GRS precision remote air regulator

Nathan Ott · Feb 8, 2009

Howdy guys,

My name is Nathan Ott and I'm new to the Cafe. I've been a goldsmith for about 8 years. I started engraving near the end of my apprenticeship and it has been an obession ever since.

I have a Gravermax SC thats about 2 years old and I've been thinking about selling it and upgrading to a Gravemach. Obviously the Mach offers much finer control than the Max, but I saw something called a precision remote air regulator on the GRS website. I was curious if this might provide the finer stroke control that I am looking for without the expense of replacing my Gravemax. Any input/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
-Nathan

Andrew Biggs · Feb 8, 2009

Hi Nathan

Welcome to the forum. I can't answer your question but I'm sure others here will be able to help you out. Anytime you want to join in just feel free to do so.

Cheers
Andrew

Sam · Feb 8, 2009

Nathan: Call GRS and talk to JB Taylor. Your SC might already have a precision regulator in it.

Welcome to the Cafe!

~Sam

fegarex · Feb 8, 2009

Hi Nathan,
Welcome to the forum. I would suggest calling the tech department at GRS for the best answer. From what I know, the Gravermax SC already has a precision air regulator. The difference is the Gravermach has two stage regulator and a bias control. To be honest, I never use the bias control. What hand piece are you using? Perhaps all you need is a lighter spring. Also, make sure the air pressure is adjusted correctly. Here is a link on how to tune a hand piece.
http://www.grstools.com/PDFs/Tips/settingHPpressure.pdf

Peter E · Feb 8, 2009

Nathan,
Calling JB at GRS is definitely a good suggestion and you will get your answer.

My gravermax was purchased a VERY short time before the gravermach was available and I have the remote air regulator. I attended a class at GRS and all the benches were outfitted with gravermachs. I was thinking I would upgrade if the gravermach was noticeably superior. The biggest differences I noticed was the dead quiet of the gravermach and the much higher stroke range adjustment.

In using the bias adjustment, it seemed to me that I was able to accomplish the same tuning with the remote air regulator. I am not sure if it is technically the same, but it seems to me that it accomplishes the same function, which is to precisely adjust the handpiece to operate as you depress the foot pedal. I rarely use the higher speed range of my gravermax, so having the range to 8000 instead of 4000 was not a big deal to me.

Considering I am still learning and not generating income from my equipment yet, I decided to keep what I have. Those that are earning a living engraving may have a different opinion on this.

Peter

Mack · Feb 8, 2009

Welcome. There is no such thing as a stranger here. Nice to hear from you!

Nathan Ott · Feb 8, 2009

Thanks for the input everyone.

I have been primarily using the 901 hand piece, but I also have a 710 hand piece that came with my Gravemax. I almost never use the 710 because I don't like the way it feels in my hand.

Unless I've completly misunderstood the instructions my hand piece is tuned properly and I usually run between a max of 3000 stroke per minute and a low of about 1600, depending on the job. Also, my Gravemax has recently been to the GRS factory for service since my regulator cracked about 3 months ago. As far as I know the entire regulator was replaced (for free, even though my warrenty was up, thanks GRS!).

I do have few questions though. I would really love to engrave knives or a gun in the future, but 100% of experience is in soft metals like copper, sterling silver and gold. So far steel has intimidated me, since as goldsmith and stone setter it has been out of my frame of reference so far.

Is my Gravemax SC up to the task of gun engraving? I've been using Glensteel gravers (90 and 120 degree usually) for most of my work so far. I am curious how to approach hardened steel like a knife blade. Do I need a special graver, or will a properly heeled 120 in Glensteel be fine?

Again, thanks for the help and input everyone.

fegarex · Feb 9, 2009

The main point of "tuning" the hand piece is to get the air pressure right. Refer to the instructions link for that. Too much or too little air will make things difficult. There is a "suggested" air pressure but actually tuning by ear is the best bet.
The 901 and SC is fine for gun engraving. As far as knife blades, that is near impossible for the most part. They need to be done before hardening. There are some exceptions but most blades will give you a fit.

Tira · Feb 9, 2009

Hello Nathan and welcome!

Your gravermax sc should be fine for gun engraving. You can call up GRS and confirm the precision regulator, but it will work either way.

When you move to the harder metals like steel one thing you may need to do is increase your face angle. I use a 55 degree face angle for most of the harder metals I engrave. This will make the point stronger. The glensteel gravers should do well on mild steel as well. There are very hard steels that you would need to use a carbide graver on, but on practice plates and many types of steel you do not need to use carbide. The hardened knife blades are a different issue. I will defer to someone who has tried hardened knife blades. Most of the time if a knife blade is engraved it is engraved before the hardening process.

Best of luck. Get some steel pieces or practice plates and let us know how it goes.

Sam · Feb 9, 2009

You see engraved blades from time to time. My experience has taught me to avoid them. Can I engrave them before heat treating? Yes. Can I do them without constant tool resharpening? No. Can I do my best work on miserably hard steel? No.

For me, life is too short to spend time engraving really hard blade steels, and I've regretted each one I've ever done. Just my 2-cents. Your mileage may vary.

leschowe · Feb 9, 2009

Hi Rex,
I was told, when I purchased my Gravermax SC from GRS, that the only difference between the Gravermach and the SC was the bias control feature in the Gravermach. Are you indicating in your post above that the Gravermach also has a superior regulator? If I had known that I would have purchased the Gravermach.

Les Schowe

fegarex · Feb 9, 2009

Hi Les,
I really don't know the exact answer to that. I assumed the Mach has a 2 stage regulator to allow for the bias and the Max a single stage. I think both are high end regulators however. The best answer for this would be right from GRS.
Rex

Nathan Ott · Feb 9, 2009

sam said:
Can I do my best work on miserably hard steel? No.

For me, life is too short to spend time engraving really hard blade steels, and I've regretted each one I've ever done. Just my 2-cents. Your mileage may vary.

I had a feeling this was the case with blades, as I haven't seen many of them. The one engraved blade Ive actually seen in person (not via the internet) was a custom by H.H. Frank of Dallas Oregon that a friend of mine owns. Even in that case the pattern on the blade was very simple.

I'll probably avoid the blades for the time being, although I can't promise my tendenacy for bitting off more than I can chew won't eventually get the best of me.

Thanks again for all the input. When I get some good digital photos of some of my engraved pieces I'll post them and see what you guys think.

fegarex · Feb 9, 2009

From the tech department at GRS...
“If the SC has a white knob, is over 1” in diameter and has ‘SMC’ in the center of the knob, it has the precision regulator.”

That all said, I had an old Gravermax for over 20 years with no precision regulator and it worked just fine. Having a clean and adjusted hand piece is far more important. Make sure what you have is clean and adjusted right and don't worry so much about the regulator.

GRS precision remote air regulator

Nathan Ott

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