[bill south]

Hey Guys and Gals;
As the title says, I'm trying to find the best method for engraving aluminum. The blanks are AR-15 Receivers that I machine at home for my personal use and mark with name and serial number. I also do some engraving on 1911 slides but very little. I currently have in service a cnc sherline machine with a 10000 rpm spindle. It works fine for little stuff but the receivers are just to big. So, I'm using my Torus Pro. A very recent thread in this forum addressed the tooling marks in his engraving efforts and well, my efforts are much worse in that the engraving looks more melted than cut. I'm sorry but I didn't take any pictures but will try to post some this weekend when I'm back in the toy room.
So, my questions is, what is the best method for marking aluminum. If cost was no object (within hobby reason), what is a good, neat method of creating good art on the aluminum surfaces.
Just looking for some ideas guys so if needed, beat away!
Many thanks for your thoughts.
Bill

[CNCMAN172]

Bill,

You can use small engraving cutting they do a very nice job in aluminum. Depending on the font you select you can do pockets or you can also do line engraving. Here is a photo of some hub inserts for a friends Cobra I made since they are impossible to find these days.

Russ

[vertcnc]

Wow, Those look really nice. Do you have a source for the tooling you used? What kind of spindle rpm are you running? Thanks

[CNCMAN172]

Vertcnc,

For small pocket engraving of letters I use these 1/32" endmills

1 32" 0312" Carbide 2 Flute Endmill New | eBay

For small line engravings I use Kyrocera bits, 30, 60, & 90 degree depending on the effect I want to achieve

45 Degree Angle Carbide Bits for Scoring or Engraving | eBay

30 Degree Bits for Scoring or Engraving Sharp Point Narrow Tip Kyocera Tycom | eBay

I use a Chinese water cooled spindle normally run these at 10,000 RPM. I slow the feed rate down for the engraving cutters because they have a very sharp tip and it can get broken. I also usually put on a small shot of WD40 when doing fine engraving, which makes doing nice engravings very easy.

Russ

[vertcnc]

Thanks, I'll have to give it a try.

[bill south]

Thanks guys! I'll have to score some of those cutters and give it a shot. I also found WD 40 to be better for engraving than my flood system. Doesn't make sense to me but the cuts turn out nicer with a small bit of WD.
Have a good weekend and I'll follow up when I get a chance.
Nice work CNCMan. Love to have one of those tokens and the Cobra to make me honest!
B

[CNCMAN172]

Bill,
I can send you the file and you can make one. Those are not actually tokens they are the little inserts that go into the wheel hubs on the cobra. Here is a photo of the "token" installed into the hub for the wheel.



Russ

[bill south]

Thanks Russ but I am a Corvette man!
Would love to have a cobra though!
Thanks again.
Bill

[Fixittt]

I guess the one thing that needs to be know is. Are you wanting DEEP lines or light top surface markings. I have engraved some airsoft AR recievers and found that alot of times the crappy castings are not flat.
I built a drag engraving head that replaces my spindle. Its a spring loaded deal with a diamond on the end. It allows you to follow irregular shapes without having to draw the contour.
This is good for glass, anadized aluminum and many other materials. But it doesnt score very deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcOKVlcnoiM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jHcI5wUYVM

Top Loading Diamond Engraving Tools

The top loading bits are 4.5 inches long. I made a simple culinder with a 1/8th hole in caps on each end. Spring and drill stop on the bottom. Drill stop on the top end to keep the bit from coming out. Very simple and works great.

Hope this helps a little.

[Fixittt]

double post apperantly