[TheMunk]

HELP! I am such a newbie at this kind of stuff but need the finished product most every day of my home business. I'm looking for a desktop engraver to create what are called "die-plates" in my industry. The text or logo's that are placed on them change from customer to customer. They are 2" wide and .7" tall and engraved from brass. Here's a picture of one up close:



I really need cheap here as my home business isn't the most profitable. The reason for this move is that the place I order these from take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks to get these made. It's killing me and I have actually lost business because of the delay. It then creates a situation where I receive 30 of these things all at the same time leaving me scrambling to get them placed in the machinery and off to the customers. The person I work with is the best but I can't keep on doing business this way.

I'm a complete techie person from programming, computer hardware, soldering, mechanical repairs of parts, springs, gears yada yada.

It seems that when I'm searching for these kind of engravers they come with just the desktop hardware item but no software and still use parallel or serial ports. I can work with either one but would prefer something a little more modern such as USB.

I'd like to keep my budget capped at $2,000 but don't know if this is realistic. I'm perfectly happy with used but don't know if the tips on these things wear out or the stepper motors lose their accuracy.

[mactec54]

Hi The Munk

I don't think you could find anything CNC for $2,000 that would do a good enough job for you

I have sent you a PM

[TheMunk]

mactec54, thank you for such a quick response. I was hoping to get a few more suggestions as I have seen some for the $4000 range. The questions are if they can cut deep enough, are accurate and what software comes with it.

[rowbare]

Check out the Benchtop Mills and the Taig sub-forum. A cnc ready Taig with a Gecko G540 and motors will be under $2000. It might suit your needs.

[CountBraden]

Hello TheMunk

If you interested I could turn around 30 or so of your plates in a few days. Email me and I can send you some of the projects that I do.

[TheMunk]

Wow, thanks everyone for the help. Rowbare, I'm checking into whether or not these ones will work for me.

In the meantime, if anyone else wants to quote on actually making the dies for me/us can you send me a private message or respond here? Just some more information about the dies and our needs:

1) They are made from solid brass
2) Most of the time it is usually text that is to be engraved
3) I have samples that I can send to anyone (only after serious talks)
4) I need the price per plate
5) I need an estimate turn around time. ie 2 days, 1 week, etc
6) Currently I am charged anywhere from $11 to $22 per plate
7) For shipping I can give you my FedEx account
8) Once in a while a customer needs a logo or signature to be engraved
(How much would you charge for this?)
9) We would want you to supply the brass blanks
10) As for font size, I've never really measured it but we seem to get about three different sizes.
Sometimes, a customer just wants a plate to read "RECEIVED" and it uses about 70% of the plate.
Other times, a customer wants four lines of text with 24 characters on each line.

The plates are: 2" wide and .7" tall and engraved from brass

Here's another example of two plates (front and back):
http://nationaldatestamp.com/pics/die-plates.jpg


Thanks in advance, Tom

[mactec54]

Hi TheMunk

We would need some more information the size of the plate how long how wide & how deep/thick

Have you tryed before to just have a plate made so the engraving pieces could be screwed to the plate by having a standard plate with lots of threaded holes for mounting the engraved type/logos etc

I sent you a PM just give me a call

[warmar]

we have purchased a machine for just this type of work Average turnaround time 1 day approx 30 plates pers day
are you supplying the blanks? and what size and font is the lettering if interested please give me a call at 401-245-5333. We have the ability to offer same day shipping if ordered by 10 am.