Builders Guide To A DIY Engraving Machine

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tommytones

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 3, 2004
Messages
323
Location
Montreal
By the suggestion of Jakob (pursuant to my questions), I'm starting this thread in hopes of being able to build my own cnc engraver. I'm sure this will be of interest to others as well. I'm tired of spending so much time and money having my panels engraved by others (as nice as the results are) so I want to build my own machine. This way I can do what I want, when I need it without long waiting periods for the UPS guy to ring my door.

Hopefully we can pool together and come up with a concrete set of data which will guide me (and you) throughout the process.

I guess we should start with the basics. Any starting points that can be suggested would be great (links, articles or practical experience). I'd love to build a lazer machine as Igor (IJR) has done but this might prove to be a little difficult as the requirements are somewhat hard to deal with. He has given me a good bit of information to get started which I'll post. A mechanical engraver would probably be the best way to go.

So, how to proceed is the question...... :?:
 
It just so happens that I was looking through the Farnell catalogue last night and saw a DIY CNC Drilling machine that you could buy the parts for and then link it up to a PC and install some software to do the drilling
All you needed to do was then put a drill in the holder and it would do the drilling of your pcbs
But to be quite honest you could put a small router in there and use it to route copper of the PCBs (of which they also had an example - but it wasn;t a DIY) - instead of etching them
The Farnell productcosts about £250 and is descibed here - including drawings and buidling diagrams...
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=4140369&N=401
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/37810.pdf
 
I have seen people use an office name maker to engrave Al etc. The big trick is to use Scotch Matte finish tape (USA) on the metal in the area being cut. It is the tape used to tape paper together wrap stuff etc. I need to ask about the cutter tip used that is an important part of the setup

With out the tape the cutting looked bad.
 
Wow, that Farnell machine seems like a good candidate for modification. One could always mount a sturdier motor and spindle instead of using a drill of dremel type machine. I didn't notice any mention of the x/y travel distances though...
 
[quote author="tommytones"]Wow, that Farnell machine seems like a good candidate for modification. One could always mount a sturdier motor and spindle instead of using a drill of dremel type machine. I didn't notice any mention of the x/y travel distances though...[/quote]
oh dear - last page of the catalogue
max machien travel
x - 185mm
y - 185mm
z - 160mm
 
This has got me interested now...
This web site
http://cryolite.ath.cx/perl/skin/pcb-router
Deals with how a guy built his very own PCB router...
I see no difference between upsizing this for engraving
 
I guess I should read more thoroughly :oops:

This last machine is somewhat of the concept I was thinking of. It would need to be a little more robust but nonetheless.
 
Here's some pics of my unit:

http://www.gyraf.dk/tmp/Gyraf_CNC_01.JPG
http://www.gyraf.dk/tmp/Gyraf_CNC_02.JPG
http://www.gyraf.dk/tmp/Gyraf_CNC_03.JPG
http://www.gyraf.dk/tmp/Gyraf_CNC_04.JPG

I'll try to dig up links to the info I used - I'll keep editing this one post.

CNC-Zone - all about CNC:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/index.php

Luberth's great plotter/CNC pages:
http://www.luberth.com/cstep/

Majosoft's DIY-pages. Check "selfmade parts" and "Drill-to-cutter" for important tricks:
http://majosoft.tripod.com/index.html

Hans W's CNC-page - this is where most of my stepper controllers' schematics were lifted from:
http://hans-w.com/cnc.htm

Hans W's schematic:
http://hans-w.com/9908-09A.gif

L297 and L298 stepper motor controllers datasheets:
http://www.allelectronics.com/spec/L297.pdf - Stepper controller
http://www.learn-c.com/l298.pdf - H-bridge motor driver

PCB Routing page
http://www-users.rwth-aachen.de/thorsten.ostermann/i_fraes.htm

Interfacing to the PC parallel port:
http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/parallel_output.html

On stepper motors:
http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~ih/doc/stepper/control2/connect.html

ArtSoft - the company making Master5, a great windows-based real-time CNC driving program (demo version available):
http://www.artofcnc.ca/

Explanation of G-codes:
http://www.cncezpro.com/gcodes.cfm

--
I used a standard PC powersupply to drive this, as my stepmotors works nicely at 12V. The L298 H-bridge driver accepts motor voltages up to some 40V, and has built-in chopper current limiting.

For the engraver spindle itself, I used a spare one from a pantograph engraver, run by a small 12VDC motor. This was easier than figuring out a way to do the depth-control nozzle myself. Manually controlled engraving depth is important, as frontpanels aren't straight, nor is the paint coating ever even. Which means that I spring-load the cutter (within nozzle) towards the panel to be engraved.

Hint: Good source for stepmotors: Large copying machines. Don't bother with steppers from 5 1/4" floppy drives - they're fast, but has no torque.

I'm not very good with mechanics, so it is really hard for me to describe how it's put together. Let me know if you need more pictures or details.

I used standard drawer-type linear ball slides for the two main axes, and standard off-the-shelf 6mm thread for the ballscrews. Yes, it gives some backlash, but not more than can be trimmed out in software.

Jakob E.
 
Something like This would be a good start. Enough travel to handle most face plate sizes and certainly sturdy. It would require some modification to fit some stepper motors.

My real concern is how to make this so that the backlash is minimal and tolerances can stay pretty tight. Speaking of which, what tolerance is considered okay for engraving?? 1 thou. 10 though..???
 
The Farnell productcosts about £250 and is descibed here - including drawings and buidling diagrams...
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=4140369&N=401
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/37810.pdf

I actually emailed milford instruments about this machine with regards to engraving several years ago. They said it wasn`t suitable. I know what you mean though it looks like it would be suitable !!!
 
here ya go

:green:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=12584&item=3855815282&rd=1

what about a large plotter head assembly?
 
havent read through it yet... but has anyone seen this before?

http://www.etching-metal.com/etching/laser-engraver-kit.htm
 
I'm in for sure! I need it so bad right now!!! No one do this down here dudes!!!
I was thinking about something like a matricial printer, now imagine that instead of the paper it runs over a fixed long bench... would like to make it out of printer parts. Possible??
 
[quote author="Scenaria"]has anyone seen this before?

http://www.etching-metal.com/etching/laser-engraver-kit.htm[/quote]

That is not laser engraving - that is stensil-based chemical etching, accelerated by adding some voltage source...

Jakob E.
 
ya I just read through it :\ very deceiving

something as simple as a CO2 laser and some steppers/galvos?
 
The issue with using an old printer or plotter is the guide rails are not usually sturdy enough to maintain a reasonable tolerance. You'd have to modify it so much that it's easier to start from scratch I think.

Moving the head or the table is kinda the same procedure when you think about it. You'd need beefier steppers to move the table obviously. I like the table route because you use all the available standard mounting brackets and fixtures to hold your piece down.

Igor's machine is a Co2 laser. This would be very cool for sure. He did tell me that they can be difficult to setup (focusing, etc...). Of course, finding a used lazer that's not too expensive isn't that simple either.
 
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