Engraving Ink-Fill

Hi,

Can someone with experience in filling in pre-engraved parts give me an idea of how much experience / skill it takes? I wouldn't dare attempt to actually engrave something, as I realise that takes a lot of knowledge, but can the same be said of in-filling? Can an amateur get similar results to a pro, assuming the engraving itself is good? I would need acetone to wash away over-spill, right?

If I wish to in-fill white lettering, can anyone post a suggestion for the ink / paint itself, and the tool to apply it? How do you judge which tool to use?

Likewise, if this is a job best left to pros, please tell me bluntly.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Thermo

I've also been wondering the same thing.

Came up with these links which I still need to watch....

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=engrave+ink+fill

Hope they help.
Peter

if you look to the way antique radios are done, it can be as simple as a crayon with the excess cleaned off.  There are specific wax 'crayons' for this purpose, many many commercial products made using this technique. 

I've used Lacquer-stiks.
They're not quite front panel express style but more of its own thing.
Fill the engravings with the stick then scrape off the remnants and smooth the surface with a plastic spackling knife.
I like how it turns out - the mix of a precise engraving with a touch of handmade feel.

*Doug posted while I was typing.
I'm talking about the same thing.

I tried it once to fill engravings with color. It looked awful, i think i used the wrong color

Not strictly relevant but back in the 70s at Neve, all the plastic push button caps were engraved in house. They were filled with regular Dulux paint.

Cheers

Ian

There is another long thread about this somewhere here

Now my eyes are not what they used to be. So, if yours are the same then I suggest you invest into a table mount magnifier if you do not already have one.

Then a syringe with varying gauges of needles to inject the  the paint into the grove.

Viscosity of the paint is important. You do not want it to be too thin. Otherwise when dry the groove will sure be painted in colour but not filled as the thinner (whether synthetic or water based)  in the paint will evaporate, unless of course it is exactly what you want.

Make sure the surface you are working on is perfectly horizontal.

Inject the paint and watch under the magnifier until the groove is filled. If the paint runs/over flows a bit do not try to wipe it off immediately. Wait until it is chewy, then wipe it off. It will flake-off.

Your wiping tool can be of variety of shapes and materials.  But the fundamental is to stretch a bit  fabric or chammy  leather over a rectangular or round piece of object. Run it over the surface. As the grove will be below the surface of the tool only the excess will be wiped off.

Type of paint is important . I would select it depending on the surface quality. If the surface is grainy then I would use water based paint, such as what Ian suggested as it will not stick to the surface and smudge. Even if you get some odd areas smudged then you can get in closer using cotton buds.

But if the surface is smooth then you can afford to use synthetic paint.

Of course, practice, practice, practice.

When I looked at this, the industrial way of doing it is with a liquid dispenser. It's a box that supplies a precise amount of liquid to a wand with syringe tip.

I tried Sahib's method to infill hand stamps. It didn't work since the indentations were not uniform. There are also burrs on the surface. Sanding the surface to eliminate the burrs would make some stamps less legible. I settled on using wax infill paint sticks.

Paint pen

Extra Fine point Works well with practice

ruffrecords said:

Not strictly relevant but back in the 70s at Neve, all the plastic push button caps were engraved in house. They were filled with regular Dulux paint.

Cheers

Ian

Click to expand...

So you used one can a year?

Rochey said:

ruffrecords said:

Not strictly relevant but back in the 70s at Neve, all the plastic push button caps were engraved in house. They were filled with regular Dulux paint.

Cheers

Ian

Click to expand...

So you used one can a year?

Click to expand...

Probably three because there was black,  green and orange IIRC.

Cheers

Ian

Thanks to all of you - much appreciated.

I have 2 items that need filling:

a) An expensive panel that is for something I'm selling. I'm thinking I'll have to pay a pro for this. The engraving itself is fine, but I can't practice on this.

b) a run of knobs which have machined pointers. Paying an engraver will be daft, so I intend to figure a method for these. As the pointer is highly accurate maybe synthetic paint and syringe?

Can you post a picture of the knob?

I've been infilling items for years.  A thousand+ knobs using laquer paint sticks.

There's not much to it.

Rub some paint in it, wipe off the excess.  Let it dry, and rub it down again if it's not clean enough.  The rest is all what works for you.

A small tin of acrylic paint will last a long time.

Don't over think it, just do it.  If you don't dig the result, use some spirits to remove the paint and hit it again.