Another home made engraving machine

akbill

Member
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
13
Speaks Volumes, when a master uses it in place of pro built unit. Though I am building a more sophisticated version. With far more control. Mr. Hughes's version is excellent, a bit Rube Goldberg,but a great tool. How long do you think it will take for a clone of the DIY version to hit the market?
 

akbill

Member
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
13
Very nice job. I to got the bug from Mr. Hughes. I was unaware He actually use it for his work. I am building a Version of this with some small changes. 1. the pump is a cylinder with a aluminum heat ex changer, fan cooled. 2 A variable displacement control for the cylinder. 3. Adjustable piston stroke. I will also do some experiments in the relationship of displacement volumes between the hand piece and drive cylinder. I don't know if I will engrave any thing, other than for testing. Just like making tools, Bill
 

akbill

Member
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
13
Agreed the market is wide open. Let's hope the peeps who pick up the gauntlet have some skills and good engineering sense. There will be good one and bad ones.
 

stick

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
35
Location
Slovenia
That's awesome! Nice to see the 3D design, you did a good job and got me thinking about making my own improved version based on your design. I just wonder is that the piston inside with the O-ring or something that the piston hits (not the colet but something shorter) ?
Thumbs up! I like it a lot.
 

jan-willem

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2017
Messages
18
Location
Zoetermeer, Netherlands
Hello Necj,

Thanks! The model is not finished currently. It is still missing the piston, the piston jacket and the nozzle to attach the air inlet.

Its design is from a russian toolmaker: http://www.chipmaker.ru/topic/132834/page__view__findpost__p__2934062

I decided to draw it in 3d to better understand it and have a base to make my own modifications. I must admit that apart from the detail in the knob and fixation ring there is very little to optimize about the design.

Its absolutely beautiful in its relative simplicity. The way he used the setscrew as a way to lock the axis rotation is genius! It means you only have one part to mill with a default 4mm.

The most complex action might be the small 1mm step inside the main cylinder. I havent found a way to make that easier from a manufacturing perspective without degrading functionality though.

Since I will have to have this made its important to not have it take a lot of time to have this machined. You can clearly see the guy thought about that as well.

If you look at his drawings which are finished you can see how it works quite clearly. For a pneumatic graver you want three things:

a) have the piston hit the graver(holder) only
b) limit the displacement of said graver
c) constrain movement linearly (no axial rotation)

The part that you are referring to sits in between the graverholder and the piston. It sits against the ridge inside the cylinder with a rubber O-ring in between. This means that when the piston hits it, the O-ring will be squashed but it will never move more then say 0.5mm. So the function of that part is to limit the displacement of the graver. Quite ingenious! :thumbsup:

If you combine that with the setscrew avoiding rotation along the long axis you have all you need.

Kind regards,

JW

PS
Ill send you a private message with my mail. I prefer not to post that publicly. I hope you understand. Also if you want to you can create a fusion 360 account (free) and ill add you to the project. In that way you can also download the 2d drawings, see the documentation i gathered, post comments or even improve or submit a design yourself! :clapping:
 

stick

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
35
Location
Slovenia
Hello Necj,

Thanks! The model is not finished currently. It is still missing the piston, the piston jacket and the nozzle to attach the air inlet.

Its design is from a russian toolmaker: http://www.chipmaker.ru/topic/132834/page__view__findpost__p__2934062

I decided to draw it in 3d to better understand it and have a base to make my own modifications. I must admit that apart from the detail in the knob and fixation ring there is very little to optimize about the design.

Its absolutely beautiful in its relative simplicity. The way he used the setscrew as a way to lock the axis rotation is genius! It means you only have one part to mill with a default 4mm.

The most complex action might be the small 1mm step inside the main cylinder. I havent found a way to make that easier from a manufacturing perspective without degrading functionality though.

Since I will have to have this made its important to not have it take a lot of time to have this machined. You can clearly see the guy thought about that as well.

If you look at his drawings which are finished you can see how it works quite clearly. For a pneumatic graver you want three things:

a) have the piston hit the graver(holder) only
b) limit the displacement of said graver
c) constrain movement linearly (no axial rotation)

The part that you are referring to sits in between the graverholder and the piston. It sits against the ridge inside the cylinder with a rubber O-ring in between. This means that when the piston hits it, the O-ring will be squashed but it will never move more then say 0.5mm. So the function of that part is to limit the displacement of the graver. Quite ingenious! :thumbsup:

If you combine that with the setscrew avoiding rotation along the long axis you have all you need.

Kind regards,

JW

PS
Ill send you a private message with my mail. I prefer not to post that publicly. I hope you understand. Also if you want to you can create a fusion 360 account (free) and ill add you to the project. In that way you can also download the 2d drawings, see the documentation i gathered, post comments or even improve or submit a design yourself! :clapping:

Thanks for the info. I will take my time and figure things out properly.
I sent you the drawings for my handpiece, i hope you got them.
I hope you post some more if you have any new breakthrough info on this subject.
Thanks again, have a nice day
 

JJ Roberts

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::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
3,450
Location
Manassas, VA
If any of you get a chance to visit the NRA museum in Fairfax Virginia there's a home made power assist engraving tool made by an engraver in Michigan around the 1960's by the name of John Murphy also a engraved S&W pistol. J.J.
 

akbill

Member
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
13
Speed control, how about a tee in the line, that controls bleed off pressure from the piston. That way the piston does not work when the tool is not working. The set frequency would remain the same, the power would be variable. You would need a filter on the bleed off, an aquarium stone would do, remember is sucks and blows. Building hand pieces,vices and assorted sharping equipment. Have 3 or 4 pumps laying around. Just a mad toolaholic. I may never engrave anything, just like building tools.
 
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magicmaker

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2007
Messages
8
As an experiment I made a DIY setup. You may see what I did in this pdf: https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ahl6a5kY9VsGhtkVRw2ZRS5YF66jbA



Since I made it, I added a PWM type speed control to the tiny compressor. I will eventually modify the speed control knob to fit a foot control to operate like an accelerator.

[video]https://youtu.be/ba5r4HN-BBM[/video]
 
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dogcatcher

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2013
Messages
486
Location
Abilene TX Ruidoso NM
I am guessing that is a drill chuck that adapts to the Dremel. Did you find out what the threads are, or did you buy a premade adapter. I have searched for a tap and die for the Dremel chuck, but too many opinions did not work. So eventually I drilled and tapped one for another project using off the shelf tapa nd die.
 

magicmaker

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2007
Messages
8
I am guessing that is a drill chuck that adapts to the Dremel. Did you find out what the threads are, or did you buy a premade adapter. I have searched for a tap and die for the Dremel chuck, but too many opinions did not work. So eventually I drilled and tapped one for another project using off the shelf tapa nd die.

No, the drill chuck is not a Dremel. There are a few pics in the pdf which show how I adapted it for my use. It is not threaded. Several vendors on various web auction sites sell these chucks.
 

Olegraver

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2018
Messages
16
Neat to see folks still making their own gravers, my uncles was a master jeweler and graver for over 50 years and always made his own, he never owned a commercial model, although he did have a nice diamond power hone to sharpen his gravers
 

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