almost a year now to get in the 600-700 dollar price range. You can only go so long eating peanut butter snadwiches twice a day And ear plugs are only a buck!
thanks for the input, and yes noise is a consideration but money is a bigger one my day job pays VERY little and i have been saving for almost a year now to get in the 600-700 dollar price range. You can only go so long eating peanut butter snadwiches twice a day
And ear plugs are only a buck!
Tim Wells
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
...Then, when you can afford it, go the Graver Max/Mach route. Like Sam says, look out for a second hand unit; you'll be much better off.
Sometimes in our eagerness to get started at something we try a cheap route which in the long run becomes a more expensive one.
Good luck and get cutting!
Marcus[/QUOTE]
Brother, you said it all right there and don't I know it!
Matter of fact I've made that same mistake more than once... ok, more than twice
Sometimes in our eagerness to get started at something we try a cheap route which in the long run becomes a more expensive one.
Good luck and get cutting!
Marcus[/QUOTE]
Brother, you said it all right there and don't I know it!
Matter of fact I've made that same mistake more than once... ok, more than twice
Interesting. I don't find the airgraver to be any noiser than the gravermax SC or the gravermach. When they are not in use they all three sit there patiently and quitely waiting to be picked up.
When each is in use you can hear the piston hitting the anvil as it drives the graver through the work. I find that each has its own frequency or pitch but I cannot tell that one is any louder volume wise than the other.
I have seven machines here; Ngraver magnagraver, Graver max, Gravermax SC, Gravermach, foot pedal Airgraver and a Palm Control Airgraver. I have the palm control in use on my personal bench and I have the other equipment set up on student benches. I have used them all and they all make noise when they cut and they all are quite when they are not cutting.
I listen to music and movies all day long as I work and I have never found any of the machines to be a problem with interfering with my music.
The best advise I can give is to try something out before you buy it. Find some one who has the machine you are interested in and see if they will let you test drive it.
I would also second the oppinion that it is better to save for a while and get good equipment than to buy something you will end up replacing in a year or two.
Ray
When each is in use you can hear the piston hitting the anvil as it drives the graver through the work. I find that each has its own frequency or pitch but I cannot tell that one is any louder volume wise than the other.
I have seven machines here; Ngraver magnagraver, Graver max, Gravermax SC, Gravermach, foot pedal Airgraver and a Palm Control Airgraver. I have the palm control in use on my personal bench and I have the other equipment set up on student benches. I have used them all and they all make noise when they cut and they all are quite when they are not cutting.
I listen to music and movies all day long as I work and I have never found any of the machines to be a problem with interfering with my music.
The best advise I can give is to try something out before you buy it. Find some one who has the machine you are interested in and see if they will let you test drive it.
I would also second the oppinion that it is better to save for a while and get good equipment than to buy something you will end up replacing in a year or two.
Ray
One thing I have done to minimize noise is to set my oiless compressor up at the other end of my basement. I then ran an extesion cord and air hose from the compessor to my engraving room. I set up an electrical switch to energize the cord and an air tank to receive the air. Now all I hear is classical music. Sometimes during chistmas season I hear chistmas music.
Engraving equipment (and perhaps every kind of equipment) is a serious investment and purchase. It can almost be guaranteed that you'll end up buying and twice if you limit yourself to the cheapest tools available. Good tools cost more for a reason. They are built to extremely high standards, they are responsive and easy to control, and they shorten the learning curve. You will definitely get what you pay for. / ~Sam
I have a small air compressor that carpenters use for brad nailers and it works fine, except when it decides to come on to recharge the tank....it scares the stuffin's out of me every time and sometimes I have to fix the "scare trail" left in the piece I'm working on. My advice is to get a very quiet Silentaire or something similar and save yourself a lot of aggravation and expense.
Bill
Bill
Yves Halliburton
Elite Cafe Member
If your air compress is loud and there are no options on where you can put it. You might look at the CUT-IN and CUT-OUT settings. I have a small Makita and it is pretty loud but charges very quickly. I changed the cut in to about 30 lbs and the cut out to max (check the MFG's max tank limits). This way you use as much air in the tank as you can before it recharges.
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Jim-Iowa
Elite Cafe Member
Box it up?
Before putting a small dust collector in my woodshop,I used a couple of shop vacs. Since they were noisey I made an insulated box to limit noise.
If you have a noisy compressor as I now have in my woodshop you could build an insulated box to make it more tolerable. Just allow enough room around it to allow for heat to avoid overheating.
Before putting a small dust collector in my woodshop,I used a couple of shop vacs. Since they were noisey I made an insulated box to limit noise.
If you have a noisy compressor as I now have in my woodshop you could build an insulated box to make it more tolerable. Just allow enough room around it to allow for heat to avoid overheating.
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Mike Bissell
Elite Cafe Member
To any one looking to buy engraving equipment. I would say get the best that you can afford and you won't be sorry. Now is the time to buy a gravermax if your means will allow. There are a few used ones on the market here and on other forums as a few people are upgrading to the gravermach. Also I cured my compressor noise by setting it up in the garage and installed a second regulator set at 60 psi from that I ran 1/2" PVC pipe rated at 100psi to my shop in the basement. I added a couple plastic valves and hooked it up to my gravermax. Now I have no compressor noise.
can i add to this ... i just got a graver max 9? 0 its the old one all in one.. damn thing is sooooo loud... is it suppossed to be? and i know i dont do oil lines or that but what about the pulleys..im thinking of putting it in a cover box to kepp th noise down... or should i take it back? thanx people
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